![]() After that, the Ground Zero workers had a new and more heartbreaking mission: to sift carefully through the debris in search of human remains. By September 12, workers had rescued all of the people who were trapped at the site. Unfortunately, there were not many survivors to find: Two firemen were pulled from their truck in a cavity beneath some wreckage, and a few people were pinned at the edges of the pile. The 9/11 Memorial Museum is privileged to present a segment from it in homage to the integrity and devotion of the men and women of the New York City Fire Department, and for all those remarkable public servants who have risked, and paid the price of their lives, to save others in peril.An aerial view of Ground Zero after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. The recording later was broadcast under the Sound Portraits radio documentaries name which preceded founder David Isay’s creation of Stor圜orps. In 1992, an oral history with then-Chief Feehan was conducted by his son, Billy, and photographer Harvey Wang. The second object preserves his rank in a more explicit but intimate way: a gilt badge, bearing four stars and his title as first deputy commissioner, that Feehan wore on 9/11. Feehan’s colleagues retrieved the special plate and gave it to his children. On that day he was also the second highest ranking FDNY official killed, after Chief Peter Ganci. The first, which is a New York State license plate reading 2 FD that was removed from the car in which Feehan sped downtown on 9/11, shows his status as the FDNY’s second highest ranking official. The cornerstone of his identify, however, was his dedication to the fire department, a reality honored in two extraordinary objects his family recently donated to the museum’s collection. This includes his distinguished service in the Army during the Korean War and his passion for military history, exampled in the expeditions he took to Civil War battlefields over the years. In the 9/11 Memorial Museum’s “In Memoriam” exhibition, Feehan will be remembered not only as a proud firefighter but also for the life he led off duty, which his four grown children take pride in recounting. Feehan, a native of Long Island City, Queens, lived in Flushing. As the son of a firefighter, he was pleased when one of his sons joined the FDNY, extending the family’s career tradition into a third generation. During his storied FDNY tenure, Feehan reportedly mastered the location of every fire hydrant in New York City. ![]() Although holding a civilian administrative title on 9/11, he had remained Chief Feehan in the parlance of thousands of uniformed firefighters who worked with him and alongside him. At age 71 he was the oldest first responder killed on 9/11. The FDNY veteran was also a living legend, having held every rank within the department from his 1959 appointment as a probationary firefighter through his promotion to firefighter (Division 3, Ladder 3), lieutenant, chief of department, deputy fire commissioner and first deputy fire commissioner. When the south tower toppled and fell onto his command post, William M. Fate claimed chiefs and “probies” alike that morning. ![]() When the towers collapsed, age and experience on the job were meaningless protections. 11, at the World Trade Center, it suffered the loss of 343 firefighters, whose deaths represented 4,400 years of cumulative training, nerve and wisdom. Among the staggering statistics resulting from the 9/11 attacks are those associated with New York City’s fire department. ![]()
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