|
By JOHN W. BARRY (Original publication journal news: March 22, 2002) Thursday, March 21,2002 Remains of Hillcrest fire hero found
More than six months ago, the member of Squad 41 in the Bronx raced into the burning Tower 2 of the World Trade Center and perished along with hundreds of his colleagues. American flags at the home of Sikorsky's father, George, and at the family-run automobile repair shop on Route 306 were raised yesterday after having flown at half-staff since Sept. 11. "The family is happy to be relieved, finding the body after six months," said George Sikorsky, who was wearing a pin with a picture of his son — a Gulf War veteran — in his FDNY dress uniform with a beaming smile. "He can finally be brought home to be buried in the veterans cemetery as a Marine, as a true Marine, doing his job." A member of Squad 41 notified the Sikorsky family at 8 a.m. yesterday that Greg Sikorsky's body had been found earlier in the morning. His is the seventh body recovered of the Rockland residents who were FDNY members killed Sept. 11. On Sunday, a piece of heavy construction equipment at Ground Zero removed a pile of rubble and unearthed a tool that was traced back to Squad 41. Then the Sikorskys and other families began to wait. "They knew the location," George Sikorsky said. "They started to dig." Squad members, digging by hand, eventually found a piece of Sikorsky's helmet and phoned his wife, Marie, and his father, at 11 p.m. Tuesday to ask if they would travel to the recovery site. Seven family members, as well as Sikorsky's Dalmatian, Dominic, arrived at Ground Zero about 1 a.m. Wednesday. With a captain from Squad 41 leading the way, George Sikorsky and members of his son's detail carried an American flag-draped stretcher containing the helmet piece out of the pit where the Twin Towers once stood. Firefighters and rescue workers saluted. A priest said a few words. And the stretcher was placed into a waiting ambulance. Tuesday marked the Dalmatian's return to Ground Zero. On Sept. 13, George Sikorsky was saluted and waved through police checkpoints in Manhattan as he showed officers one of his son's helmets and told them he was bringing Dominic to lower Manhattan to search for his son. The dog battled dehydration and coughed for two days after climbing, paws bleeding, over crushed metal and mangled steel looking for his master, a five-year-veteran of the FDNY and 16-year volunteer with the Hillcrest Fire Company. Sikorsky, 34, has a son and was a licensed pilot, skydiver and scuba enthusiast. George Sikorsky and his sons Perry and George Jr. received visitors and accepted condolences in the office of the family business yesterday. Members of Squad 41 were able to tell George Sikorsky and his two sons what conditions Greg Sikorsky likely encountered after hijacked airliners were flown into the World Trade Center. George Sikorsky said his son and five other members of Squad 41 were believed to have been trying to help rescue an elevator full of people trapped near the 43rd floor in a shaft that had caught fire. Surviving squad members told George Sikorsky his son was believed to have been attempting to work a nearby water pump to douse the flames. Gordon Wren Jr. — Rockland's emergency services coordinator, Hillcrest volunteer and Sikorsky family friend — said the entire family had shown tremendous strength since Sept. 11. "I was impressed by (George Sikorsky's) strength all through this, and the whole family," Wren said yesterday. "Greg was the same way. It's a strong family. That's one of the reasons why Greg was so good at what he did in the Fire Department. He pretty much epitomized what the fire service is all about. He was achieving what a lot of people, when you go into the fire service, what you want to be. He was damn good. And smart." Perry Sikorsky said the family planned to hold a funeral once his brother's body was returned. "We're finally getting him home," he said. |
 |
Copyright © 2001-2002 - Sikorsky Family
All Rights Reserved
Webmaster: Patricia - Email me
