Belleville Remembers

Correction appended Sept. 13

The day was overcast, unlike that bright, beautiful Tuesday morning exactly 10 years ago, a day forever etched in the memories of the Belleville residents and all the other Americans who lived through it.

Four airliners were hijacked that day by Islamic terrorists and used as missiles aimed at the epicenters of the nation’s political, military and financial power. Along with the 19 hijackers, 2,977 people were killed, including the passengers on the planes, one of which went down in Shanksville, Pa. Another was crashed into the Pentagon in Washington and one each into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, where more than 2,600 people lost their lives.

The vast majority of New Jersey’s more than 700 victims were either working in the towers or were first responders who died after speeding to the scene to rescue those trapped in what had once briefly been the world’s tallest buildings.

For decades the towers dominated Belleville’s view of the Manhattan skyline, and were clearly visible from vantage points along Union Avenue and on Belleville Avenue east of Belleville Park, among other locations.

Hundreds of people gathered this afternoon for a ceremony to honor the fallen, to hear accounts of Belleville first responders and to draw inspiration from the words of clergy of various faiths at the township’s memorial to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

People came to the corner of Franklin Avenue and Chestnut Street to honor the memory of people like Antoinette Duger, a Belleville resident who worked on the 42nd floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

“We waited and waited, but she never came home,” said Nutley resident Michael DeRosa, Duger’s nephew.

Duger, along with the other local victims, Harry Ramos and Harvey Gardner, are each commemorated by a flag pole and a brick paver inscribed with their names at the township’s 9/11 memorial park.

“The American people are to be commended for the for the courage and resilience they showed in the rescue of survivors,” said Father Ivan Sciberras of St. Peter’s Church, quoting from a speech given by Pope Benedict XVI.* 

Other clergy members also sounded notes of mourning. Father Yousef Halim of St. Mary and St. Mercurius Coptic Christian Church in Belleville recounted his harrowing escape from the towers, where he was working at the time. Rabbi Martin Dunkelman of Temple Israel in Kearny recited the Kaddish, the traditional Jewish prayer for the dead.

Others who spoke to the mostly silent crowd noted that the attacks sparked two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, where Americans continue to fight -- and die -- to protect the nation.

“After 10 years we are still experiencing the repercussions of that day.....The young men and women are fighting halfway around the world because of what happened on Sept. 11, 2001,” said Mayor Ray Kimble.

“On Friday we’ve had two more soldiers who were killed in Kandahar, Afghanistan....They were 21 and 20 years old,” said Army Col. Martin A. Zybura. “These soldiers were 10 and 11 years old on Sept. 11, 2001.”   

The attacks, of course,  also claimed the lives of hundreds of first responders, including police officers with the New York City force and Port Authority police as well as  hundreds of members of the New York Fire Department.

Like antibodies to a wound, firefighters from across the nation converged on Manhattan in the days after the attacks to augment the FDNY, manning houses whose complement of firefighters were almost entirely lost in the attacks. But among the first to arrive to aid their  neighbor across the Hudson were EMTs, police officers and firefighters from New Jersey, including a substantial contingent from Belleville.  

On the day of the attacks, Belleville firefighters immediately opened a decontamination center at Clara Maass Medical Center in anticipation of an influx of survivors. The BFD was also part of a task force of Essex County firefighters manning decontamination centers at ferry landings in Hoboken and Liberty State Park, where they worked into the night hosing off survivors encrusted with the toxic debris of the fallen towers.

In the days after the attacks, Belleville firefighters -- both on duty and on a volunteer basis -- worked “the pile,” the remnants of the fallen structures, looking for survivors. BFD firefighters also covered houses in Brooklyn, delivered supplies, and raised more than $16,000 in donations for dependent family members of those killed in the attacks.

Belleville police officers also aided at the pile, and the department donated use of its mobile command center to the New York City borough of Staten Island for months after the attacks. On the day of the attacks, Belleville police officers patrolled at city landmarks, including the United Nations and the Empire State Building.

“One thing I remember were all the people coming up to them and seeing their badges, where they were from, and thanking them,” Chief of Police Joseph Rotonda told the crowd.

Chief Robert Caruso of the Belleville Fire Department spoke in moving terms about the FDNY, which lost 343 personnel. The nation’s largest fire department, Caruso said, is a “mentor, our role model” for Belleville’s force.

“[Belleville firefighters] shared the deep emotional suffering their brother firefighters experienced,” Caruso told the crowd.

“It’s amazing how it grips you,” Caruso later said of a return visit to the World Trade Center site a few years ago. “Make no mistake, there’s no one who was there who can ever forget what happened there.”

Both chiefs then read out the names of the local firefighters and police officers who went to New York to help.**

Today’s ceremony closed with people laying flowers at the base of the flagpoles commemorating the fallen. Children who had not yet been born when the towers came down walked beside older adults, some of whom daubed their eyes with handkerchiefs as they solemnly paid homage to the departed.

Among those paying their respects was Jean Smith-Vazquez, a family friend of local victim Harry Ramos. Ramos, who was killed a few days shy of his 46th birthday, was last seen on the 37th floor of the North Tower, helping people escape from the burning structure.

Ramos was building a house on Rossmore Place at the time of the attacks, and was “so excited” to be coming to Belleville, Smith-Vazquez said.

“He was very outgoing, everybody remembered him,” said Smith-Vazquez. “He was introducing himself to store owners around town. He got to see the foundation of his house but he never got to live in it.”

Asked to comment on today’s ceremony, Smith-Vazquez said simply, “I think it’s absolutely beautiful.”
 

*Correction: This quote was originally attributed to Pope John Paul II.

**Following are the names of Belleville first responders who worked in New York City on 9/11 and immediately afterwards:

BELLEVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT

Officers:
Battalion Chief George Pedalino, Anthony DeBerto, Captain John LaBadia, Stanley Depczek, Patrick Nufrio, Lieutenant Vincent Abbott, Peter Journey and Thomas Grande.

Firefighters:
Ralph Castellano, Richard Cavanagh, Ralph Chimento, Tim Coffey, Peter Coppola, Michael D’Andrea, George DelGrande, Patrick Dunn, Anthony Gingerelli, Eric Hochstuhl, Dennis Ives, Martin Lutz, Michael McGreevy, Paul Melchionne, Michael Monahan, Anthony Palermo, Frank Papaianni, Michael Santuoso, Dominic Scrimo, William Tamburri, Scott Wentworth and Robert Wille.

BELLEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT

Joseph Rotonda, John Hood, Victor Mesce, Jack Baumgartner, Matt Bernardo, Craig Mack, Frank Malfatto, Carl Castellano, Gerard Corbo, John Giacobbe, Gregory Gainnetti, Patrick Goldrick, John McAloon, Anthony Wieners, Nicholas Breiner, Philip Canning, Jason Caruso, Stephen Consenzo, Phillip DeComa, Joseph DeRose, Brendan Dullaghan, Phillip Gamarro, Richard Giordano, Kenneth Henry, Robert Kane, Kyle Kondreck, Nicholas Kondreck, Stephen Linfante, John Loiacono, Ralph Marotti, Joseph Mundy, Armando Nardone, Scott Simonetti, James Sochaski, Gary Souss, Giovanni Torluccio, Joseph Trabucco and Stephen Xenios.