Photos: NFFF Honors 176 FDNY Firefighters Who Died Since Sept. 11

For some it brought memories of the recent passing of a loved one. For others, it reopened the painful loss of a family member or colleague who died more than a decade ago.

They had many things in common, caring for their families, a love for the job and the taking care of New York City’s citizens and, in the end, they lost their lives from the long-term effects of the World Trade Center rescue and recovery efforts.

Hundreds gathered in Staten Island, NY, Saturday as the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the FDNY partnered to remember 176 firefighters whose names had not yet been added to the National Fallen Firefighter Memorial in Emmitsburg, MD.

Over 400 firefighters have died from World Trade Center-related illnesses over the last 24 years.

Outside the arena at Staten Island College, FDNY tower ladders and aerials created arches with American flags draped down while Ladder 343 – a special rig that marks FDNY’s darkest day – and a rescue truck that is adorned with the names of all 343 fallen firefighters were parked around the college as families from all over came to remember their loved ones.

Inside the arena, it was a scene similar to what the loved ones would find during the annual memorial service at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg with honor guard members from across the country. Each family was escorted by a firefighter to receive an American flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol, and a red rose.

They uncovered four plaques where the names of the 176 fallen will be forever remembered at the National Fallen Firefighter Memorial.

Sometimes it was a fallen hero’s spouse or parents who received the flag and a single red rose, while other times it was the entire family, or a sibling. For others, old colleagues or friends walked up to receive the flag.

NFFF officials estimated nearly 100 families of the fallen had family members attend.

Hung from one wall of the arena was a nearly 30-foot-long banner that read “We Will Never Forget,” which was purchased by firefighters at FDNY Engine 36 in 2001. It hung from the World Financial Center, across the street from the rubble of the World Trade Center as firefighters worked for months to recover those who died that day.

“Your presence reminds us how important it is that we always remember your loved ones,” FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker said. “You are their living, legacies, reminding us of their hard work, their dedication, and their love for their city and our department. So, too, does their legacy live on in every firehouse in a city, every time the tones go off, and every time a life is saved.”

“Your loved ones honored their lost brothers and sisters in countless ways. From Ground Zero…to attending funerals, to helping grieving families find their way forward,” First Deputy Commissioner Mark Guerra said.

The NFFF has always supported the department, and the department continues to support the fallen and their families based on the same principles.

“The NFFF and FDNY have been partners for many years, from stair climbs to memorial weekends, to working together to help other fire departments following a line-of-duty death of one of their own. We are grateful for that long standing support.” 

“We're here when you need us, whenever that moment comes. Thank you for being here today and for all the love and support you gave my fellow firefighters, my brothers, when they needed it the most,” he told the NFFF staff.

Remembering a mentor

Chief of Special Operations, Malcom Moore, honored nearly two dozen firefighters before the last member’s name was read. Charles Williams of Tower Ladder 111 died in July 2018. Moore slowly and emotionally presented the flag to Williams’ daughter and son and spoke with them for a few minutes before they shared an emotional embrace.

Moore was a rookie at Engine 214, in the same Brooklyn firehouse as Ladder 111 and Williams served as his mentor for nearly six years.

“When I got there as a young guy, Charlie brought me in, taught me a lot of things,” Moore said. “Charlie was a great firefighter. He served in Vietnam. He did everything. And it was it was just absolute pleasure to work with him.”

“There were so many guys that I knew,” Moore said. “I wanted to be a presenter for least one or two of the families. I ended up with three and it was an emotional moment.”

Williams worked in Bedford-Stuyvesant where he lived.

“He was a great storyteller. He made you everybody in the firehouse laugh,” said retired Ladder 111 firefighter Joe Honan. “We called him the mayor because he knew everybody by their first name and their last name. He knew everybody on the block. And they all came around to see him.”

Remembering her husband of 52 years

Kathryn Gavitt attended the service, along with her two daughters, to remember her late husband, Thomas Gavitt Jr., who worked in Brooklyn’s Ladder 147.

