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As a way to honor their brothers who died on 9/11, a Brooklyn firehouse who quickly responded to the World Trade Center holds its own ceremony every year on the anniversary of the attacks, and this year was no exception.
Located right by the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, Engine Company 279 and Ladder Company 131 quickly responded to the World Trade Center on September 11th. Engine 279 lost five firefighters that day – a loss that their brothers in Red Hook say they will never forget.
In the Lorraine Street firehouse, there are numerous reminders of the five brave heroes. Their jackets are hung from the ceiling, there are plaques on the wall, a stained glass memorial and pictures of the fallen firefighters. Their names are also etched into the side of the truck.
Those lost were Lieutenant Anthony Jovic, firefighter Anthony Rodriguez, firefighter Christian Regenhard, firefighter Ronnie Henderson and firefighter Michael Ragusa. None of their remains have been found.
Since then, a new tradition was born. Every September 11th, the firehouse turns into a house of worship, the FDNY chaplain sets up an altar and mass is held inside as firefighters, both young and old, say prayers. Firefighters also observe moments of silence to mark the times the towers were struck and the times they fell.
Active and retired members of the department take part, as do family members, like the Rodriguez family.
"I'll come here and you'll see his stuff and all of his things, the memorials that they've done for him and everything,†said Anthony Rodriguez’s mother Brunilda Rodriguez. “And this to me is the only place that I can come and feel the closest to him, and the whole family comes. Here's where we feel in touch with him."
"It's something that we don't forget. We remember every single day. You can't walk in the door without looking at it,†said Ladder Company 131’s Gerry Sweeney. “But the new guys that are coming in, they weren't here then, so it's our way of making them remember and know."
There have been about 30 new firefighters who have joined the Red Hook firehouse since 2001, and so the tradition is being passed through the generations.
"We have to remember those who died," said FDNY Chaplain John Delendick. "We have to keep their spirit alive and we have to keep giving comfort to the families."
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