Firefighter of the week – Battalion Chief John J Fanning II

By Dan Samaria
Publisher/GCC
October 13, 2009

Editor’s Note: Our Firefighter of the week was  Battalion Chief Haz-Mat Operations John J Fanning II .

We would like to know what you think. dan@youngchronicle.com

 

Naming the Future for Him

A few months after the terrorist attack, Maureen Fanning realized that her 14-year-old son, Sean, was still staring out the window looking for his father to walk up the driveway.

So she bought a new minivan to break the association brought on by the car Sean’s father used to drive. Still, Sean, who is autistic, didn’t seem to understand that his father wasn’t coming home.

“I showed him pictures of his father and the towers on fire,” Mrs. Fanning recalled, her voice barely audible. “This is smoke,” she told him. “Bad smoke. Daddy got hurt.”

Sean screamed and hurled his body about.

Explaining to her younger son, Patrick, 5, about his father’s death has been just as hard. Patrick, who is also autistic, has never spoken. One day, a firefighter friend came to their house in West Hempstead, N.Y., wearing a jacket similar to Patrick’s father’s and the boy began to cry inconsolably.

John J. Fanning, 54, also had three children from a previous marriage, Ryan, Jeremy and Jacqueline. A member of the New York Fire Department since 1969, and the chief of the Hazardous Materials Unit, he saved lives for a living.

He had a plan for what he’d do with the lottery jackpot if he won. “We’d buy a group home and you’d run it,” he told his wife. His family hopes to open the first Jack Fanning House for autistic youths next year, financed by donations they received after Sept. 11.

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on September 10, 2002.

Source Legacy

Officer of the Week – Police Officer Robert Fazio

 
Remember September 11, 2001
Angels Among Us

Police Officer Robert Fazio
Shield 6667
13 Precinct
3/24/2002

Police Officer Robert Fazio
Shield 6667
13 Precinct
(recovered)

At 41, Robert Fazio Jr. was still single. People would ask him when he was going to marry. But the pressure of society’s conventions, said his sister, Carole Lovero, could not affect his decisions.

“He was a happy person, he was happy within himself,” she said. “He would have gotten married if he had found the right person, but he was happy doing what he was doing.”

What he was doing, outside of his job as a patrolman for the New York Police Department, was working on motorcycles, cars, boats and houses for anybody who needed a hand. “Half my neighbors, he fixed their cars,” said Officer Fazio’s father, Robert Sr. Shortly after he got his driver’s license, Robert Fazio Jr. could be seen on the weekend in front of the family’s house in South Hempstead, on Long Island, hoisting engines in and out of cars with the help of a sturdy tree limb.

He had worked for the Police Department for 17 years and was called from his precinct in the East 20’s on Sept. 11 to help people out of the shopping plaza beneath the World Trade Center. He had less than three years to go until retirement, his father said, and planned on setting up a motorcycle and car repair shop somewhere near his home in Freeport, N.Y., with a friend from junior high school, Gino Lanza. But though he had no children of his own, he spent as much time as he could baby-sitting for his nephew, Michael Lovero, and friends’ children, who nicknamed him the Tickle Monster

- The New York Times 3/24/2002

Source: NYP Angels

Wish of the week – Eric

By MWF/PIO
October 16, 2009

Source Make A Wish Foundation

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com

Soldier of the Week – Army Pfc. James Arellano

by Dan Samaria
Publisher/YC
October 15, 2009

Editor’s Note:
Home State: Wyoming
Awarded: Bronze Star.

We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com

 

Pfc. Arellano was deployed to Iraq in November 2005 with the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Division. While on a foot patrol south of Baghdad on Aug. 17, 2006, Arellano encountered insurgents using IED and small-arms fire. Arellano stepped on an IED; the explosion severely injured the soldier. He died from injuries sustained from the blast.

For his work while in Iraq, Arellano was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantry Badge on Aug. 30, 2006.

