Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: Welcome to a new edition of our diocesan podcast, Big City Catholics, with Bishop Robert Brennan, the Diocesan Bishop of Brooklyn, serving in Brooklyn and Queens, and myself, Father Christopher Henry, here at St. Joan of Arc Parish in Jackson Heights, Queens. Today, on this September 11th edition, this 25th anniversary, remembering the tragic events of September 11th, we're joined with an incredible guest. We're so lucky to have him with us today. Salvatore Cassano, who joined the FDNY in 1969 and since then has held basically every position in the Fire department of New York and in his career as chief of department, also being appointed as Commissioner of the FDNY by Mayor Bloomberg in 2010. Just an incredible guest that we're very lucky to have with us today. Thank you for joining us. But, Sal. Bishop, as we begin all things, we begin in prayer. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Bringing this day to our minds and to our hearts, we ask for the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary to console those who still mourn, to comfort those in their grief, to. To protect those dealing with the effects of 9, 11, and to bring those certainly who have passed to the arms of her heaven, of her son's embrace, as we call upon our Blessed Mother's intercession and pray. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
[00:01:45] Speaker C: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for
[00:01:47] Speaker A: us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
[00:01:50] Speaker C: Amen.
[00:01:51] Speaker B: The name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:01:53] Speaker C: So, Father Chris, this week, everything begins in earnest. We celebrated Labor Day. School's in session. Everything is back to normal. But I guess with the late Labor Day, we come upon some pretty somber days rather quickly. And so today, the day that this podcast is released, is September 11th. And we're recalling the terrible events of September 11th, as we do every year. But this year it has a special poignancy because we're noting 25 years since its occurrence. We're very, very honored. Pleased to have Sal with us. Thank you so much for joining us today.
[00:02:34] Speaker A: Thank you, Bishop. It's my pleasure.
[00:02:36] Speaker C: As Father Henyu said, you've held every position, including even commissioner of the department, joining the department in 1969.
So you've been a pretty big part of the fire, and I would imagine the fire department a big part of your life and your family.
[00:02:52] Speaker A: Oh, correct. My brother was also a firefighter who actually was the person that got me interested in becoming a firefighter. I was serving in Vietnam. I was in the army from 1965 to 1967 and I was in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967.
He sent me a letter we used to exchange. He was my older brother.
Exchange letters almost week daily almost. And he says, sal test is coming up for the fire department. It's a great job, I love it, you should think about it. And sent me the application and I really wasn't sure, you know, I was working with my father on the waterfront as a longshoreman, thought that was a great job, making a lot of money, but it wasn't going to last that long.
So when I came home I took the exam.
And you know, in the meantime after I took the exam, my brother got me involved with his firehouse, introduced me to everybody and I realized, wow, this is more than a job. This is like a second family. Everybody knew each other, everybody went to each other's weddings, kids, christenings, graduations. And I thought, well, what a way to spend the rest of my life. And I quickly jumped on board.
[00:04:05] Speaker C: There is a tight bond that really is admirable within the department and you know, there's also a great sense of bravery and we know that it's always had its risks. But on September 11th things really took a terrible turn. I remember September 11th very, very vividly and I was in an office in Rockville center looking out the window. But tell us about that day.
[00:04:28] Speaker A: Sure. I think if you ask anybody that was born before September 11th where you were, they'll tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing.
It was an event that had that kind of effect on everybody.
For myself, I was actually in headquarters.
It was early, you know, again it was 8:46 when the first plane hit. But we were in the. Early in the morning we were having our coffee at the command center. The chiefs, myself, the chief of department, Pete Gancy who was killed that day. One of my closest friends, Jerry Barbara, another three star chief like myself, he was killed that day. Donald Burns, another three star chief killed that day. Six of us responded from headquarters and that from that Manson at the. And three of us never came home. So we were listening to the radio, which we always do, it's always on the department radio having our coffee, talking about what happened the day before, what we were going to do that day.
Report came over that there was an explosion at the World Trade center, quickly followed by the transmission from Chief Pfeiffer that plane had hit the north tower and you know, first thought was small plane.
We all thought that kind of. But we all got up and everybody was going to respond.
