Crime & Safety

Summit's Fallen Volunteer Honored With Visit

A piece of steel from the World Trade Center will be mounted on a stone engraved with the following saying: "It is not how they died that made them hero's, it is how they lived".

Ian was a true volunteer and wore a smile. 

His mission in life was to help people and we firmly believe that he was doing just that on September 11. That is why he is not with us today.

September 11th, 2001 was a day that deeply affected all of us on so many levels. The Summit Volunteer First Aid Squad dispatched ambulances and volunteer personnel to Liberty State Park to assist with the injured men and women from a boat evacuation. We also had ambulances and personnel on hand at the Summit Train Station where a decontamination station was set up for persons from the World Trade Center that were transported by train.

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In the days that followed, the First Aid Squad was involved in the recovery efforts at Ground Zero, dispatching crews at several times to pull 12 hour shifts. Not only to covering the Ground Zero site, but also answering EMS calls from the City of  New York. 

We feel a very close relationship with the families affected by the September 11th tragedy because of our total involvement in the rescue and recovery efforts that day and days after.  It is very difficult to express all of our feelings in a few words.

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A Special Piece of History

This is the first time we have the pleasure of the Lieutenant Governor present at the Squad Building (2:30p.m., Friday, Sept. 28,2012) , and we are honored that she has taken the time out of her busy schedule to formally present us with a piece of steel from the World Trade Center. 

The piece of steel not only represents and honors the persons that perished that day from the City of Summit, it honors the memory of one of our active members at the time, Ian Thompson.  

The steel will be mounted on a stone engraved with the following saying:  "It is not how they died that made them hero’s, it is how they lived”.  We firmly believe that this represents Ian’s life as well as the many who died in this great tragedy.

— Squad Captain Kari Phair 

Editor's Note: This article has been edited for length.


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