 

Source: Our Military

Patient of the Week – Joshua Solomon

By St. Jude
October 14, 2009

Joshua Solomon
5  years old

 

Diagnosis:

Joshua was found to have a brain stem glioma in August 2008.

Joshua’s Story:

Joshua is a sweet-natured boy. He has an engaging smile and he loves to give hugs. An only child, Joshua is the apple of his parents’ eyes. “He makes our day, every day,” said his mom. When Joshua suddenly fell ill during a family trip in late August, his family immediately rallied around him.

During the trip, Joshua developed neck pain and started to vomit. His family rushed him to a local hospital where the emergency room doctor ordered a CT scan and, when the results came in, sent the family to a larger hospital with a pediatric intensive care unit. “We didn’t really know why he was sending us there. We were kind of in a daze, and just praying,” Joshua’s mom remembered. At the larger hospital, doctors ordered an MRI, which revealed devastating news for Joshua’s parents: their boy suffered from an inoperable brain stem glioma, a type of brain tumor.

But there was hope on the horizon. Joshua’s parents were familiar with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and asked his doctor for a referral.

At St. Jude:

Joshua underwent chemotherapy and 30 rounds of radiation. Throughout it all, St. Jude provided Joshua and his family everything they needed. “The doctors are first class,” Joshua’s mom said. “The care and concern St. Jude gave us was amazing.”

Joshua’s parents are astonished by the generosity of people who give to St. Jude. “Because of them, St. Jude provides care for all children,” said Joshua’s mom. “Whether families have insurance or not, the patients get first class care. I know Danny Thomas is looking down from Heaven and smiling.”

Joshua finished his treatment in November, and he returns to St. Jude every three months for checkups. He is in preschool and he loves Thomas the Train. Recently, Joshua went horseback riding for the first time. “He loved it,” his mom said. “He can’t wait to go back.”

St. Jude Editor’s Note: We regret to inform you that Joshua passed away on August 14, 2009.

Source St. Jude

Firefighter of the week – Battalion Chief Division 3 Dennis L Devlin

By Dan Samaria
Publisher/YC
October 8, 2009

Her Cheerleader

For 29 years, Dennis and Kathleen Devlin were man and wife, parents to four children. In a house on a small hill in upstate New York, they watched sunsets and laid plans to grow old together.

But Dennis Devlin, a battalion chief for the New York City Fire Department, is gone now, leaving Mrs. Devlin to try and hold on to their bond.

So, Chief. Devlin’s hobbies have become her hobbies. Every morning, she’s out on a three mile run, a habit she never cared for when her husband was alive, but one she hopes now will prepare her for a coming race that she is planning in his honor.

“I can hear him sometimes telling me not to get tired, pushing me,” she said.

It is also because of her husband that no day passes without Mrs. Devlin thumbing through one of the 23 photo albums Chief Devlin labored over, for decades, meticulously labeling and dating each photograph. (The last photo he ever entered, taken three months before Sept. 11, was one of him in a helicopter flying over Lower Manhattan, staring at the World Trade Center.)

“We complained about him taking so many pictures, everywhere we went,” she said. “But having those albums now is such a joy. We all look at them and think how blessed we are that he took the time and that we were a happy family.”
Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 9, 2001.

Dennis L. Devlin, 51, a 23-year resident of Washingtonville, New York, a New York Fire Department battalion chief of the 3rd division in Manhattan, died at the World Trade Center on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Visitation is scheduled for Friday, September 28, 2001, 5-9 p.m., at David T. Ferguson Funeral Home Inc., 20 North Street, Washingtonville. Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday, September 29, 11 a.m., at St. Mary’s Church, Washingtonville. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations are appreciated to Uniformed Firefighters Association of New York, Widows and Children’s Fund, 204 East 23rd Street, 5th Floor, NY, NY 10010 or Engine 75 Ladder 33, World Trade Center Fund, 2175 Walton Avenue, Bronx, NY 10468. Arrangements entrusted to David T. Ferguson Funeral Home Inc., Washingtonville, New York.

