Speaking His Mind Gregory Saucedo was marching
in the St. Patrick's Day Parade last year when he came across some
men he knew. "He said, 'This guy's a great guy, this guy's a great guy, this guy I just don't like,'" said Dave Simoes, a childhood friend and fellow firefighter. Firefighter Saucedo, who happened to be the self-proclaimed bench-press champ of the Ladder Company 5 stationhouse in SoHo, was not much of a diplomat. But "he was much the same way in telling you that he did like you and what he did like about you," Firefighter
Simoes said. After losing both his parents, Firefighter Saucedo
drew strength from ties to his three older brothers. On his muscular
arm he displayed a tattoo of a gnarly oak tree with four outsized
branches, and in his life he displayed absolute candor. Strength
and devotion are cousins, and Firefighter Saucedo was the kind
of guy who would jog with a hangover. Now his brothers collect
scraps of information about the time Firefighter Saucedo spent
inside the World Trade Center, documenting the way that cultivated
strength was put to its final use. "The last 90 minutes of his life were extremely important," said Christopher Saucedo. "The family is wrapped up in that moment of terrible sadness and tremendous pride." At least, he said, there is "nobody wondering, 'How did Greg feel about me?'"
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