Firefighter Joseph Hunter
Squad 288
Memorial
Service held on
Saturday, November 10, 2001
An Eternal Flame for a ‘Revered’ Firefighter
December
24, 2001
It
was about three days after the Sept. 11 attacks. The members
of the South Hempstead Volunteer Fire Department had been wrenched
from their daily lives and put on what would be a week of continuous
standby duty at their firehouse. Their eyes had been glued to
CNN pretty much the whole time. Suddenly one of the guys saw
a familiar face in the endlessly cycling news clips Joseph Hunter,
32 -- a city firefighter with Squad 288 who had been a South
Hempstead volunteer since he turned 18 -- walking into the World
Trade Center with two other firefighters in the disaster's early
minutes. Hunter had been missing all week.
In
the widely used video segment, panicked, hurt people are running
out of the south tower. Smoke and debris are everywhere. Hunter
looks straight at the camera, then looks up at the building.
Then he goes in.
"He
was probably the most revered member of our department,”
said former chief Joe Remy, a 35-year member who had known Hunter
since he was a small boy who got excited every time the fire
truck went past his house. Remy helped organize a memorial service
in early November for Hunter, whose body has not been found.
It
wasn't just that Hunter was 6-foot-2 and stunningly handsome
that attracted people to him, though Remy admitted that didn't
hurt. The young bachelor always drew lively crowds when bartending
in Rockville Centre and Long Beach on the weekends.
What
really set the firefighter apart was his compassion. A developmentally
disabled man had become one of the firefighter's fans and would
come every Saturday night to take his place among the crowd
gathered at the bar. "Hunter took him under his wing, and
God forbid anybody picked on that man,” Remy said.
It
was the South Hempstead department's racing team, the .Rascals,
that first won Hunter's interest. He handled the hydrant during
hose competitions, a job that demands perfect timing. And after
joining the city fire department six years ago, Hunter quickly
distinguished himself; two years ago he joined the elite Maspeth-based
squad, which is trained to respond to terrorist attacks. That
firehouse lost more men than any other in the city Sept. 11.
The
South Hempstead department has had a temporary memo.rial to
Hunter since Sept. 11. They plan to install an eternal flame
outside the firehouse and to rename its home on the corner of
May Street and Weber Avenue "JoeHunter Way.”
The
volunteers know Christmas Eve is going to be tough for Hunter's
parents, Joseph and Tessie, so they plan to go over to their
home enmasse that night and sing a few carols.
"So
maybe they won't think about it for a half hour,” Remy
said.
By Elizabeth Moore
Staff Writer
Copyright © 2001, Newsday, Inc.
This
page is sponsored by Joanne Bascetta. Joanne is a true friend
to the brothers at Squad 288.
More
about Joseph
Squad
288
From
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