By Angela Marshall
Calling it the most amazing experience, Foley described how the firefighters took a virtual stranger and made him feel like family. He eventually moved back to his Manhattan apartment, but he continued to stop by and have a cup of coffee with his new friends every couple of weeks.
Foley, bored with his work as a studio photographer, hoped that his photos of the firefighters would help launch a new photojournalism career. They did, but in ways he could never have imagined.
On Sept. 11, 2001, 15 men from the Pride of Midtown, as the home of Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9 is known, died in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.
Foley's photos at once became a lasting tribute to a band of brothers who gave their lives to save others. Newsweek sent Foley to cover the Trade Center attacks that morning, but he never guessed as he worked to capture the nightmare around him that it had claimed the lives of most his new friends.
Over the next few weeks, his photos appeared in national magazines and eventually were used in books. One of his funeral photographs was named Picture of the Year by Newsweek. But the success of his work tears at his soul, and as he talks holding back sobs, it is immediately obvious that he would give it all back just to see Ed Geraghty, or any of the other dead firefighters, walk through the firehouse door. What do I owe these guys? The whole world, he said. I'll spend the rest of my life paying these guys back.
Geraghty, of Rockville Centre, was a battalion chief, posthumously promoted to deputy chief, and a man Foley couldn't help but respect. He was just head and shoulders above the rest, Foley said, recalling how the other firefighters were motivated by their soft-spoken leader. All his men loved him and would go anywhere for him.
Subsequent to Sept. 11, Foley began to get bigger and better assignments, traveling all over the world. It was during an assignment in the Middle East that he felt his life come full circle. Having just landed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln somewhere in the Persian Gulf, Foley was taking in the spectacle of life aboard an oceangoing city when he noticed a row of jets. On one he saw the unmistakable symbol of the Pride of Midtown, a pair of theatrical masks. He wondered if he was dreaming. Then he saw the firehouse's tag line Never missed a performance. The firehouse is in the heart of the theater district and is said to be the busiest in Manhattan. Further back on the jet was painted, In memory of Battalion Chief Ed Geraghty and Captain Dave Wooley.
Foley stopped the petty officer taking him to his quarters and pointed to a bracelet Geraghty's wife, Mary, had given to him. The noise on the deck made it impossible to talk, but pointing back and forth between the bracelet and the plane, he got his point across. Within a few minutes, Foley met the plane's pilot, Kevin Albright, whom he described as the all-American boy.
They talked for a while, and Foley handed Albright the bracelet, saying he knew Mary would want the pilot to have it. Albright put the bracelet on and climbed into an F18 fighter jet to fly off on that day's mission, patrolling Iraq's no-fly zone.
Many Navy squadrons are paired up with New York City firehouses, and the names of those who died on Sept. 11 are painted on the planes to keep fresh in crew members' minds the reason they are there.
Foley believes the tribute is fitting. [Ed] should be remembered, he said. He put his time to good use he helped people.
When Albright's unit completed its tour, Mary Geraghty was asked to be the guest speaker at the change-of-command ceremony. She was especially proud when the commanding officer said he believed Ed Geraghty had a lot to do with the unit members' all coming home safely.
It's wonderful that people remember, she said. In her speech, Mary shared her belief that the New York City firefighters and police officers killed on Sept. 11 were America's first line of defense that day. She said she is not a believer in violence, but added that terrorists can't think they can come into our country and fly planes into our buildings.
After two years without Ed, Mary said the pain That ache, that incredible, incredible ache hasn't gone away. But she and her sons, Connor, Colin and James, are OK. The boys are doing great, she said. They really are. I'm so proud of them.
