Long Island's 9/11 memorials honor those lost 20 years ago
Margie Miller honors the memory of her husband, Joel, while at the 9/11 memorial in Eisenhower Park in East Meadow in August. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Tears welled up in Sal Cassero’s eyes as he studied the plaque at the Babylon 9/11 Hometown Memorial at Cedar Beach.
It honors his longtime friend Geoffrey Guja, an FDNY lieutenant and one of the 48 town residents who died during the terror attack at the World Trade Center.
The image on the plaque shows Guja with tousled hair and a grin that looks like he is up to something unspeakably fun, along with an image of his beloved houseboat and the FDNY logo. Cassero, a trucker from Massapequa Park, fondly remembered the buddy who always made him laugh, who was always up for an adventure, and who said he could fix anything -- as long as he had enough duct tape.
"Whatever had to be done, he was the guy who got it done, hook or by crook," Cassero said of the friend he first met decades ago at a junior high school lunch table. "No matter what you did with him, you had a good time."
The Babylon 9/11 Hometown Memorial, dedicated in 2005, is just one of the dozens of monuments constructed across Long Island to honor those lost 20 years ago, public reminders that the pain and loss unleashed by the collapse of the towers also engulfed Long Island, home to nearly 500 of the men and women killed that terrible day.
Dozens of memorials across Long Island
Long Island residents pass these monuments every day, at schools, firehouses, public buildings and parks. The First Responders Memorial in Islandia, next to a baseball field off Old Nichols Road, honors five village residents killed 20 years ago. The Glen Cove 9/11 memorial is a simple cross made of steel recovered from Ground Zero, capped with a winged emblem of the nearby Glen Cove Fire Department. The 9/11 memorial in Rockville Centre’s Village Green lists 49 names, including Janice Ashley and James "Kells" Kelly, whose names are also engraved at the monument in Oceanside.
Sal Cassero of Massapequa Park visits last month the memorial of his friend, FDNY Lt. Geoffrey Eric Guja, at The Town of Babylon September 11th Hometown Memorial located in Cedar Beach. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
"This was something that rocked the entire world, and we felt it acutely here in Nassau County," County Executive Laura Curran said. "So many of the first responders and the office workers murdered that day came from Long Island."
From East Rockaway to the East End, these monuments are places to remember and grieve for friends who perished two decades ago, as well as those who died years later from diseases they developed during Ground Zero rescue and recovery efforts. They offer the families a closer alternative for those grieving and who don't want to travel into the city to honor their memories at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on Ground Zero.
A place to come together
The memorials give 9/11 families places to come together, share stories and prop each other up.
Judi Simmons, whose husband, FDNY Firefighter Martin Simmons, died from a 9/11-related illness, at the 9/11 Responders Remembered Park in Nesconset. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
"There is a story of resilience," said Margie Miller, Nassau’s liaison to 9/11 families whose husband Joel Miller, a Marsh McLennan employee, died at the World Trade Center. "The community held together and came together after 9/11."
The monuments, 9/11 families and officials add, are needed to teach those born after 2001 about a dark moment in American history -- and about the men and women who have missed too many births, ballgames, graduations and weddings.
"I feel [cheated]," said Patti Valerio of West Hempstead, whose brother Matthew Grzymalski was a 34-year-old Cantor Fitzgerald employee when he died. "We always wonder, ‘What would he be doing now, where would he be? Would he be married? Would he have children?’ "
In Nesconset, the 9/11 Responders Remembered Park honors not those who died in 2001, but those who participated in rescue and recovery work and died months and years later of 9/11-related diseases.
"The 9/11 responders who are passing away of illness were not memorialized anywhere," said park president Judi Simmons, whose husband, FDNY firefighter Marty Simmons, died from Ground Zero-linked respiratory failure in 2008. "We felt they deserved as much recognition as the brave men and women who died on 9/11."
Judith Berquis Diaz-Sierra of Bay Shore and Brian Thomas Thompson of Dix Hills are among the 188 people listed on glass panels at the Garden of Remembrance at Suffolk County’s H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge, a meditative space despite the roar of traffic from nearby Veterans Memorial Highway.
"9/11 was really devastating to the community," said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. "We lost so many wonderful people, leaders in our community, the backbones of families."
Monuments tell the story of those lost on 9/11 and years later
Cantor Fitzgerald energy trader Tom Hobbs is one of the 344 victims whose names are engraved on the wall at the Nassau County 9/11 Memorial in East Meadow, which includes two elegant aluminum towers that reflect off the shimmering water of Eisenhower Park Lake.
"There has not been a day that has gone by that I have not thought of him," Allison Hobbs of Baldwin said of her husband, a fun-loving dad and devoted fan -- despite chronic disappointment -- of the Mets, Jets and Rangers.
Bellone, who was the Babylon Town supervisor in 2001, said the Cedar Beach monument is so moving and unique because officials invited 9/11 families to participate in its design. The plaques include comments about the deceased that could have only come from peope who knew the victims intimately.
"It stands out for its humanity," Bellone said. "It feels so personal because it was created by the families."
The panel honoring FDNY firefighter Joseph Angelini Sr., next to the plaque honoring his son, FDNY firefighter Joseph Angelini Jr., describes him as brave, humble and quiet. The plaque for LeRoy W. Homer Jr., the co-pilot of United Flight 93, which crashed on Sept. 11 in Pennsylvania, calls him a man of dignity and compassion who loved to fly. Catherine LoGuidice was obviously a Led Zeppelin fan: "There’s a lady who knew all that glitters wasn’t gold and she found her stairway to heaven."
Cassero, meanwhile, said the plaque for his friend Guja sums up the firefighter perfectly. "Loved life, family, friends, good times," it said.
The plaque also includes a nod, Cassero said, to one of Guja’s favorite Louis Armstrong songs: "It’s a wonderful world. Love it, enjoy it. But don’t forget the duct tape, just in case."
