Twenty-five years ago, 12 Black firefighters ran toward the World Trade Center as smoke filled the sky and New York descended into chaos. They knew the danger. They went anyway. Their final act of service would become part of a legacy the city they pledged to protect.
Gerard Baptiste, Vernon Cherry, Tarel Coleman, Andrew Fletcher, Keith Glascoe, Ronnie Henderson, William Henry, Karl Joseph, Keithroy Maynard, Vernon Richard, Shawn Powell and Leon Smith Jr. were among the 343 FDNY firefighters killed on September 11, 2001. But their story began long before that morning.
For generations, Black firefighters fought for opportunities within the New York City Fire Department, facing discrimination and barriers that made their path into the department difficult. In 1940, Black firefighters created the Vulcan Society, an organization dedicated to fighting inequality and supporting the advancement of Black firefighters, according to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.
The 12 men who died on 9/11 became part of that history. They represented generations of Black New Yorkers who had worked to make a place for themselves in the FDNY while serving the communities they called home. On September 11, their duty became a sacrifice.
As people raced down the stairs of the World Trade Center, the firefighters climbed upward. They entered a building engulfed in smoke and uncertainty because their job was to save people trapped inside. They were fathers thinking about their children, husbands thinking about their families, sons, brothers and friends.
Then the towers collapsed.
In an instant, families lost loved ones, firehouses lost brothers and New York lost 12 firefighters who had answered the call to protect the city.
Twenty-five years later, the passage of time has not erased their absence. Their families and fellow firefighters continue to carry memories of who they were beyond their uniforms. Retired FDNY firefighters returning to Ground Zero have reflected on the colleagues they lost and the moments that remain impossible to forget.
FDNY Captain Paul Washington told News 10 he makes sure the 12 men are never forgotten. “It’s not unique for Black firefighters to remember their own,” he said. “It’s important to put out there to show that Blacks sacrificed, that we died at this fire, in this tragedy as well.”
Their legacy extends beyond September 11. The 12 Black firefighters are part of a longer story about courage, perseverance and the struggle for equality within one of New York’s most recognizable institutions.
It’s easy to remember 9/11 through numbers: 343 firefighters, thousands of lives lost, 25 years passed. But numbers cannot tell us who these men were. They were people with lives, families and futures. And 25 years later, their names still deserve to be remembered, not only for how they died, but for how they lived.
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