By Hector Flores
Of the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives that day in the attack on the World Trade Center, 344 were from Nassau County. Six were from East Meadow.
Eric Becker, first assistant chief of the East Meadow Fire Department, saw firefighters react in a number of ways to the events of 9/11. ³There are guys who were affected differently by it,² Becker said. ³But most importantly, the fire service is reminded of that event every day, with every new tragedy.²
Becker, an instructor at the Nassau County Fire Academy in Old Bethpage, said that firefighting training has changed as a result of the attack. ³The gear and training has changed,² he said. ³And we look at everything differently. We have seen more federal money for training and equipment. The emphasis is now on terrorism training, dealing with weapons of mass destruction and what to do in the event of a bomb. This is something we were never trained to do before.²
Becker has been a volunteer firefighter since age 18 and an instructor at the academy for the past eight years, but on Sept. 11 he was an active member of the New York Police Department¹s Special Service Unit. ³In my unit we do everything,² he said. ³We deal with jumpers, suicides, emotionally disturbed people. We execute search warrants, hostage negotiations, building collapse, people that are struck by trains, scuba divers and first aid. But there was nothing like 9/11. I could not believe what was happening. It was tough. I think about what happened all the time.²
Becker explained that the unit comprises 10 squads and is made up of 400 officers, who are stationed throughout the five boroughs. On Sept. 11, the unit lost 14 members. He also knew firefighters who died, from his work as a volunteer and from the academy. ³I knew Ronald Geis of Merrick, Ronald Kerwin of Levittown ...² Becker said. ³On Long Island, there were at least half a dozen guys I knew. Five or six from our battalion alone, which is made up of East Meadow, Bellmore, North Bellmore, Wantagh, Seaford, Massapequa, North Massapequa, Levittown, North Merrick and Merrick. It wasn¹t easy. We did what we had to do. It was sad, and to this day it bothers me. I think about it all the time.²
At the time of the attack, Becker, who¹s now 47, was eligible for retirement, but he chose to stay on as a police officer until the cleanup at ground zero was finished. ³Many of us who were eligible for retirement stayed on to make sure everything ended OK,² he said.
The day of the attack
Becker, who was stationed in South Jamaica, Queens, was working the midnight-to-8 a.m. shift, and had to stay late to testify at Queens Traffic Court, near John F. Kennedy International Airport. ³Where I was, you could see the twin towers,² he said.
While waiting for his court case to begin, he saw smoke coming from one of the towers. ³I could tell by the smoke that it was very bad,² he said.
Becker and other police officers who were waiting for court cases to begin watched the news of the attack as it unfolded on television. When the second plane hit, Becker radioed his supervisor and was called to the World Trade Center for assistance.
³By the time I arrived there, the second tower had collapsed,² he recalled. ³The commander of our unit ordered us to set up a temporary command center by Stuyvesant High School. We knew we were missing people, and we moved to the school to regroup. We got all the guys we had and moved to the high school to figure out what our next move would be.²
Remembering the fallen
Six years after the event, Becker said, he will get together with his old police officer buddies on occasion and talk about the officers in his unit that died that day. ³We remember them by telling stories about them,² he said. ³We talk about the persons they were and what they would do. Their personalities, what we did together.²
Becker fondly remembers Tommy Langone, a fellow instructor at the fire academy, a member of the Roslyn Fire Department and member of the police unit. ³Tommy loved the fire service,² Becker said. ³He loved his job as an officer, and teaching. I loved working with him and teaching with him. He was a great guy.²
This year, in an effort to keep the memories of the fallen alive, the East Meadow F.D. is hosting a memorial service on Sept. 11, at 7 p.m., at the Veterans Memorial Park on East Meadow Avenue. ³Last year nothing was done, and we felt terrible about it,² Becker said. ³We decided not to let that happen again, and we¹re going to do it on an annual basis.²
He added that the service will be not be fancy, and it will last no longer than an hour. ³We will come together as a community that night, and we will share the memories and pray for the people that are gone, and for the families that have lost loved ones,² he said. ³This will help us keep our promise to always remember and never forget the people we lost in 9/11, and the people who are fighting for our freedoms.²
Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
