Politics & Government
Bin Laden's Death Stirs Memories
Huntington firefighter, families note history and lasting effects.
The news that Osama bin Laden had been killed evoked personal memories Monday from three firefighter families in Huntington.
Chris Fusaro, a commissioner of the Huntington Manor Fire Department and a retired New York firefighter, said, "It's bittersweet that he's gone but the network is still there. It's a little weakened but the government is weakening it further. It does give a little satisfaction that he's been caught."
Fusaro was working with FDNY engine company 326 in Queens on Sept. 11 which was summoned to the devastated World Trade Center site that afternoon. "I went to work on the 10th; the 12th was my birthday and I didn't get home til the 14th. They had cake waiting for me," he said.
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MaryGrace Foti called her son, James, from his bedroom when she heard about bin Laden, so he could watch President Obama report the mastermind's death. He was 4 when his father, Bob, vanished in the collapse of the Twin Towers, the only member of Ladder 7 whose remains were never found.
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Together, they listened to Obama, feeling as if his words were directed toward them when he referred to those who had "someone missing at the dinner table" or "grew up without a parent" after Sept. 11. She said that after crying all night, "I now have some form of a feeling of inner peace."
Foti said she felt a sense of redemption, "knowing he's not out there anymore to do this to anyone else." Her Facebook status reads: RIP Bob........ We miss you. FF Robert J. Foti 9/11/01 NEVER FORGET."
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Gigi Nelson, widow of Peter A. Nelson, a firefighter for FDNY Rescue 4 and the assistant chief of the Huntington Manor Fire Department, said she didn't think much about bin Laden after her husband's death. She was too busy raising daughter Lyndsi, born on the night of Peter Nelson's memorial service.
She said she also hadn't paid that much attention to the news of bin Laden's death until friends and relatives began calling her to remind her that they would always remember her and Lyndsi. And Peter.