Source Legacy

Soldier of the Week – Army Spc. Kraig Lemme

by Dan Samaria
Publisher/GCC
October 8, 2009

Editor’s Note:
Hometown: Tucson, AZ
Awarded:Soldier’s Medal

Spc. Lemme and other soldiers were on a mission outside of Baghdad in October 2004 when a radio message alerted them that a tank had overturned into a canal. Lemme and three others went to investigate. They found an Abrams tank flipped over, with three soldiers trapped inside. Lemme and his team used tow cables attached to another tank to try and pull the overturned tank from the canal. While they were unable to haul the tank completely out of the water, the rescue team was able to raise it above the waterline. Lemme, a trained rescue swimmer, helped the three trapped soldiers escape through a hatch and swim to safety. Lemme was awarded the Soldier’s Medal on Sept. 15, 2006.

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@goldcoastchronicle.com

Source: Our Military

Patient of the Week – Sean Witsoe

By St Jude
October 10, 2009

Sean Witsoe
4 years old

Diagnosis:

Sean was discovered to have medulloblastoma in the August 2008.

Sean’s Story:

When Craig and Katie became St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Partners In Hope^® years ago, they never expected that one day they would need the hospital’s services. But in the summer of 2008, their little son Sean was found to suffer from a brain tumor, and they knew St. Jude was the best place for his treatment.

The morning Katie started to piece together what was wrong with Sean should have been a happy day: It was supposed to be the first day of preschool for Sean and his twin brother Matthew. But Sean woke up and vomited, something he had been doing on and off for weeks. The family had already ruled out a dairy allergy or acid reflux as the cause of his vomiting. Sean had been to a pediatric gastroenterologist, but the doctor couldn’t find anything wrong.

With dread, Katie started to add up all of the things that had lately affected Sean—the vomiting in the mornings, walking off balance, an eye that seemed lazy and problems swallowing. By the time Katie reached her computer to look up symptoms for a brain tumor, the dread was setting in.

That afternoon, Sean had a CT scan, and Katie and Craig’s worst fears were confirmed: Sean had a brain tumor known as medulloblastoma. He underwent surgery at a local children’s hospital to remove as much of the tumor as possible. As the little boy recovered, his parents started researching places for Sean’s continuing treatment. As monthly donors to St. Jude through the Partners In Hope program, Katie and Craig were familiar with the hospital. They soon realized that St. Jude was where Sean needed to be and obtained a referral.

At St. Jude:

At St. Jude, Sean began treatment immediately. He underwent chemotherapy and received 30 rounds of radiation. He also underwent a second brain surgery at St. Jude to remove more of the tumor.

Katie and Craig take comfort in the fact that Sean is getting the best care possible at St. Jude. “Sean still has a long way to go with treatment, but we are so very grateful for each day, each step in his amazing young life,” said Katie.

Sean is funny and likes to dance, and he loves spending time with Matthew and their three older siblings.

Source St. Jude

Wish of the week – Chris

By MWF/PIO
October 9, 2009

To a 6-year-old who loves toys, what could be more thrilling than a trip to Toys“R”Us? How about a shopping spree at Toys“R”Us with Geoffrey the Giraffe by your side and lots of other special perks! Chris, who has cerebral palsy, was blown away by his over-the-top experience that featured limousine transportation, a personal shopper and VIP status.

As his limo pulled up in front of the local Toys“R”Us store, Chris received a warm welcome from cheering store employees that were holding banners and balloons. It was a thrilling feeling when he got to hold all the money that he would be spending that day. He thought his day could not get any better but there was one more super-sized surprise for Chris – Geoffrey the Giraffe was there to escort him through every inch of the store. Together, they walked hand-in-hand as Chris scooped up everything on his list including a PlayStation 3 game console and a bunch of games, a guitar, a camera and his very own television.

