Court officers remembered on 9/11 anniversary
/
Captain Joseph Baccillieri explained the importance of preserving uniforms from 9/11 in a new documentary from David Handschuh. Screenshot via NY Courts
By Rachel Vick
On September 11, 2001, a group of court officers rushed into the wreckage of the World Trade Center. Three of them — Captain William “Harry” Thompson, Sergeant Thomas Jurgens and Bayside’s own Sergeant Mitchel Wallace — died.
Two decades later, surviving officers, family members of the men who died and court officials gathered to remember the bravery of the officers who joined first responders in evacuating the tower and the rescue efforts in the weeks that followed.
Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks and Chief Judge Janet DiFiore mourned the heroism of the officers who died, survived, and fell ill after the exposure onsite during the ceremony on Friday, Sept. 10.
“Through their selfless acts and through their enormous courage, hundreds of those heroes lost their lives,” DiFiore said. “We will never forget the courage of these men, we will never ever forget the sacrifice they made on our behalf. We will never forget the courage of the officers that day who thankfully survived those events.”
A short film documenting the experience of eight officers — still with the courts — who rushed to the towers, and their last memories of the three who died, was shown for the first time during the ceremony.
The last time Lt. Edwin Kennedy recalls hearing Jurgen’s voice was a call for “help” over the radio when the second plane hit.
Capt. Tyree Bacon recalled Jurgens crossing himself when they first came onto the scene, just before heading in, and following suit. On their way in, they passed injured civilians being carried out.
“Mitch, without skipping a beat, got on his hands and knees and started treating [a burn victim],” Bacon said.
“Tommy, Harry and Mitch are not heroes because they died, they're heroes because of the way they lived,” Bacon added. “The memories I have of them are treating people up to the very last moment and that's what made them heroes.”
“Reflections of 9/11” was created by Mary Korman and David Handschuh, who was pinned under a beam when the towers collapsed. His efforts to document their stories while repeatedly reliving the day was commended by Chief Joseph Baccellieri, who was emotional after seeing the finished piece for the first time.
“People needed help and brave men and women answered the call,” he said. “No words can ever assuage such a loss so we can only hope that our steadfast commitment to honor them provides some level of comfort.”
During the film, he recalled the moments after the second plane hit — the shaking building, flickering lights and the sudden envelopment of the street into a blanket of darkness when the tower fell.
Baccellieri, who made it to the 51st floor of the south Tower with the other officers, said that he keeps pieces of debris-covered uniforms from the site, now covered in debris because he “had to preserve this as a historical article.”
They remain in a garbage bag, in a box that Baccillieri said has been opened only twice since 9/11. He said the smell of the dust 20 years later is as bad as it was that day.
“There’s not a day goes by that I don't think of [officemate Thompson],” Baccillieri said.
“It's important for people to see the uniform of a New York State court officer,” he added. “You want them to be acknowledged so I feel obligated to tell our story so people know that court officers, like every other first responder, did their part on that horrible day.”
In addition to Baccillier, Bacon and Kennedy, court officers Frances Barry, John Civelia, Gerard Davis, William Faulkner, Gerard Grant, Elayne Kittel, William Kuhrt, Theodore Leoutsakos, Craig Lovich, Patricia Maiorino, Reginald V. Mebane, Al Moscola, Kathryn Negron, Joseph Ranauro, Albert Romanelli, Richard Rosenfeld, Andrew Scagnelli, Mahindra Seobarrat, and Andrew Wender received Medals of Valor in 2002 for their efforts on 9/11.
