REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 10TH, 2001

“Where were you on September 11th, 2001?”

It’s a question I have heard asked countless times over the last two plus decades. Everyone recalls where they were on that fateful day when they heard the news about the terrorist attacks in NYC, Shanksville, PA and the Pentagon. I’m no different, and I wrote about my story in my book: Where Was God? An NYPD first responder’s search for answers following the terror attack of September 11th 2001.

But for many of us, the memories of 9/11 don’t begin on that day. There is an emotional lead up that culminates in 9/10; the last day before our world was forever and irrevocably changed. I’m sure if I had the chance to speak with a veteran who was at Pearl Harbor on December 6th, 1941, they would share the same story. Remembering the last time that things were ever ‘normal.’

I remember September 10th.

I spent the evening watching Monday Night Football, sitting in bed feeling frustrated, because I had to get up early the next morning to cover the NYC primary election. I was glued to the game, watching my beloved NY Giants eventually lose to the Denver Broncos.  

That’s my last memory of normal.

At that time I had been a cop for over 15 years. I thought I had seen just about everything, but a few hours after waking up, I would learn just how wrong I was.

For the 23 members of the service we lost on 9/11, they never enjoyed another normal day. Twenty-Two years later, many of us have been forced to embrace a new normal, as we struggle with health issues due to exposure of toxins at Ground Zero. The scourge of cancer almost loses its sting when you realize that it is most likely not a question of if, but when.

You reflect a lot on the fact that 9/11 wasn’t a singular terrorist attack, but a generational one that continues to claim lives two decades later. It’s difficult to embrace normal when you get constant notifications alerting you that we’ve lost another first responder to a 9/11 illness.   

Tomorrow politicians and pundits will dust off the tired old mantra: Never Forget, but the reality is we are forgotten; only remembered one day a year and then put back into the closest until the next anniversary. The majority of them have never had to struggle with having a normal day. The constant political fight to fund the 9/11 Health Program proves just how quickly they forget and move on.

Today I reflect on what life was like before that day and tomorrow I will mourn those we lost; killed in the initial attack or its lingering aftermath. Tomorrow will be about ‘remembering the heroes,’ but knowing that the door will close again on September 12th for another year.

WTC Cross Photo courtesy of Anne Bybee-Williams © 2001

Mourning the death of NYPD Police Officer Wilbert Mora

On January 21st, 2022, NYPD Police Officer Wilbert Mora was shot in the line of duty. His partner, Jason Rivera, was also shot and died of his wounds that night. Officer Mora was taken to the hospital, but I am saddened to report that he succumbed to his wounds on January 25th.

The loss of any officer’s life is tragic, but the death of two officers is a brutal reminder of just how difficult being a cop is. I didn’t know them personally, but they were my brother’s none-the-less. We forged our bond when they took their oath of office and joined the greatest police department in the world. They became part of a select fraternity of men and women who have become NY’s Finest.

Officer Rivera and Mora’s NYPD careers were cut short, but their names will live on forever. They embody the Department Motto: Fidelis Ad Mortem - Faithful Unto Death. This will come as little solace for their families, but within the NYPD there is no greater honor and we do not forget our fallen.

Reflecting on their deaths, I cannot help but think about the unfortunate history the NYPD has. As the Nation’s largest municipal police department, line of duty deaths are a grim reality. And while the loss of one officer is heartbreaking, the NYPD has lost a number of partners over the years, including:

Officers Victor Cooper and Clarence Clark (1938)

Officers Peter Knudson and Francis O’Hara (1946)

Detectives Luke Fallon and John Finnegan (1962)

Detectives James Donegan and Salvatore Potenza (1964)

Officers George Bishop and Plato Arvanitis (1969)

Officers Patrick Harrington and Joseph Mariconda (1970)

Officers Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones (1971)

Officers Gregory Foster and Rocco Laurie (1972)

Sergeant Frederick Reddy and Officer Andrew Glover (1975)

Officers Christie Masone and Norman Cerullo (1978)

Officers James Rowley and Charles Trojahn (1983)

Auxiliary Sergeants Larry Cohen and Noel Faide (1989)

Detectives Keith Williams and Richard J. Guerzon (1989)

Detectives Rodney Andrews and James Nemorin (2003)

Detectives Patrick Rafferty and Robert Parker (2004)

Auxiliary Officers Eugene Marshalik and Nicholas Pekearo (2007)

Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu (2014)

To the family of Officer Mora, there are no words that I can give you that will take away the pain. Just know that you do not grieve alone. The tens of thousands of active and retired members of the greatest police department in the world mourn with you and Jason’s family and their sacrifice will never be forgotten.

