Thursday, October 1, 2026
Like many Long Island and New York communities, Freeport’s losses connected to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are painful scars on local households and the village at large.
These losses, however, have not prevented Freeport from making concerted efforts to remember and honor the legacies of those lost, which has helped their lights burn as bright as ever 25 years later.
One of the families forever impacted by the terror attacks is the Muldowney family, who lost two close relatives, Richard Muldowney Jr. and Kenneth Watson, who were New York City firemen and courageously went towards danger to help respond to the devastating destruction that occurred during the crumbling of the towers.
Public service is a commitment that the Muldowney family has been familiar with. Richard’s father, Richard Sr., was a Freeport police detective who died in 1999. Kevin Muldowney, Richard Sr.’s son and Jr.’s brother, is a former chief of the Freeport Fire Department and a New York City police detective who retired in 2003. Kevin had the grim task of trying to find is brother at Ground Zero, which he unfortunately could not do. Later on, DNA testing eventually helped identify his remains.
Despite these devastating losses, the Muldowney family has remained focus over the years on ensuring that the sacrifice of their loved ones and the loved ones of the thousands who died on that day or because of those attacks, are not in vain.
“For years we dedicated ourselves to helping and assisting the Tunnel to Towers Foundation in any way which can raise money,” Kevin Muldowney, a long-time Freeport firefighter, the brother of Richard and the cousin of Watson, said of his family. “We attend the [5K] Run and Walk every year with a large group of 100 or more, and we’re very proud of that. This is what we do to keep his name out there … we can never forget.”
The Freeport Fire Department and other village officials and residents have been active in preserving the memories and names of 30 Freeport community members who either died in the immediate wreckage of the attacks or from Sept. 11 related illnesses later on. The village holds an annual memorial service located on South Bayview Avenue and Ray Street, the location of a special lighthouse memorial with the names of 26 victims, four more being added this year who succumbed to illnesses.
Additionally, a shed memorial structure, which is currently housed at the Freeport Historical Society, is being revived by the fire department and intended to be brought to this year’s commemoration services.
“We want all village residents to attend,” Kevin said of this year’s event. “We’ve been blessed with their [village officials’] assistance in everything that we need to keep the structure, the remembrance lighthouse, going. But we would like everybody to attend, especially children. We gotta explain to them that this they were heroes. They were victims and they were heroes.”
To read more from the Herald's Remembering 9/11, 25th anniversary special section, click here.
