If you can, listen to audio here: you have to hear the woman's voice to understand exactly what is going on.
quote:All Things Considered (8:00 PM ET) - NPR
September 20, 2001 Thursday
HEADLINE: Vina Drennan discusses how the Fallen Firefighters Foundation helps families who survive the death of a loved one within the community of firemen
BODY:
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
NOAH ADAMS, host:
And I'm Noah Adams.
The initials F-D-N-Y now more than ever stand for tragedy and for courage. More than 300 New York City firefighters may have died in the wreckage of the World Trade Center towers. Their families in the years ahead will have the support of the Fallen Firefighters Foundation, which the Justice Department helped establish back in 1992. Vina Drennan serves on the board of the foundation. Her husband, Captain John Drennan, was killed on the job in 1994.
Ms. VINA DRENNAN (Board Member, Fallen Firefighters Foundation): Firefighters throughout the nation are a family. But in New York City--we might be dysfunctional at times, but, God, are we a family. These members have supported my family and myself for the last seven years. They are my brothers. And as the reports came out that in my husband's company 11 members had perished, I knew that these were the very same people that got us through our darkest days seven years ago.
In the ensuing days, my son and I went down to the firehouse, which is below 14th Street. There was almost a joy of seeing their faces. Each company has, like, 25 members, so you, like, see Steve Altini and you say, 'Oh, good. I'm so glad you're here,' you know. At one moment, you're glad to see one; another minute, you're just filled with this cold, stone fear that you're not going to see many of the others.
I went to the wake of one of the firefighters that had been a pillar of strength for my children and me last night. They have a sense of optimism and the--amidst despair that we can't even begin to measure. They had decided to pray to my husband who they feel still watches over them. And they said, 'Captain Drennan, show us where the 11 members are.'
As they tell the story, this one young one--and he says, 'I know right where to put my shovel.' And Ladder 5 is so comforted by the fact that they were able to find five of their own, returning their bodies to their families, and honor those deaths in a proper and magnificent funeral.
ADAMS: Mrs. Drennan, are you saying that those at the scene were, in a way, calling on the spirit of your late husband to help them find those who had fallen?
Ms. DRENNAN: Yes. You lose your religion somewhat after a large crisis, but you sure get a spirituality about it.
ADAMS: In the new issue of US News & World Report, there's an extraordinary photograph. And you don't see in the news coverage many dead people. There's a photograph, covers two pages, and it is of the Reverend Mykal Judge, Fire Department chaplain, 68 years old. He went immediately to the site. You know him, yes?
Ms. DRENNAN: Mm-hmm. Well, he's one of my best friends.
ADAMS: Yes.
Ms. DRENNAN: And Mykal Judge is as special as everything as they say about it.
ADAMS: As you know, he was administering last rites to a friend and he was killed by falling debris.
Ms. DRENNAN: Mm-hmm.
ADAMS: And the rescue workers--the Fire Department of New York rescue workers are carrying him out.
Ms. DRENNAN: When my husband was terribly burned seven years ago--and two young firefighters had died right away--it happened in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. And they come and notify you, and they brought me to the burn unit at Cornell Medical Center. And in the hallway was this Franciscan priest, Mykal Judge, and his prayers were like a direct hotline to God. When he prayed, it was the most blessed thing. In the midst of despair and fear and sorrow and great, great grief, you felt like he was a presence that would get you through things. And plus, he had this magnificent sense of humor. So in this great, great sorrow, there was quite often much laughter and joy. 'All is well,' he'd say, and I'd say, 'No, it's not,' you know. And I'd argue with him and things like that.
And then many priests and grief counselors probably remember your birthday. You know, they'll call you up on the significant days, maybe the day of the fire. He remembered my anniversary. And at first, I thought it was a coincidence. But he knew that for widows that's a tough day. That's a tough day forever and ever. And even your mother doesn't mention it. Even your kids don't say anything about it. Every July 8th, every time--but that phone would ring and he'd be (in different voice), 'How you doing?' And he'd always tell me--he'd say (in different voice), 'You're a remarkable woman.' We've lost 28 firefighters since my husband's--well, including my husband and the other two--during the Giuliani administration. And as I'd go with him and meet the other widows, I realized that each one of us was remarkable to him.
Mykal was administering last rites to a firefighter that had just been hit by a body of a woman. People were falling out of those towers or jumping out of those towers so they weren't burned. And in the midst of this, here he is kneeling and giving last rites. The firefighters, when they realized he had perished, they carried him up to St. Peter's Church and they laid out his body on the altar, and they put his rosaries in his hand and they pinned his Fire Department badge and they prayed over him. Later that night, they wouldn't let his body go to the morgue. They brought him to their firehouse, and they laid him in the back room. And all the friars from across the street of St. Fran Assisi came, lit candles and said a vigil. He was beloved by every firefighter in this city, and the Fire Department will grieve him many, many years for the loss of his beautiful life.
ADAMS: You and the others who work with the Fallen Firefighter Foundation now have in New York City--the figure of firefighters missing is 343. You have these families to help.
Ms. DRENNAN: We do. New York City has normally a very good network, and right now it's going to be overwhelmed. Usually, the work of the foundation happens after the locality or the city deals with their loss. We respect the departments to saying goodbye. You don't want outsiders. And the foundation prides itself on usually waiting until the right time.
And what makes this very special to me as a survivor is that there's counseling groups set up with the right kind of counselors. They meet with the groups. If you're a mother and you've lost your son, that's going to be a different experience than if you're a teen-age daughter who's lost her dad. It's a different experience if you're a 45-year-old widow or if you're a 23-year-old widow. Fathers grieve terribly--especially fathers who are firefighters. Basically, counselors are set up, and you meet with someone who does understand--another dad who knows what you're going through, another brother. And they e-mail each other, there's networks set up. If Vina Drennan is having a bad day today, I could pick up that phone right now seven years later, and you know what? Somebody's going to care about me.
You know, pretty soon, sadly, the press is all going to go away. I hope to God the twin towers get rebuilt and there's a fitting memorial, and this will fade into history. But the pain those families feel isn't going to be over in a year or two or three. Those losses are going to be there for life. And while you're going to get scabs over those wounds, the survivors of the people that were lost in those--whether firefighters and the other people--are going to need help and support throughout the years. I know in my heart and soul the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation will provide that help to all 342 family members if they want it.
ADAMS: Mrs. Drennan, thank you so much for talking with us.
Ms. DRENNAN: You're welcome.
ADAMS: Vina Drennan, speaking with us from New York. She's on the board of directors of the Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
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