Before I left headquarters, I looked out the window. We had a great view of the World Trade center from our seventh floor office. And I looked and you could see it was a beautiful blue sky. Yes, you could see for miles. I mean, you could really see for miles. And I turned to a chief standing behind me and I said, this can't possibly be an accident. Look at the beautiful sky. How could a plane hit that building by accident? Got in the car myself, took a few people with me, a couple of entities, and we responded. As I was getting out of my car, heard a second explosion, which I thought was a secondary explosion for the North Tower. Because I was parked north of the North Tower and all I saw was debris raining down. I didn't see that it was the second plane that it hit.
I know exactly when I land. I got on the scene was 9:03 because that's when the second plane hit the South Tower. I was lucky enough to make my way into a garage that was right there. Debris rained down on us. We all got out.
And then I made my way up to west street where there was a command post that was being set up.
And then I worked at that command post with the Chief of Department, Pete Gancy. I was sort of working as his aide because there was other chiefs that were involved in other parts of the building. He asked me to stay with him. I was doing some getting units getting where they were trying to cut down on the radio traffic. I made my way into the Marriott Hotel to get a, a rundown of the units that were at the Marriott because we had people in the South Tower, North Tower, Marriott. We were in every building that was there. Ironically, when I was making my way to the Marriott, I bump into Father Michael Judge.
I knew Father Mike really, really well. I was the commander where St. Francis Assisi Church was located on 31st Street. And every once in a while, if I was working on a Sunday, I'd make my way up to St. Francis to go to church. So we became really close friends. And I can remember just taking a look at Father Mike and you could see the look on his face and the worry, the anxiety, knowing what was going on. And we didn't exchange any words other than me telling him. I said, father Mike, you're going to have to get more chaplains here. We're in for a bad day.
And he went to the North Tower. I went, I made my way into the Marriott. You know, unfortunately, we lost Father Judge. Yes, early on, very early on. And, you know, you see that iconic photo of him being carried out and then being brought to St. Peter's and laid on the altar. And it was just a bad day. It just was a bad day.
[00:07:59] Speaker C: Horrible, horrible day.
[00:08:00] Speaker A: So I made my way into the Marriott, came back out, and I will tell you, Bishop, in that Marriott hotel, it was one of our top chiefs, Chief Galvin. I said, tom, need a rundown of the units. And I can hear somebody yelling at me, chief, Chief. And I look up and it's a young lieutenant from one of our companies. And he said, they won't let me upstairs. They just won't let me go and evacuate the building. Those are my orders. So I looked at the security guard, told him, they have to get up there. This building has to be evacuated now. Now, it would have been very easy for that young lieutenant when he was stopped up there to say, okay, they're not letting me up. I'm going to get out of here. No, he. He fought his way to get up to that hotel, to evacuate that building. Well, that whole company was killed that day.
But he knew. He knew his job was to evacuate that building, and nothing was going to stop him.
So you can see I.
It was a tough day. But personally, I witnessed so many acts of heroism and bravery and courageous acts from so many people that I ordered to do things. And they. Not one of them ever says, no, no, wait, let me see. No, too dangerous. Nope, not. There was. It was. Okay, that's what you want, Chief, I got it. And they went about their business. A lot of them didn't come home. But, you know, I'm trying to tell people, like, this year, especially 25 years later, we lost so many good people. We're never going to forget them. We're never going to forget their families. But I also think that we should think about the tens of thousands of people that we saved that day from both buildings and from the Marriott.
[00:09:37] Speaker C: You know, that's an interesting perspective. I don't hear that too often.
[00:09:40] Speaker A: Well, I've been pondering this for a long time.
[00:09:43] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:09:44] Speaker A: How many people that we rescued that day between the nypd, fdny, paramedics, Port Authority now have gone on to have families, to have children, to have grandchildren.
Those families have multiplied because of what happened that day and what the first responders did to ensure that we evacuated as many people as we could.
So I think we can't lose that.
Aspect of what happened on that day is, yeah, we lost a lot of really, really good people. And we did. We're never going to forget them. It's 25 years, and we're still honoring them and their families.
But let's remember the people that we saved and how they've been able to carry on 25 years later.
[00:10:26] Speaker C: And, you know, when you do talk to people one on one, there is a tremendous sense of gratitude. I just never thought of it so collectively, the way you're talking about it, but you talk to people and they. They talk about having been there. I had cousins in the building and how amazed and grateful that they are that they were saved. And they were saved. They didn't just get out. They were saved.