She said Thomas began suffering from sinus infections and then respiratory infections, which got worse as time went on and it was tougher to heal. He passed away in November 2024, just two months after he celebrated his 69th birthday.

“It's sad, it's heartbreaking,” she said after the service. “You know, you're not alone. And there are a lot of people that are going through the same thing.”

She recalled hearing the names of so many fallen firefighters that she knew, whether it was a former colleague of her husband, or Greg LaManna, who grew up around the corner from her childhood home in Brooklyn.

“It's upsetting that's so many guys have gotten sick and died because 9/11. It's horrible.”

Recalling Thomas, she said he was “a kind, sweet guy, and it was 52 years of happiness and I miss him. I miss him a lot.”

Despite being ill for many years, she said he was a loving husband and father who was kind-hearted and would do anything for anyone.  

“I thought we were going to break all records,” she said of their five-decade marriage. But as his conditioned worsened, “We knew this was going to happen to us.”

DeKalb County honor guard experience

This was the first time D’Ante Pickett, a firefighter from DeKalb County, GA, Fire Rescue Department served on an honor guard duty outside his department.

A seven-year member of the department, he recalled his unit’s activation less than two months ago, during the funeral of one of their own, Preston Fant, who died in a warehouse fire in September. 

“It's very humbling and it really fills my heart to be able to have the ability to serve and just be here,” Pickett told Firehouse.com.

He had a chance to talk with veteran FDNY chiefs and asked them for advice on a successful career. He said they told him, “Staying calm in a situation, and just being good at my job, just always building yourself up.”

He said he will return to DeKalb County with a new focus on honoring Fant, FDNY’s firefighters who died on Sept. 11 and in the nearly 25 years since and the others who lives are lost on the line.

Planning the memorial service

Former FDNY Chief of Department Thomas Richardson, who began working for the NFFF after retiring from FDNY, learned of the 176 firefighters’ names who had not been added to the memorial earlier this year.

“It would have been a tremendous challenge to add them to the memorial in May,” Richardson recalled of the initial conversations. "That would require space for hundreds more people and there isn’t enough room there,” Richardson told Firehouse.com.

He brought the idea for this weekend’s memorial service to the department’s top chiefs and they quickly agreed to honor them locally, allowing for as many families and firefighters to attend. 

“Ron Kanterman is the key guy who pulled this off,” Richardson said. Kanterman has been deeply involved with the annual memorial service for decades. He also lauded the efforts of FDNY’s ceremonial unit and other support teams who set up all the details of the service.

“The NFFF said they would support it, both financially and logistically, and they could rely on the department to achieve what we had here today. It was really special,” Richardson said.

Richardson said the department decided to have many veteran chiefs officers take part in various roles at the memorial.

“We brought back in some of the retired chiefs to read, present flags and speak. Those are the guys who helped rebuild the department after 9/11,” Richardson said.

“I knew a lot of faces, a lot of them, you know, and to be able to be a part of something like this, that's bigger than you, bigger than us, it's bigger than the FDNY, it's all about these families.”

He estimated that he either knew personally or worked with more than 50 of those honored Saturday.

Honoring their commitment to the fallen

“Having participated in Emmitsburg at the National Fallen Firefighter Memorial several times now and then having it here in Staten Island, in our hometown to honor our people, it just hits differently,” said retired Deputy Assistant Chief Frank Leeb.

He added that many who are on the job now, may not have been alive when the attacks happened 24 years ago. For others, they followed in the footsteps of their parents who have died since 2001.

“Everybody that's wearing the uniform here today as you look around, knows several dozen of the people and likely knows a dozen of the families as well.”

Leeb said he worked with dozens of firefighters who were honored. Some he worked side-by-side at fires with, while others worked with him when he headed up the department's training academy because their illnesses prevented them from working on the streets. Two more were volunteer firefighters with him in East Farmingdale, NY.

“It's a somber day, but a necessary day to celebrate and remember our fallen people.”