By:Walter Weltner
On Friday and Saturday, Oct. 19 and 20, a delegation of Valley Stream firefighters traveled to Miller Place on Long Island to attend a Family Visitation and a Memorial Mass for Lieutenant Peter Martin, one of New York's Bravest and a former Valley Stream Firefighter and Honorary Member of Engine Company 3 who is still missing in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center.
Lieutenant Martin was a member of Rescue 2 in Brooklyn, one of the first companies on the scene. Rescue 2, an elite firefighting unit located in Brooklyn, whose firefighting skills and bravery have been chronicled on the television show "The Bravest," lost seven of their 40-member company in the tragedy.
Martin, a native Valley Stream resident, joined Engine Company 3 of the Valley Stream Fire Department in 1978 and served until he moved to Miller Place in 1994. While attending college and studying for a law degree, he chose to become a full-time firefighter and in 1979 became a member of the FDNY. A short time after completing his training, he was assigned to Rescue 2 and except for a few years serving in another FDNY fire company, was a member until his promotion to lieutenant in 1998 when, due to FDNY policy, was transferred to another FDNY fire company.
In 2000, because of the exceptional firefighting skills displayed in his previous years at Rescue 2, he was transferred back to that company as a lieutenant, where he served until that fateful day. Martin was cited for individual bravery seven times during his outstanding firefighting career.
While with Engine Company 3, besides being an outstanding firefighter, he used the skills he acquired as a member of the FDNY to teach his fellow volunteer firefighters and wrote numerous articles on firefighting for the company newsletter. Martin was also an instructor at the Suffolk County Fire Academy in Yaphank and taught at numerous seminars throughout the country on the science of firefighting.
During the Memorial Mass held at St. Louis de Montfort Roman Catholic Church in Sound Beach, with over 1,000 firefighters and guests attending, his oldest son Daniel read the First Reading. He was eulogized by FDNY Captain John Vigiano from Ladder 176 in Brooklyn, who lost two sons in the WTC attack, one a member of the FDNY and one a member of the NYPD. Captain Vigiano was a lieutenant in Rescue 2 when Martin was assigned to that company as a young firefighter. Alice Martin also eulogized her husband, praising him for his marvelous approach to life.
On Friday, during the Family Visitation, Engine Company 3 firefighters acted as honor guards along with firefighters from the FDNY and Miller Place Fire Department where Martin was a member. On Saturday, Truck Company 1 of the Valley Stream Fire Department was part of an American flag arch in front of the church and Engine Company 3's 1969 Mack Pumper was the lead vehicle in the processional to and from the church. During the processional from the church, the cortege passed under 16 American flag arches constructed by 32 aerial or tower ladders from Suffolk County Fire Departments in respect and honor for their fallen brother.
Martin is survived by his wife, Alice, three sons, Daniel, 13, James, 8, and John, 6, his mother Irene Martin, still a Valley Stream resident and his sister, Elizabeth Maruca.