[00:10:49] Speaker A: No, they were saved. I could tell you after the 11th, and we were going through a lot of memorials and funerals, and there was a lot of people that visited our funerals that did not know the person that we were honoring, but they came out and they would say thank you. And I saw. You knew so and so. No, I didn't know. But I saw you guys coming up the stairs, and it made me relax and be calm and be able to get out. So by you going up those stairs, you helped save our lives.
And this was people that were just coming to our services, not knowing that, but wanting to pay homage and thank you to the members that were lost that day.
[00:11:24] Speaker C: And that is a vivid image that the whole point was evacuation, getting everybody out, and yet so many of our emergency personnel, first responders, and other emergency personnel were actually running in, running to the scene. I think that's something that's never been lost, not only on the people who were there that day, but on all of us. That image of people running in to help others, Great testament. I remember being in Rockville center, and I remember we were like, mobilizing Catholic hospitals and saying, be ready. And you know what? Nothing happened, because either you made it or you didn't. It was that stark something we never imagined. But in the months and years after, there was a tremendous amount of work in terms of the cleanup and in terms of, first of all, the immediate, which had to be horrible to try to either search for individuals or to search for their remains, but also the effects of that cleanup because, well, that a lot of breathing stuff in.
[00:12:27] Speaker A: You know, we. We just had a ceremony at the FDY headquarters, which I attend every year, because when we say we're never going to forget, those aren't just words. Words are just words. Your actions are what makes you say you're never going to forget. So there's not an event that honors the World Trade center. That I don't go to because our families are still there and I've known them for a long time. We just honored 36 members of the department that succumbed to World Trade center illnesses last year, just last year. So the number now as of Monday was we have lost 452 members that were active on that day to World Trade center related deaths. 452 and another 166 that were retired, that came back to help us work, that were lost. So now we're over 600 of our members that have succumbed to illness due to their work at the World Trade Center. And I will tell you, Bishop, the hardest thing we had to do at the World Trade center is to hold our members back.
Everybody wanted to work at the site, work there, go to the firehouse, work in the firehouse, come back, work at the site. So we had to set up 30 day shifts where they couldn't come in any more than 30 days.
We witnessed such horrible things that day and the days and weeks and months that followed. We didn't want anybody to spend too much time down there because it would have had an effect on them psychologically. Before we let them go back to work, everybody had to be evaluated by a counselor to make sure that they were okay to go back to work, make sure they were back, go for their families.
We tried to make sure that while they were doing all this difficult, difficult work, that we were taking care of them as well.
[00:14:11] Speaker C: And they did it with great valor and again, still knowing the risks. These weren't things that were just discovered. You knew it was a dangerous work. One of our priests, Monsignor John Delendic,
[00:14:22] Speaker A: good friend of mine.
[00:14:23] Speaker C: Ah, what a great man he was.
[00:14:25] Speaker A: Monsignor Delendic was a very close friend. He married my oldest daughter and became part of my family. And, you know, we just, we lost him a couple of Thanksgivings ago. And Father John was there all the time?
[00:14:36] Speaker C: Yes, he was.
[00:14:37] Speaker A: He was shepherding us, praying over us, making sure that we were okay. He spoke at so many of our memorial service, so many of our funerals, and unfortunately, he succumbed to the illnesses because of the World Trade Center.
[00:14:49] Speaker C: Yeah, and. And he really suffered with those illnesses. It was not an easy death. You know, I only met him. I came to Brooklyn in 2021 and he was already quite ill, but still highly functioning as a pastor and as a chaplain. And he brought me to houses. I did a Christmas Eve mass in one of the houses with Monsignor Zalande.
[00:15:11] Speaker A: You were on Ladder? You were at ladder 109, engine 241.
[00:15:15] Speaker C: Wow. That's right.
It's funny, I went past the one in Bay Ridge the other day. Father John Wong was driving the car and appointed. I said, that's where I said to Christmas Mass.
[00:15:26] Speaker A: I don't know a lot about anything, but I do know a lot about the fight
[00:15:31] Speaker C: and the other department. Yes. They had lost a series of men.
[00:15:33] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:15:35] Speaker C: In addition to nine, 11 related.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: They lost a lot of related deaths
[00:15:38] Speaker C: later, but also in other fire accidents. So they suffered great tragedies. But you know, it was a great priest, highly dedicated. I knew him. He was already ill, but you could just see him wasting away. As you know, his lungs just couldn't function.
