Island Trees Fallen Heroes Memorial Honors Alumni

A 9/11 memorial donated by the Island Trees Football Alumni Association sits quietly outside the William Henaghan Memorial Field Tuesday on the 11th anniversary of the attacks.

The Fallen Heroes memorial, completed in July, commemorates alumni of Island Trees who died on 9/11 or in the line of duty. 

On Tuesday morning, flowers were placed in front of the plaque, as well as two memorials for Kevin Smith and Claude Daniel Richards.

Smith was an FDNY firefighter for a company which lost the most members of any on September 11, while Richards was an NYPD Bomb Squad officer and was in one of the towers when it collapsed, according to Nick Tonno, President of the Island Trees Football Alumni Association.

Tonno said proudly that the memorial was donated and constructed entirely by alumni of the school.

"Every thing was done by past football alumni players – our whole idea is to give back where we came from," Tonno said.

Unfortunately, the memorial was vandalized back in July, just days after it had been completed, but it was cleaned up shortly after.

The Island Trees football field is fittingly named after William Henaghan, an alumni who who died in a helicopter crash in the Vietnam war. 

This is the first anniversary of 9/11 the memorial has existed, and Tonno said he hopes members Island Trees community will visit it for years to come.

"Every year, we will make sure they remember," he said.

How are you remembering the 11th anniversary of 9/11? Tell us in the comments below.