Firefighter
Michael Weinberg
Engine 1
Laid
to Rest
on September 17, 2001
Michael
Weinberg was relaxing on vacation, just a few minutes from tee
time, when he got news the World Trade Center - where his sister
worked - had been hit by an airliner. Weinberg sped toward the
city, both worried about his sister on the 72nd floor and called
to duty professionally. Weinberg, 34, was a New York City firefighter.
"He always did the right thing," said his father, Morty. "He
was there to be helpful." Weinberg, from Maspeth in Queens,
drove to the station house, then went to the Twin Towers with
Fire Department chaplain Rev. Mychal Judge and Capt. Daniel
Brethel, his father said. As the towers collapsed, Weinberg
and Brethel tried to find shelter under a firetruck. Weinberg's
family was told he died instantly. His sister, Patricia Gambino,
escaped before the building's collapse. Weinberg was a talented
athlete who attended St. John's University on a baseball scholarship
and played minor league baseball with Detroit Tigers farm teams
in Niagara Falls and Fayetteville, N.C. He was a lifeguard,
personal trainer and gifted golfer who considered someday joining
the senior pro tour, his father said. Still, he loved being
a firefighter, his father said. "He liked the action, the camaraderie.
He liked everything about it." Many of the young men Weinberg
grew up with in the neighborhood joined the department too.
Many are now missing. "There's so many guys like him who lost
their lives," his father said, adding he was lucky enough to
get his son's body back. "It's unbelievable. I can't get over
it. I never will." (Legacy.com)
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