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Show The Salt LakeTribune THANKSGIVING Thursday. N.Y. Firefighters Still Mourn the ‘Good Guys’ They struggle to keep Thanksgivingrituals aliveat the firehouse Superimposed on the skyline are the bright lights of Broadway, along with BY HELEN O'NEILL The kitchen is a cluttered, homey place where the coffee is always mightcookupa giant breakfast, too. strong, a pot of hot sauce is always bubbling, and smells of grilled steak giving, they serve turkey for family THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEWYORK The massive oaktableis a work of hewnfromaVermont forest, carved and painted by hands that can trace the curveof a piece of wood asskillfully as they ¢an. hoist a hose: A firefighters’ table, crafted by firefightersfor their brothers, donated years ago to the Broadway firehouseat the cornerof Eighth Avenue and48th Street. In the center is a painted skyline of New York the old skyline, the one dominated by two gleaming towers. the firehouse motto: Never Missed a Performance. Fifteen men from this firehouse were lost whenthe towers ofthe World district, to the high-rise apartments of Trade Center collapsed Sept. 11. Their Here, when the intercom booms memorial cards are strewn across the “chow time, chow time,” they tumble in for lunch and dinner.If they are lucky and someonebrings eggs, they and fried onions mingle with cries of “Hey Joe, season with reason this time!” “The Pride of Midtown”they are called, these men from Battalion 9 who work atoneof the busiest firehouses in Manhattan, possibly the world. They answer about14,000 calls a year racing out on Ladder 4 and Engine 54 to theaters and hotels and restaurants, to factories in the garment Five Utahns Reflect On What Holiday Means To Them After Sept. 11 @ Continued from A-1 ian Catholics they unwind. table, along with coffee cups and soda cans and crumbs of everydaylife. Thanksgiving ‘he'd forget about the turkey and whip up his specialty for joking about how lucky thefirehouse is to have a good Jewish firefighter to run the place at the holidays. Manyof the guys — Irish andItal. stars. And whenthey are done, and they roll back into the midtown firehouse, dusty andtired, this kitchen is where the entire firehouse: smoked pork chops smothered in sauerkraut. Sammy Oitice, always boasting had never been to a about the latest success of the rollerhockeyleaguehe started in his home- synagogue before they went/to Fein- berg’s memorial. Every Thanksgiving, Chief Ed Geraghty would bookthe entire Geraghty clan, including his wife, Mary, and boys, Connor, James and Colin, into the Milford Plaza Hotel. They would spendthe night on the town. And then, early Thanksgiving morning, they Aroundthis table, every Thanksand friends. Andlately, aroundthis table, they would bundle up and head off to the gatherafter funerals to pourout their parade. “Ed Geraghty was such a good guy,” says firefighter James Cooney. Hesighs. “Theywere all good guy Mikey Brennan, the brawny, souls. “Thanksgiving?” mutters firefighter Bob Jackson as though questioning the meaningof the holidayitself. “What do wehaveto give thanks for this year?” How can they give thanks without street-smart Irish kid with the pierced tongue, always ready with a joke anda yi arn. Mike Haub,soproudofhis German heritage that if he had his way at the big round smile of Al Feinberg, filling the kitchen with his presence, town of Peekskill, N.Y. Big Lenny “Rags” Ragaglia, who'd clearhisplate * and lumberout of the kitchen after dinner. “Goin’ toes up/” he'd say, as he headed tohis bunk, and they wouldall laugh. Their photographsplaster the fire- house wails. Their presence lingers in all sorts of ways. Andyet, traditions endure, if only for the families. And so, this Thanksgiving, as theydo everyyear,the fam- ilies of Battalion 9 and Ladder Co. 4 and Engine Co. 54 will gather at a churchhall on Times Square to watch the Macy’s Parade. Afterward, they'll all troop backto the kitchenfor coffee and cake. he took her beyond the gates andcloser to the So heis trying to listen more and take more he has been in “stuporofgratitude” ever since pile of rubble that was once the World Trade Center. “I wanted it to settle something within me, andit didn’t,”she said. “Ifanything, it made me moreangry. . . [twas anexperienceIcan’teven time with people. Heis also praying more. The accident brought the events of Sept. 11 home, he said. “You know,these werereal people that died. They have families. They died, I lived . . . It’s given me a whole new appreciation of yourblessings. Maybe you haveto look harder to count those . . . [Gratitude] isn’t a once-ayearsort of thing.” put wordsto.” whatit’s like being a part of the human race.” his son wasbornthree years ago, he said. “You havea choice.It’s be bitter, or count Still, she is glad she madethetrip. “Youstill can’t even grasp the devastation. There’s a very spiritual feeling when you're there.” Theattacksleft her forever changed.