By Juan Soto
Residents gathered Thursday night at Doughboy Park to honor Woodside’s victims of 9/11.
The remembrance ceremony included a candlelight ceremony and a solemn roll call of the 34 names of the people who lost their lives during the terrorist attacks.
While neighbors were reading the names, music played softly in the background only interrupted by the sound of a passing 7 train a few block away.
Several elected officials were present at the gathering. They all said that Woodside was a neighborhood hit hard by the attacks.
A total of 22 firefighters died that day, including Fire Marshal Ronald Bucca, the only fire marshal to be killed in the line of duty in New York City history.
Bucca made it to the 78th floor of the south tower before it collapsed.
“We are here to honor those who vanished,” said a FDNY member. “As firefighter, we always try to keep the community safe.”
Korean War veteran Ed Bergendahl read a poem written by Lawrence Homer a year after the towers fell to the ground.
“Terror will not be allowed to conquer courage,” Bergendahl read. “And death shall not have dominion over life.”
Bergendahl’s Doughboy Patriots and Woodside on the Move, among others, organized the emotional event.
Rreach reporter Juan Soto by e-mail at jsoto@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
