For the firefighters at the New York Fire Department's Ladder 163/Engine 325 in the Woodside neighborhood of the borough of Queens, gorgeous early September days like Thursday are reminiscent of the kind of September day that terrorists attacked America.
Nearly three years later, some say the time that has passed has not healed the wounds.
This week, at the 51st Street station that will forever be linked to Akron, the issues that erupted in an instant on that fiery day are still close to the surface and to the hearts of the firefighters who work there.
On Thursday morning, inside the red-brick fire station built by Works Progress Administration workers in 1939, the ladder truck bought with money donated by people from the Akron area was parked and polished and ready for action.
On the truck's side is a plaque identifying it as a gift from the people of Greater Akron.
A total of $1.4 million was raised by people of the Akron area in the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, and with that money, the ladder truck, two ambulances and three police SUVs were bought.
Two firefighters from the Queens station were sent into Manhattan and died on Sept. 11: Scott Larson and Thomas Gambino Jr.
The sting can still be felt. And so can the support for the president who wasted no time in declaring war on the terrorists.
``I'm a Democrat, and I'm voting for Bush,'' said firefighter Bobby O'Neill, 49, on the last day of the Republican National Convention in Manhattan. ``He is doing what has to be done.''
On Wednesday night, Bush received the endorsement of the city's local firefighters union, the Uniformed Firefighters Association.
Firefighter Kevin Sconzo, 36, of Long Island spent three months at the World Trade Center site helping to dig for bodies.
``A lot of people weren't down there digging,'' Sconzo said, recalling the physical and emotional labor of scraping and picking through rubble for victims' remains.
In a street under rubble, he found a man with no legs. He figures the man was running or trying to get out of the way when he was crushed.
Sconzo said he supports Bush because the president didn't wait around for another attack before going after the terrorists.
``I don't want to see anything happen to my family,'' Sconzo said.
Unfortunately, he said, he believes there probably will be another attack on America.
Firefighter Kenny Warns, 38, of Long Island is another Bush supporter. ``There are a lot of people who don't know we are fighting a war,'' he said.
He, too, is glad that Bush took the fight to those who attacked the country. ``You can't wait,'' said Warns.
Connections with Akron
In the aftermath of 9/11 and the donation of the firetruck, many connections were made between Akron and these Queens firefighters.
Warns has become pen pals with a young schoolboy from the Akron area. He visited the boy once, and the boy sent him a stuffed dog that he gave to one of his six children. Warns said he will always be appreciative of and thankful for the gift.
He said the little boy and the generosity of Akron gave the firefighters a way to focus their thankfulness after the attacks.
But now, as the days tick down to the third anniversary of the attacks, Warns said it is harder than ever to talk about Sept. 11.
People from Akron still visit the station, said firefighter Michael Doda, 33, of Queens, who lost his cousin, firefighter Richard Allen, that day.
Doda said the reality of what happened then is with him and his fellow firefighters all the time. ``Now we have to live with the result of it,'' he said.