[00:15:56] Speaker A: You sort of turn out at his funeral.
[00:15:58] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:15:58] Speaker A: How many people came to pay their respects? People that really didn't know him. That church was packed. It was standing room only. It was outside.
[00:16:08] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:09] Speaker A: His final blessings was to us.
And by that turnout.
[00:16:14] Speaker C: Yep. Yeah, it really was.
[00:16:16] Speaker B: We use that phrase and as you mentioned, they're more than just words. We often say never forget, never forget. And it is quite shocking. You know, I was a freshman in high school, the events of September 11th. One of the young men at the school who was a senior, Anthony Palumbo, lost his father as well in the events of 911 as a firefighter. And I realized how it struck so many people so close to home. Now I'm the pastor of a parish here in Jackson Heights and a beautiful place with a school and I'm so happy to have that the young people around. But it is quite shocking. I mean, it's just reality that there are many, many people in the community that are were born after the events of September 11th. So trying to, I think, move into this next generation of helping keep that phrase a reality. Never forget. You know, I think many, like our parish would plan to do a memorial service with our school children to, you know, inform them of. Of the events and. But also just to recognize the need for prayer. And there's a lot of the next generation that just doesn't have that lived experience. In your estimation, how, how can we continue to. To maintain that the legacy of those heroes, to maintain the, the importance of this day and to help people to, to never forget.
[00:17:36] Speaker A: You know, Father Chris, you just. Statement you made. I heard a statement that I had double take when I heard it a couple of days ago.
100 million people in this country weren't born on September 11, 2000.
[00:17:46] Speaker C: Third of the population, they say. Yep.
[00:17:48] Speaker A: Unbelievable. So what we've been doing we started this a while ago. I'm a member of the Tunnel of the Towers foundation, executive board member. I've been with them since day one. And you know, part of their mission is to make sure that people never forget cause of what happened to their brother. Stephen Siller. Great story. Great hero. We have a K to 12 education program that's available to any school that wants to use it.
It's an online program that teachers can take the curriculum off and it's being used in a lot of different schools. Not in New York so much, but out of state.
I just got involved in a project with pre k talking about September 11, but you know, a little softer tone to get the pre K kids involved a little bit. Nothing gruesome, nothing out of the ordinary, but at least let them know there was a day, September 11th. And here's what some of the things that happened and the final piece to the puzzle is I'm working with the College of Staten Island. We are actually right now in the middle of producing a college course for kids that were out of high school in college that want to learn about not only the day of September 11, what led up to it, what happened that day, and how we rebuilt the city and the department because of resilience of New Yorkers and Americans. So we are trying, Father Chris, to get the educational portion of it out there. And that's how we think they can learn about what happened, the heroes that died that day, the heroes that died since, the families that have been still suffering and how we can pay respects to them and really let them know that their sacrifice wasn't unworthy. I think it's important for them to realize that.
[00:19:25] Speaker C: True. And you know, another group of people that I have to take my hat off to is all the firefighters or the police officers who've joined the forces since 9, 11. I mean, now if you think of a 20 years as a kind of average career of a firefighter, of a police officer, we're kind of in that second generation of people who've come on. There is still generous and courageous men and women who see the value in this public service, in protecting and rescuing and helping and unfortunately sometimes doing it without the right respect, respect that they deserve. But they persevere and they represent us well and they serve us well. I know serving here in Brooklyn, how our parishioners are so incredibly grateful to the police and firefighters, how we realize our dependence upon them. I salute all of those who, knowing all the risks, say, but it's something
[00:20:24] Speaker A: important to do well, you Know, Bishop Brennan, you have a Beautiful Mass on September 11 for Engine 219, Ladder 105. The church is packed not only with firefighters, but with people from the neighborhood that want to pay their respects to the police officers, the firefighters, and to show that you are part of our community. It conflicts with some.
[00:20:46] Speaker C: I know there's so many. Yeah.
[00:20:48] Speaker A: But I did attend one where it didn't conflict, and I was just blown away by the turnout, the respect that was paid to by the people in the neighborhood and that, you know, that's always uplifting to the members of the service, whether you're a firefighter, police officer. When people tell you that they respect what you do, it gives you more energy to go back to work. It just does.
