by CHRISTINA BOYLE
Old wounds were reopened yesterday as the men of Engine 24/Ladder 5 remembered their 11 fallen heroes and added two new names to the 9/11 roll call.
Six years after the twin towers collapsed, the deaths of Joseph Graffagnino and Robert Beddia in the Deutsche Bank building blaze last month served as a painful reminder that their scars are a long way from being healed.
"We were a little bit worried how we would pull this off today," said Jeffrey Anstead, a 16-year FDNY veteran. "But I feel like the families have found a little peace."
"We feel Bobby and Joey's deaths are a 9/11-related incident," he added. "So it's really hard to make any kind of sense of it."
The station at Sixth Ave. and Houston St., known by some as the "little house in the West Village," has had to cope with 16 deaths since 1994. Three of the Bravest were killed by a fire on Watts St. in 1994, 11 perished on 9/11 and then there were the recent deaths of Graffagnino and Beddia.
The firefighters stood in silence yesterday to mark the moments the two planes exploded into the twin towers before joining hundreds of mourners at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral on Mott St. for a 10:30 a.m. Mass. The service was led by Msgr. Donald Sakano and also attended by actor Steve Buscemi.
"I'm devastated that Bobby and Joey are not here today," said Christina Brunn, who lost her brother Andrew, 28, on 9/11. "They walked this path with us for six years."
Family and friends were then invited back to the firehouse for lunch.
"They pull together, hang tough and keep the faith no matter what adversity strikes," said Graffagnino's father, Joseph. "Coming here is like coming home."
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