Articles Continued

Articles    Articles Page 7    Articles Page 8    Articles Page 9    Articles Page 10

*Source: unknown NYC newspaper

by David Greene

A heroic firefighter, who had been remembered during a November memorial service, was laid to rest after his body was finally recovered from the rubble of what was the World Trade Center.

An estimated 500 hundred mourners, including 100 firemen and several dozen police officers, along with a hundreds of friends and community members, paid homage to fireman Angel Juarbe, Jr.

Juarbe, a man with everything to live for, was honored with a funeral held on Saturday, December 1, at St. Roch’s Church, located at 525 Wales Avenue at E. 149th Street.

With giant American flags covering the pulpit, Father Francisco Siguenza told mourners, "We wish to express our deepest and sincere sympathy to the family of our departed brother."

The priest continued, "Death, my brothers and sisters, brings us face-to-face with the deepest realities of life that we face."

The bilingual service for Juarbe, of Ladder Company 12 in Chelsea, culminated after an intense wait, as his body was eventually recovered.

Juarbe, 35, was born and raised in the Bronx and was a graduate of Dewitt Clinton High School. He had joined the New York City Fire Department eight years ago, but despite recent changes in his life, Juarbe had not changed.

A moonlighting model, Juarbe had recently been a contestant on the Fox reality show "Murder In A Small Town X," and had solved the murder, winning a new car as well as the $250,000 prize.

Despite every reason to live, the heroic fireman had finished his shift but decided to answer one last call at the Twin Towers, which would eventually take his life and the lives of four of his fellow firefighters of Ladder 12.

After the funeral, his uncle, Manny Gonzalez, recalled, "He recently appeared in Small Town X and won the contest."

Gonzalez continued, "The family was going to celebrate when the 911 call came, but he answered the call and he was one of the firemen to enter the World Trade Center." A memorial service was held in November because two months after the unthinkable disaster, his body had still not been recovered.

Gonzalez added that Juarbe’s body was eventually discovered on Tuesday, November 27. Gonzalez stated that a 2002 calendar with Juarbe’s picture was canceled after the September 11 tragedy, but he had modeled for several magazines in the past.

Gonzalez concluded, "He was a good kid who played football with the youngsters on the block. He was adventurous and on his way up with a lot to look forward to." Pictures of Juarbe in his firefighter uniform and published modeling photos graced the entrance of the church.

As 100 firefighters jammed the first 10 rows of the church, about three dozen firemen and a dozen police waited outside, as Wales Avenue was closed to traffic at E. 147th Street. No eulogy was given as Juarbe was eulogized during the recent memorial service.

A fire engine brought Juarbe’s body to the church, but he would leave in a hearse for the ride to Woodlawn Cemetery, where he would be cremated. Outside the church his mother and father were seen simultaneously wiping the tears from their eyes.

The somber crowd walked out of the church and followed the hearse down Wales Avenue, as the crowd headed to the next block and mingled and consoled one another in front of Juarbe’s home, where most of his family still lives. Friends and family members were seen crying and hugging one another as they shared stories of the young hero.

Firefighter Tom O’Donoghue of Queens, a member of Engine 3 who worked side-by-side with Ladder 12 as part of Battalion 12, stated his heartfelt pain. "Angel was a good friend of mine; a very special guy," as he described how a young woman once spontaneously walked up to the handsome firefighter and told him, "You know something, you sparkle."

A member of the firehouse at W. 19th Street and 7th Avenue, Ladder 12 is known as "The Dirty Dozen."

According to O’Donoghue, Juarbe was selected to appear in Small Town X, which began filming in March, and continued through April. Due to contractual demands, Juarbe could not tell anyone that he won until the program aired in July.

O’Donoghue explained, "He couldn’t share it with us so we kept grilling him, but he couldn’t breathe a word." The night he won he was working in the firehouse and O’Donoghue continued, "It was beautiful when he won; we were so excited for him." Sadly, the final program aired just two weeks before September 11.

O’Donoghue added that Juarbe’s body would never have been found if the city had abandoned its efforts to continue the recovery effort.

Recalling how the entire city was affected by September’s terrorist attacks, O’Donoghue added, "No one escaped this; there is just so much emotion involved. The honor of our members is at stake and we want to make sure it’s preserved." He recalled his drive over the Throgs Neck Bridge and seeing a plane dive into the World Trade Center.

Juarbe’s brother Charlie, a transit police officer, later said, "He was a fun person, a leader... he was intelligent; just a real sweetheart." Recalling September 11, Charlie stated, "He was on the phone with his command and the alarm went off. He jumped on the truck and just went... that was it."

