The FDNY promoted 97 firefighters Tuesday — together with three Bravest whose fathers had been both killed on 9/11 or died from publicity to toxins at Floor Zero afterward.
John Bergin Jr., James Dodwell and Christopher Higgins — the sons of the Sept. 11 fallen — had been every promoted to lieutenant through the ceremony held on the Ocean Breeze Monitor and Subject on Staten Island.
One other 14 members of the division had been elevated to lieutenants, and 64 lieutenants had been made captains.
An assistant chief, 4 deputy assistant chiefs, 5 deputy chiefs, 4 Marine wipers and two supervising fireplace marshals had been additionally promoted.
“I see years of expertise and laborious work and experience,” FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker stated in addressing the group through the morning occasion. “I see faces weathered by laborious occasions and by good occasions, and I see a collective need to serve.
“You’re all leaders now, and also you’re all going to encourage generations of firefighters for years to come back.”
Dodwell attained the identical rank his father, Lt. Kevin Dodwell, held when he was murdered by terrorists who flew two business jets into the Twin Towers.
AP
The senior Dodwell was a 21-year division veteran when he died Sept. 11, 2001. He was 46.
“It’ll be a problem to all the time maintain the household title, my dad’s title, standing excessive,” James Dodwell, a member of Rescue Co. 4 in Queens, stated in an Instagram put up on the company’s web page.
“You simply hope that my effort and expertise will maintain transferring us ahead. Everybody who got here earlier than is what makes the job nice. All of us attempt to carry, whether or not it’s a household title or the custom of the Division, ahead. Continue to learn and instill the values and traditions onto the following era.”
James Dodwell was additionally honored on the identical day of what would have been his father’s seventieth birthday, in keeping with the FDNY.
Bergin Jr.’s father John was a firefighter with Rescue 5 when he was killed within the assault. Bergin, who was 9 on the time, works at Ladder 157 in Brooklyn.
“I needed to be a firefighter for so long as I can bear in mind,” Bergin Jr., 32, stated, in a put up on the FDNY’s Instagram web page.
“We stopped by my father’s firehouse whereas he was working, or he took us to work or the firehouse picnics. So long as I can bear in mind, that’s what I needed to do. So, I’m fortunate sufficient that I get to do this.”
Higgins continues to honor his father’s legacy by serving in the identical firm: Ladder 19 in The Bronx.
His father, Lt. Michael Higgins, died from 9/11-related sickness in July 2022, in keeping with the FDNY.
