He
met the woman of his dreams and found his calling on a fire truck
working in one of life's most dangerous professions. Toss in a
bachelor's degree from St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill
and a master's from Iona College in New Rochelle, and you're looking
at a fairly admirable list of accomplishments for a 30-year-old,
says Orangetown Police Officer Mike McPadden of his kid brother,
Robert. Never mind that he rarely answered a question incorrectly
while playing along with the television quiz show, "Jeopardy!"
Robert McPadden, a Pearl River resident, is among the hundreds
of New York City firefighters missing in the
wake of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. "Bob only
lived 30 years, but he was able to accomplish more in those 30
years than most men accomplish in their entire lives," said McPadden,
33. A memorial Mass to celebrate Robert McPadden's life and the
courage he showed responding to the terrorist attack has been
scheduled for noon Saturday at St. Aedan's Roman Catholic Church
in Pearl River, McPadden said. "It's not so much closure as we
feel we need to do something for Bob," McPadden said. "He died
doing a job he believed in. That's what makes me happy." As emergency
workers continued to search through the rubble of the Twin Towers
in lower Manhattan, McPadden said he was coming to terms with
the reality of the grim situation. "I was down there," said McPadden,
whose father was a lieutenant in the New York Fire Department
and worked there for 38 years, and whose sister, Annmarie, is
a Ramapo police officer. "I saw the enormity of it. I saw the
destruction. "No one wants to give up hope, but [the FDNY] is
slowly easing the family members into the fact that it's going
to become a recovery now, rather than a rescue. I've been a police
officer for 13 years. I can read between the lines." But as the
aftermath of the terrorist attack sets in, McPadden said the impact
that his brother had on the world must not be forgotten. "He was
definitely my soulmate," said Robert McPadden's wife, Kate. "It
was love at first sight." She added, "He loved his family and
he loved his job." McPadden recalled traveling one day after the
attack to meet his brother's co-workers at Engine 23 in Manhattan.
He was approached by a doorman who worked next door and had gotten
to know Robert McPadden while the two played pickup games of basketball.
"He came up to me to say he was sorry," McPadden said. "It appeared
that he had been crying. He knew my brother by his first name.
He was genuinely upset that my brother was gone. It meant a lot
to me." On the evening of Sept. 11, McPadden phoned the FDNY for
information about his brother, who, along with his stationhouse
colleagues, was one of the first to arrive at the World Trade
Center after two hijacked airliners crashed into the Twin Towers.
A firefighter who, his brother said, worked "by the book," Robert
McPadden was unlikely to phone relatives during his shifts, even
in the event of a tragic terrorist attack. "We hadn't heard from
him all day," McPadden said. "But we didn't expect to." After
failing to learn anything over the telephone, McPadden on the
evening of the attack headed into Manhattan with his sister, Cathy,
to check the hospitals. Having no luck, McPadden the next morning
asked a fellow Orangetown cop to drive him back to the city, where
he confronted Ground Zero. "The enormity of it hit me there,"
said McPadden, whose mother, Judy, was proud Robert had become
a firefighter like his father had been. "Just standing there,
at that point, I knew it was best to be with my mother and my
sisters. There were two Ground Zeros. One in the city and one
here in Pearl River." Since then, there have been constant phone
calls to the FDNY, and a meeting with fire officials and other
families in the city. And personal remembrances. McPadden said
one picture of his brother he would forever cherish was of the
FDNY Division of Training's family day, when the entire McPadden
clan watched the youngest member rappel off a building as part
of a demonstration. "To see him that day, you knew he was a man,"
McPadden said. "He had a sense of duty and responsibility. You
just knew that he had found what he loved to do. And he loved
being a fireman."
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