by Jeanine Ramirezi
A firehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn becomes a place of remembrance and healing every September 11th for family members and colleagues to remember those who perished that day. NY1's Jeanine Ramirez filed the following report.
Brunilda Rodriguez gets emotional talking about her firefighter son, Anthony, who responded to the attacks at the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001 and never returned. On each anniversary of his death, Rodriguez finds comfort at her son's firehouse.
"It's the closest where we're going to get to where he was, compared to going to Ground Zero," said Rodriguez. "I find this warmer, a nicer place."
Every year, Ladder 131 and Engine 279 transform their firehouse into a house of prayer, as members remember their five fallen brothers.
"I knew all the guys very well," said Firefighter Edward Kuohn. "It's a real tough day."
Rodriguez, as well as Lieutenant Anthony Jovic, Firefighter Christian Regenhard, Firefighter Ronnie Henderson, and Firefighter Michael Ragusa, were all lost that day.
None of the remains of the five firefighters were ever found. The only thing recovered was Jovic's badge.
But their memories are forever preserved on the fire trucks.
"Every time we clean the plaques, which we clean every week, you see them," said Firefighter Gerry Sweeney. "You can't get away from it. It's always here."
It's not just current members of the firehouse that take part in this ceremony.
"I always come back because this is a part of me and a part of the Fire Department," said FDNY Captain Steven San Filippo. "And I like to be with the people I worked with on that day."
"We bonded here. We cried here. We laughed here," said FDNY Captain Tom Coleman. "And you have to come back. This is part of who I am."
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