“I’m not feelso violated.” More bills arrived Sears, Disney — even as Simmonsmadefranticcal) s to credit bureausto putafraud alert on hera count. Meanwhile, her office computers we ruckbya virus, render- afraid to show my emotions like I was before. I won't allow negativity in mylife now,Life is too precious. I’m just thankful for every moment that I can live andlove.” ing both of themusele: All threeof those incidents, Simmonssaid, were launched by an unknown enemy the identity thief, who remains at large; the person whocreatedthevirus; andterrorists whohate the United States. “It shifts youoff cours e said. “I don’t feel safe in the same way| used to.” At the same time, she was grateful she had a support system of family and friends. Dave Fields, 30, public relations, Snowbird ski resort: Fields was in New YorkCity on Sept. 11 for a gathering of Utah skiresort officials and journalists. He was entering the subway when his wife called on his cellphone to say a plane had struck one of the World Trade Center towers. “T said I was going downtown, and shesaid, ‘Well, maybe that’s not such a good idea,’” Fields said. But duty called, and he proceeded. During his ride, the second tower washit; when Rick Pike, 34, former manager of corporate communications, Caldera International Inc.: Pike was at homein Salt Lake City the morning of Sept. 11, still struggling with being laid off he reached the street he saw the burning towers. “[On]the one tower, you could see really well the perfect outline of a plane on theside of the building,” he said. “It was almost like watching from Caldera the day before. “Yd really given a lot of sweat, blood andtears an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. It seemed to that company,”hesaid.“It’sstill tough to deal with.” Hehas been doing somefreelance public reDarris Howe, 48, director University of Phoenix, Utah campus: Driving down Interstate-215 in his daughter's Toyota Tercel on Saturday, Sept. 15, Howehadputasidethe trag- lations work from home, and his wife is working part time.Still, they are watching their Christ- edies in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania and wasthinking abouttrivial concerns. nowin remission. “September 11 really hasn't caused fear in me,” Pike said. But since then, he has found himself thinking about what matters most, and about “doing what you wantto do, and doingit well.”It has led hisjob search in a new direction, Then,hehit the brakes on the 20th South offramp and nothing happened. “There I was, at 60 miles per hour and nota lot of options,” he said. Cars were stopped at the lightin frontof him.Tohis left was a steep bank; Cynde Howells, 46, Delta Air Lines flight attendant: Howells was asleep in a Helena, Mont., hotel room whenher phonerang Sept. 11. A co-worker asked, “Have you seen the news?. . . Our worldhasjust changed.” She andtherestoftheflight crew werestuck in Helena forfive days. “Getting on that airplaneforthe first time to leave Helena was a very strange experience,” shesaid. Passengers be; van paying more attention to flight crews, shi “People would take my arm andsay, ‘Godbl s you,’ as they gotoff the airplane.” Shefelt driven to see ground zero for herself, andflew aloneto NewYorklast month. After she showed policeofficer herairlineidentification, to his right a brick wall. Howe decided hedidn’t want to turn either way, and instead tried to dodge thecars as best he could. Howe’s car struck a Ford Expedition at a 45degree angle. “It looked like a big blue mountain,” he remembered. From there, the car ricochetted backinto the brick wall before coming to What's been harder,he said, was the attack’s effect on Utahns. “I’ve seen people lose their jobs. I've seen people have to change their way of life because ofit. It has rattled usall, but I'm still getting ona plane Wednesday morning.” — Photos by Ryan Galbraith administration. Meanwhile, he is grateful for the time he could spendwith his motherin the hospital. And Dee]our reparedness nventory plowou a Now! Aeaeaecae Going On Rigor the storage solutions, stoves,first-aid kits, and items to build your ownkits. Le ~ It With thiscoupon ~ ! 1 case of 44Free’, water pouches Dy (Zar, Cokbeale the Pre-Holiday Season During our NovemberSale Find Holiday trimmingsto spruce up your home and uniquegifts for everyone on your list. ZKits 6235 S. Highland Dr., SLC / (801) 272-7770 thought, “Why amI alive?I've got to be a better for your water storage | | 107! with any purchase! 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Howe and the other driver suffered only HOLIDAY OPEN think it has,” hesaid. “It certainly gives you a his mother was diagnosed with leukemia.She is selection! Oe Hetried to call his family to let them know he mas spending closely and have limited their usual holiday travel. A few weeks after Sept. 11, minorinjuries. “Byall means,goingthatfast with no options, I should have died,” he said. “Plus, there’s the fact my daughter was supposed to be in that car . . . it really put into perspective how precious life is.” Before the crash, he was thinking about his to-dolist, his job, his problems. Afterward, he person.” - surreal.” was all right, but couldn’t complete a cellphone call, He eventually reached his wife on e-mail. Has it changed hislife? This sounds so shallow, but I really don’t Sat 10-6 -_— Smoker/Oven and Griddle Free or recieve 50% off all Pyromid Items Inia CHRO tae enate,COupen ecenemty \ $1 a 3 i1 8 |