[00:21:08] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:21:08] Speaker A: It just makes you feel good and say, you know what? I am doing the right thing. I'm ready to get back to work.
[00:21:13] Speaker C: I have that mask. It's an honor because that company, they. They're at these services in the morning, Ground zero.
And they walk from there over the Brooklyn Bridge. I meet them on the bridge, welcome them back into Brooklyn, and it's an honor to walk with them. And again, you see appreciation and respect to people along the way. And then, as you say, it's a beautiful, beautiful Mass this year. I'm invited. So we'll do that at the Coke Cathedral. I'm also going to do it the next day at the cathedral with the engine companies up there. So that'll be nice on Saturday. But, you know, Father Henry was, you know, was the rector of the Coke Cathedral and was a big part of that Mass even before I was.
[00:21:55] Speaker B: Yes, it was a beautiful opportunity to work with great people there at the engine company. And even, you know, those, certainly those who are retired from the. From the job, but yet continue to maintain that tradition. And just the. The scene on Pacific street, you know, outside of the church, with all of the flags and all those walking and participating. It just was a beautiful, beautiful event, and it was an honor. Now we have our. As I mentioned, we'll have a special Mass at my parish. So I won't be able to join that Co Cathedral Mass with you, Bishop, this year, but it's just great ways in which we remember and to maintain prayer, the prayerfulness, the spirit of prayerfulness on a day that is a day of praying for, you know, against acts of violence, to pray for reconciliation, to pray for forgiveness. I mean, it's just a day of lots of blessings and prayer. So it will be a beautiful celebration with you, too. I'm sure, Bishop. And all those two have joined.
[00:22:59] Speaker C: And, you know, Father Chris mentioned now Father Palumbo, he was a high school senior when he lost his hat, but he was in that engine company in 2019. And so last year, he preached for us at the Mass.
[00:23:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I, you know, I. I always tape it because I make sure that I watch it when I get home. And to see. No, I knew his dad. His dad was Frank palumbo from latter105. And I don't think people know the story that Frank had 10 children.
10 children.
And if you ever saw them, I had five children, and they made more noise than the 10 of them put together. It was so disciplined. It was unbelievable. And, you know, the New York Giants actually adopted them after September 11th. And I remember I was at a practice with the Palumbo children. It was just amazing that, how disciplined they were. And then Anthony became a priest.
And, you know, that was. Frank was going to be his vocation as well. Frank was going to become a priest. Really decided to become a firefighter, which is, if, you know, the higher rank you get into the fire department, the more you become a priest. You know, by the time I became commissioner, I could have been a bishop. I think I heard so many confessions.
[00:24:13] Speaker C: And you are indeed a man of faith, calling people to prayer and 100. Yes, so. And still connected with us in Brooklyn. Well, listen, thank you for joining us. I suspect we'll probably see each other in the comings and the goings of the next week.
[00:24:29] Speaker A: I would hope that the people that listen to the, you know, the podcast would realize that, like I said before, never forget isn't just words. It's what you do by your actions. So to honor a veteran who may have served because of what happened on September 11, or first responders that are still protecting us from the evils of people that are out there, show that appreciation, whether it's donating to a veterans organization or first responder, or just attending events and saying thank you for your service.
It does go a long way. It really, really goes a long way.
[00:25:04] Speaker C: Well said. Well said. And so with that, Commissioner Cassano, I thank you very much for your service, for all the people who've served with you, and I thank you for being with us today. This is an important day and wonderful conversation to put our minds in that right mode, to remember and to pray.
[00:25:22] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:25:22] Speaker C: But the Lord be with you and with your spirit. Let us ask the Lord to bless those who are hurting and to bring to the resurrection those who have died as we pray. Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.
[00:25:38] Speaker A: Amen.
[00:25:39] Speaker C: Amen. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy,
[00:25:42] Speaker B: through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
[00:25:44] Speaker C: Amen. And may the knowledge and the love of God, which is beyond all, understand to keep your hearts and united in the love of Christ, in the name of the the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[00:25:54] Speaker A: Amen.
[00:25:55] Speaker B: Amen. Thank you very much, Bishop. Thank you as well, Commissioner Cassano and all those who join us each and every week on our DAs and podcast, Big City Catholics. We will never forget, and we hope that you join us again next week. God bless.