Charlie added that the family cremated the hero’s body and would spread the ashes over the Adirondacks because "He always wanted to be set free with the eagles."

Besides leaving behind his heartbroken parents Miriam, and Angel, and brother, Charlie, he also leaves behind a sister, Susan, a Bronx court officer; sister Jessica Cruz, an employee of Cablevision; another brother Edgar, an officer at the nearby 42nd Precinct; as well as a cousin, Vanessa, also a police officer at the 50th Precinct.

Last Man Down: A New York City Fire Chief and the Collapse of the World Trade Center Richard Picciotto Berkley Hardcover 320 pages April 2002

I first heard about this book on a morning radio program commemorating the first anniversary of September 11th. Several passages were read aloud by an actor with a New York accent; I was hooked. I don’t usually review nonfiction but I begged the editor to let me review this book. It has been the best and the worst two weeks of my life. I must confess that I am drawn to disasters. I soak up the details and try to understand not only what happened but why it happened. My bookshelves hold Gary Pomerantz’s Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds, transcripts from airplane black boxes, titles with Titanic, Hindenberg, Hiroshima in them. I confess, I am a disaster addict and so I felt compelled to read Last Man Down. This book isn’t about statistics or fine details pinpointing precise moments in the World Trade Center tragedy. This book is a firsthand account of what it was like to be inside the North Tower and knowing that the 100 stories above you were crashing down upon you. Last Man Down begins with a brief introduction that leads into a listing of all 343 firefighters who died that day - it goes on for pages. I came across the name of Angel Juarbe, Jr. You may remember him as the winner from the reality television show Murder in Small Town X. He was a sweet young man with a quiet dispostion. He had finished his shift on the morning of September 11, but instead of going home he joined his company. This book is full of anecdotes about firefighters’ dedication and loyalty and about our civilian idiocy. Many were the times I slapped my forehead and said “How can someone be so stupid?” When you get to the passage about the man who refused to leave his computer you’ll understand. FDNY Battalion Commander Richard Picciotto, or "Pitch" as he is called, tells his tale in a conversational tone. I had the distinct feeling that Pitch was sitting at my kitchen table, covered in ash and soot, a mug of coffee in his hand, his gear strewn on the floor, personally telling me his story. Yes, it’s that intimate and immediate. Pitch rambles a bit, he repeats himself, he gets angry, but he tells his tale in a matter of fact way. It’s as though he’s still trying to work out what happened to him that morning. Pitch’s personality comes through loud and clear – imagine the Bruce Willis character from those Die Hard movies – he does not like authority, bureaucratic red tape, nor does he suffer fools gladly. After the tower collapses one of the trapped rescue workers carries on and on about his dog, asking people to look for him, to take care of him. Pitch snaps at the man “Enough about the goddamn dog…[y]ou’ve got guys here with wives and kids…[l]et’s not memorialize a fucking dog!” He finds out later that the man was a canine cop and his canine partner was in the basement of the building that had just collapsed around them. There were many things that Pitch had to say that day in order to keep his men together, keep the survivors hopeful and calm. Picciotto explains in detail about the rescue equipment each firefighter had to carry, and I had to try it out for myself. The firefighters who walked UP the stairs, past office workers going DOWN to safety, were carrying approximately 100 lbs. of equipment. I packed my knapsack full of canned goods, roughly 60lbs, and walked down and then up the seven flights to my apartment to try and get a feeling of what these men had to cope with. I even cut across each floor, copying Picciotto’s method of checking and clearing each floor before descending to the next level. I did this in a well-lit safe environment – no acrid smoke, no stinging ash, no crushing debris or threat of fire, and I came to the conclusion that firefighters are the modern day equivalent of the mythic Hercules. The passages that describe firefighters’ efforts to reach Picciotto are akin to a big screen Hollywood adventure. The events that happen after Pitch escapes the rubble are worthy of a Twilight Zone episode -- one of the firefighters who had been trapped with Pitch walked unnoticed back to his station. Pitch marvels at both the lack of communication between firefighers within the bounds of Ground Zero and the plethora of information being personally delivered to firefighters’ families all over the city. After reading Last Man Down, I have two things to say. One, when you see a fire engine, lights flashing, sirens blaring, remember to pull over to the side of the road out of the way; it’s the one time people like you and I get to help our heroes. Two, firefighters, whatever they do get paid, it isn’t enough. I highly recommend this book for people who are still asking: What happened?