Fidelis Ad Mortem

Mourning the death of NYPD Police Officer Jason Rivera

This morning I watched the sun crest over the horizon, as beautiful as it was, a coldness gripped my heart, knowing that one thousand miles east, the family of NYPD Police Officer Jason Rivera was waking and preparing to make funeral arrangements for their fallen warrior; a brother of mine whom I didn’t know personally, but a brother none-the-less when he took his oath to be a New York City Police Officer. He died 37 years to the day that I took my oath of office, and 36 years to the day we lost Detective Anthony Venditti.

A career criminal cut Officer Rivera’s NYPD career short last night, but his name will live on forever. He embodies the Department Motto: Fidelis Ad Mortem - Faithful Unto Death. This will come as little solace for his family, but within the NYPD there is no greater honor and we do not forget our fallen.

At the same time, we must put aside our pain and continue to pray for his partner, Police Officer Wilbert Mora, who remains in critical condition.

Demonizing the police has become the rage in recent years among politicians and activists who see them, and not the criminals, as the real threat to society. Yet the group that continually admonishes us not to see race, are the first to paint all cops as being racist. They refuse to acknowledge the ultimate sacrifices of officers such as Wen Jian Liu, Rafael Ramos, Miosotis Familia, Randolph Holder, and now Jason Rivera, choosing to see only the color of the uniforms they wore. They ignore the vast majority of officers who entered their professions to make a difference in their communities; officers who chose to put deeds before words. Let us take a moment to reflect that over one thousand members of the NYPD have paid the ultimate price for the citizens of their city.

What I do know is this. Today, thousands of officers will slip a black mourning band onto their shield, putting aside their pain at the loss of their brother, and will go out and do their job to protect the citizens of New York City. It is a time-honored tradition that I am all too familiar with.

To the family of Officer Rivera, there are no words that I can give you that will take away the pain. Just know that you do not grieve alone. The tens of thousands of active and retired members of the greatest police department in the world mourn with you and Jason’s sacrifice will never be forgotten.

Fidelis Ad Mortem

NYPD Cold Case Anthology (Print) - Update

It’s been a while since I posted and I apologize for that. I was in the middle of a house remodel and have been working on the next installment in the Alex Taylor series. It is my hope that I will be able to release this new book before the end of the year.

It took some time, but it appears that the pricing issue surrounding the print version of the NYPD Cold Case Anthology has been resolved. The correct price of $10.99 now appears on the amazon website. If you would like to order this, you can click: ORDER HERE

This book features all three books in the Detective Angelo Antonucci series:

The Katherine White Murder - Case #13-098

The Rosary Bead Murders - Case #14-102

The Crazy 8 Cowboys - Case #15-003

Thank you for your patience while this matter was addressed.

September 11th – Never Forget

It’s funny to me that each September you begin hearing the words ‘Never Forget’ being repeated.

I don’t say this dismissively, and I am truly grateful to all those who remember the bravery and faithfulness of our fallen, but as I look around at what is going on in this country I cannot help but feel these words are becoming hollow platitudes.

Just recently, the 9/11 community was in an all-out political battle to fight for funding to treat many of us who are sick as a result of the toxins we ingested back then. September 12th, 2002, united this country and gave rise to the words ‘Never Forget.’ Yet the same politicians who draped themselves in the flag and chastised us to not forget were the very same ones who pushed back on the promise this country made to us.

I look around and I am deeply troubled, as I see this new generation, many whom were not even alive when the terror attack occurred, desecrating memorials to our fallen heroes and victims, because they go against their current world view. Those people who have never put themselves in harm’s way for another human being, mocking those that gave the last full measure.

 The words ‘Never Forget’ mean something different to a select few. While the world proclaims that we should Never Forget, some understand that for them it is ‘Can’t Forget.’

Can’t Forget means that you can never look at a clear blue sky and find comfort.

Can’t Forget means that the sound of a low flying plane sends a wave of panic through you.

Can’t Forget means that in the shadow of a global pandemic a mask brings no comfort, only bad memories.

Can’t Forget means that the sight of flames and the scent of acrid smoke forever rekindles a hell that no one should ever know.

Can’t Forget means that to those who wear this, you are bound to a brother & sisterhood that is sacred, not for what we did, but for what they gave:  Fidelis Ad Mortem

NYPD World Trade Center Medal

Can’t Forget means that, by the grace of God, you survived, but the names and faces of those we lost are forever etched into our hearts and minds.

“From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.” - William Shakespeare’s Henry V