9/11 remembering Joey

This is a COPY of my 2006 post when we were in AOL.

http://www.legacy.com/Sept11/Story.aspx?PersonID=117392

My Hero that I picked to Honor is our very own: Joseph P. Henry, age 25. Place killed: World Trade Center. 9-11-2001 Resident of New York, N.Y.

Now as Tom puts it: "I remember Joey and my daughter going to school together PS-212 and playing in the playground in the neighborhood of Waterview Towers. (Joey's sister would also babysit for Tom's daughters) Tom's family along with Joey's family and others from the area would spend summers in upstate NY, the kids rode their bikes, went swimming in a creek and a pool...it was such freedom to the kids to be out of the confines of the city and the apartment co-op. Big Ed (Joey's Dad) was the youngest Battallion Chief in the fire department at the time of his promotion. Joey and 2 of his brother's followed their Dad and Grandfather by joining the team."

Tom called his daughter that night after the towers were hit. She told him "Dad, Joey was there".....his heart dropped. Tom was already in tears because 'his city' was being attacked. Imagine his pain having found out one of "his kids" had given his all. I must also mention that my Tom is a Retired NYPD--so this truly was "his city" in all aspects. It could have easily been him, had he still been working, and even if he wasn't working, I'm sure he would have felt it his duty to respond.

http://www.fallenbrothers.org/community/archive/index.php?t-3183.html

Bay 44th forever Joey's street [Archive] - Fallen Brothers Community



This is Joey in his probation hat (on the job training). To YOU Joseph P. Henry we remember you proudly and fondly. Edward "Big Ed" & Alice Henry, Eddie Jr, Michael, Danny, Mary & Kathleen, the LaRocca's say God Bless YOU and thank you for your service to the people. NYFD & Ladder 21 lost a great American. May God continue to give you His peace that passes all understanding as you remember Joey.

Love & peace to all the families, Tom & Sharon.


Bay 44th forever Joey's street

Renamed for firefighter

By MELISSA GRACE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Firefighter Joseph Patrick Henry was just 25 when he was killed by collapsing debris at the World Trade Center.

Last week, the street he grew up on, Bay 44th St. between Shore Parkway and Cropsey Ave., was renamed in his honor.

"It's unbelievable how much I miss him. I wish he were here," said Alice Henry, the firefighter's 63-year-old mother. "I'm so proud this street was named after him. He was born and raised here. His name will live forever."

Joseph Henry - Joey, to his friends and family - grew up in the Waterview Towers in Bath Beach in a family of firefighters.

It was on Bay 44th St. outside his apartment building that Henry, a sportsman and Yankee fan, played countless games of football. It was where his brother taught him to throw lefty, and where he pitched more than a few snowballs.

Henry joined the FDNY as an emergency medical technician in 1997. In October 2000, he became a firefighter. He was assigned to Ladder 21 in Manhattan.

During a solemn, snowbound ceremony to the skirl of bagpipes Friday, Henry's mother and father, retired Battalion Chief Edward Henry, unveiled a green street sign. It reads, "Firefighter Joseph Patrick Henry Lane." Close to 300 firefighters, family, friends and neighbors looked on.

The tribute was held near a flagpole and a commemorative stone placed outside Edward and Alice Henry's apartment by their neighbors, in tribute to Joey Henry and all those who died on Sept. 11, 2001.

"We never saw each other that day," said Edward Henry, 62, even though both he and his son responded to the World Trade Center that morning. Henry believes his son was in the north tower helping to evacuate people when the building crashed to the ground.

The firefighter, whose remains have not been found, has three older brothers. Two of them, Eddie Jr. and Michael, are FDNY lieutenants. The other, Danny, is a Port Authority police officer. He also is survived by two sisters, Mary, a schoolteacher, and Kathleen, a college student.

Pol lends a hand

The idea to rename the street in Henry's honor came from Arnold Belkin, 58, a neighbor of the Henry family. Belkin's son, Adam, was one of the firefighter's closest friends. Belkin set his plan in motion with a letter to City Councilman Domenic Recchia Jr. (D-Coney Island) asking that the street be renamed.

Choking up with emotion as he paid tribute to his friend, Adam Belkin, 27, said at the renaming ceremony, "I wonder what Joey would have thought of this. ... He would have done a double take, put his hand over his mouth ... and then laughed."

Originally published on December 9, 2002


http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/41764p-39404c.html