Since he could not take Geoffrey home with him, Chris happily settled for a miniature version of his favorite giraffe. He left the store with several shopping bags and a huge appetite so he and his family headed to his favorite restaurant, the Big Cheese. It was the perfect after-shopping destination for Chris and his family to feast on what he called, “the best pizza I’ve ever eaten!”

Wish Granters: Ben Eisenberg & Michael Rose
Referred by: his home nurse
Adopted by: Mr. & Mrs. William Heffernan

Source Make A Wish Foundation

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com

Officer of the Week – Police Officer Mark J. Ellis

 
Remember September 11, 2001
Angels Among Us

Police Officer Mark J. Ellis
Shield 11441
Transit Bureau, District 4
12/28/2001

Police Officer Mark J. Ellis
Shield 11441
Transit Bureau, District 4
(recovered)

Just a couple of weeks before the World Trade Center attacks, an off-duty Mark Ellis was visiting another fellow police officer and his wife at their Commack home.

He held their days-old baby girl in his arms and, moved by the tenderness of her new life, decided to put his plans in fast forward.

Ellis, 26, told his girlfriend of six years, Stephanie Porzio, that he wanted to marry her and have a family of his own. The next week, they would go shopping for rings.

They went to a jewelry store, but did not settle on anything because they wanted something that would properly symbolize what they felt for each other.

“He really just had a love for me, and I had a love for him that most people don’t find,” Porzio said.

That same Sunday, Ellis rode for the first time on the fishing boat he had purchased from his uncle. Other relatives were there, and Ellis was nervous about handling the 24-footer, but he drove it seamlessly on Long Island Sound.

With marriage plans under sail and his law enforcement career on track, Ellis felt he was about to create the life he wanted, surrounded by his friends and relatives.

But Ellis, a transit officer in downtown Manhattan’s fourth district and a lifelong Huntington resident, was on Delancey Street two days later with partner Ramon Suarez, when they got frantic radio calls.

They commandeered a taxicab and arrived on time to help terrified people out of the World Trade Center buildings. Ellis’ partner was caught in a news photograph sometime before the tower crashed, helping someone to an ambulance. Ellis sacrificed his life also, in the quiet and heroic way that relatives admired about him. His body was recovered before the Christmas Eve weekend, not too far from where his partner had fallen.

“Mark was making his plans to climb the career ladder, sail the Seven Seas on the boat, and God called him. He answered God’s call, and he answered that call while helping others,” said his uncle, Kenneth Nilsen, 40, who was among those who eulogized Ellis.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani attended the standing-room-only funeral Monday at the Dix Hills Evangelical Free Church, praising Ellis’ courage. Ellis, who had received four medals for excellence, is the youngest New York City police officer to have been killed in the attacks.

Ellis’ parents, Elaine and Joseph Ellis, and a sister, Tammy Gardella of Georgia, survive him.

In the weeks after he was missing, the call he had been waiting for came from the Secret Service, accepting him as a candidate to the elite force. Relatives saw that as a posthumous recognition to his dedication and valor.

A 1999 criminal justice graduate from SUNY Farmingdale, Ellis graduated from the police academy in 1998. Formerly an auto mechanic, he liked cars and the outdoors. But he was also a prankster at the station house, where he often walked around shaving with his electric razor before going on duty.

Once, to effect a funny revenge on other officers who had played a prank on him, Ellis bought glue and sealed the offenders’ lockers shut. Another day, he conspired with his partner to stick fake bullet holes on the cars of other officers. By the same token, Ellis was willing to help whenever his colleagues, friends or relatives needed him.

“He was very fair and kind. and he was always there for me,” said Eric Semler, his partner for more than three years. ” … He was a good cop, a very good cop.”

- New York Newsday Victim Database 12/28/2001

Source: NYP Angels

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