A Hero, A Tragedy, and a Father’s Love, Part 8 in a Series – New for 2011

I will be at the Trade Center for the 10 year Anniversary, Mayor Bloomberg said that there will be no Prayer said at the Memorial. I know that many of those who were trapped and dying on 9/11, prayed that God would either spare them from their suffering, or take them quickly. I am sure that many Firefighters and Police Officers Prayed that God help them in their Valiant and Courageous efforts to save Lives, and help protect them.

The last time any one of us in my Family heard from my Firefighter Son, Lt John P Napolitano from Rescue 2, is when just before he and his team left Brooklyn to go to the World Trade Center, he called his Wife at work and left her a message on the answering machine, a short simple message..he said that he loved her..then blew her a kiss.. that was it.. we never saw him again.

I spoke to an eyewitness who did see him for the last time, she followed the Rescue 2 Rig through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, and when they got out, before they strode into the North Tower, they secured whatever tools they would need to help them help others, gave each other knowing glances, looked up at the danger ahead, and without a moment’s hesitation walked into the Horror.

I know my Son thought of his Wife and two little Girls, of his Sisters, and his Mother and me..his whole Family.. but I also think that he Prayed, not only for God to help him save Lives, but if something was to happen to him..to look out for us.

When I got to the Trade Center with my Best Friend Lenny, I prayed to God to help me find my Son, I wrote a message in the Ash of Ground Zero, to my Son, and I prayed to God that if he already had my Son, to let him see my words to him. Lenny and I find a young Women under a Steel Beam, we make a Cross from the Debris, place it upright near her to mark where she was..and I Prayed for her. On September 23rd, Lenny and I stood at attention, as the Bodies of two Fallen Firefighters were carried from the Rubble, and I Prayed. Later we would find out that one of those Firefighters was Lt John Crisci, Lenny’s Brother.

So I say this to Mayor Bloomberg and all the Politically Correct People who think like him, is that your naivete is only overshadowed by your hypocrisy.. 9/11 is about Prayer..it is about Muslim Terrorists who killed thousands and will kill thousands more because they do not believe that People should Pray as they choose, or not at all..it is about People who Prayed to God to help relieve them of their suffering..of Hero’s who Prayed to God to help them save Lives, or look after their Families..of Rescue Workers, First Responders and Volunteers, Firefighters and Police Officers, who Prayed to God to lead them to finding someone alive, and those of us who Prayed over someones’ daughter who was no longer alive.

9/11 is about Family and Friends who gather at a Solemn Place, who mourn together, united in grief to remember

those who died in our place and to Honor the Memory of the Brave Firefighters and Police Officers and First Responders who gave their Lives in their efforts to save them, and to Pray to God to keep them at Peace..until we see them again.

When Lenny and I get back to the Trade Center, I will talk to my lifelong Friend, Lt John Crisci, my Son’s Schoolmates and Friends, Police Officer Glen Pettit, Firefighter William Mahoney, Firefighter Peter Brennan, and I will talk to my Son Lt John P Napolitano, FDNY, Rescue 2, and then I will get down on bended knee..and I will Pray..