Brothers Salvatore and Randy Ranieri grew up admiring their friend Kenny Watson, a firefighter who died Sept. 11. And yesterday, they made good on their vow to honor his memory when they became the newest members of New York's Bravest.March 9, 2004 -- Brothers Salvatore and Randy Ranieri grew up admiring their friend Kenny Watson, a firefighter who died Sept. 11. And yesterday, they made good on their vow to honor his memory when they became the newest members of New York's Bravest.
Watson's mom, Carlla, watched as Randy, 31, and Salvatore, 28 - part of a class of 286 probational firefighters, or "probies" - graduated from their grueling three-month training.
"He was the greatest man," Salvatore Ranieri said. "We loved him a lot."
The newest class brings the number of firefighters hired since Sept. 11 to 2,700. On that day, 343 died, and since then another 2,173 have retired.
Yesterday's class included another pair of brothers, Anthony Mastrande, 24, and Guy Mastrande, 27, who were inspired to take the test four years ago by their dad, James, 57, a retired fire marshal.
