Fire Chief Who Succumbed To Illness Added To Ceremony
Under a weeping sky, firefighters and community leaders joined Boy Scouts, civic leaders and townspeople to remember 12 victims of 9/11 who lived in the area Monday night at the Hall’s Pond memorial. This year, a 13th name was added: Victor Cantellmo III, who died this year of illness related to the terror attack and its toxic aftermath.
(see video below)
“It gives me great pain to see where we are and to remember those that were lost,” said State Senator Kevin Thomas, who represents West Hempstead. “Our first reposnders, our families who lost loved ones; we willnever forget them”
Rabbi Art Vernon of the Jewish Community Center of West Hempstead, noted tht those lost were “innconcents, members of families simply going to work and those who — without caring for their own safety — ran into burning buildings to offer and assistance and gave their lives. We also remember those who helped remove rubble and find traces of those who perished, and now are paying the ultimate price for thier kindness and their good deeds.”
As a gentle rain descended on the gathering, Rev. Anthony Stanganelli of St. Thomas the Apostle Church said, “Dear God, bless us with your tears, so that we may be a source of blessing to those who can still mourn and cry. Bless us with your tears so that we may fight for what is good and true.”
The West Hempstead victims are Scott D. Bart, 28; Bruce Douglas Boehm, 49; Jason Cefalu, 30; Kevin Nathaniel Colbert, 25; Robert J. DeAngelis, 47; Jeffrey M. Dingle, 32; John Joseph Fanning, 54; Winston Arthur Grant, 59; Ralph M. Licciardi, 30;
Robert Thomas Linnane, 33; Mark Schwartz, 50; and William V. Steckman, 56.
Ex-assistant Fire chief Cantellmo of the Lakeview Fire Department died in February from lung issues related to 9/11.
