Missing Firefighter Always Knew His Calling

A lot of 3-year-olds want to be a fireman when they grow up. The difference is, Michael Cawley never lost that ambition. He became a fireman. Then on Sept. 11, he died while trying to save others.
Protecting the lives of Queens residents and the firefighters with whom he rode on countless neighborhood runs was a mantle Cawley wore proudly for nearly three decades. To people who knew him, being a firefighterand his familywere what he cared about most, from the day he learned to walk, to the day he was laid to rest, last Sunday at the Church of Marys Nativity in Flushing.
"Michael epitomized all thats best about being a firefighter," said Capt. James McNally, the commander of Ladder 136 in Elmhurst. "He had a really youthful enthusiasm for his job and every aspect of his life."
For many of New Yorks Bravest, the duty and romance of firefighting is born in their immediate family, through fathers and uncles, brothers and cousins on the job relaying stories of valor and lives redeemed. Cawleys father, a retired insurance man, always dreamed of being be a fireman. But his yearnings came at a time when the department didnt allow and technology could not yet help recruits with imperfect vision.
But Jack Cawley made sure to teach his sons Michael and Brendan about the honor of being a New York City fireman.
"He had a fire radio and would take us to see the fires in the neighborhood," Brendan told the Courier in an interview outside Ladder 136 last Saturday. "We would be there for hours. My mother would prepare dinner, but the three of us were nowhere to be found. We were out watching the firemen putting out the fires."
Michaels young face became so familiar around the firehouse on Stillman Ave. in Woodside, that the firefighters would wave to him and call out his name from their huge, cherry-red truck on the way to or from a call. "My mother would always wonder how these men knew my brother so well," Brendan recalled with a sad smile.
Michael earned a perfect score on both the departments written and physical exams and officially joined its ranks in Oct. 1995. From day one, he stepped forward whenever he was needed, to save a life or just bolster the camaraderie of his buddies.
"This guy had a tremendous heart, he would sign up for everything," said Michael Russo, a fireman at Ladder 136. "He would buy all the jerseys for the football league and play for the softball league. He was always there when he was needed."
Especially when the fire bell sounded at Ladder 136.
Earlier this year, Cawley was the first firefighter up the ladder, risking his life to save a telephone worker in Middle Village who had been electrocuted and lay draped and motionless over live wires strung high above the ground. It is an act that would earn him an accommodation for bravery, said Capt. McNally.
In the early hours of Sept. 11, before the first plane hit the World Trade Center, Cawley was finishing a tour of duty at Engine 292 on Queens Blvd., where he had been detailed for the night. By the time the first plane hit the World Trade Center, Cawleys shift was done. He could have chosen to opt out, to go home and rest his weary bones after a grueling 15-hour night tour.
Opting out would probably have saved Michael Cawleys life. But it wasnt in his nature.
"There was never any question with Mikey," said Bill Pence, his fellow firefighter at Ladder 136. "He just grabbed his stuff, jumped up on the rig and off he went. If people needed help, Mike was there."
Life without Michael these past few weeks has been one of "peaks and valleys," said Brendan, who shares the mourning for Michael with his father, mother Margaret and sister Kristin. In the window of their Flushing home is a sign reading "God Bless our Hero Michael." For to them he was a hero and never a victim.
Brendan, 28, has decided to join the fire department.
"Its something I have been thinking about for a long time, and its something I really want to do now," he said. "You work hard, but you also get big chunks of time to be with your family. Its a good life. I think Michael would be proud."
With Joe Orlando
Call Winners at the Toughest Court*

Too often we are scared
of what we might not be able to do
Scared of what people might think if we tried
We let our fears stand in the
way of our hopes
After all, we only go around once
There is no time to be afraid
So stop
Try something youve never tried.
Risk it
Call winners at the toughest court