A tribute to those Irish Americans we lost on 9/11

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"I told him to be careful," the younger Moran would recall weeks later, at a memorial service for John. "I didn't see him there that day, but now I see him all the time." 



Maureen Haskell, a Fire Department widow, sent three of her four boys, Kenny, Timmy and Tommy, to the FDNY. 



Timmy, 34, was on the 60th floor of Tower One when the floor dropped beneath him. Nearly two weeks after the attacks, Maureen listened as Kenny gave a eulogy, Timmy's remains lay in a casket, and Tommy was still in Lower Manhattan, one of thousands lost in the mountain of steel and smoke.



"We need to pray for Tommy's safe return . . . I'm sure he's fine," Kenny told those who gathered to bury Timmy, in Seaford, Long Island. "Tommy's probably sitting comfortably down there in a large void, wondering, “what's taking us so long?" 



Kenny Haskell vowed to retrieve his brother, as did Danny Foley, who seven years ago had followed his above-mentioned elder brother Tommy into the FDNY.



Danny worked around the clock with rescue crews searching for the brother that he idolized, and nearly two weeks after the attack he addressed mourners at St. Anthony's in Nanuet, New York: "It took 10 days, but a promise I made to my family was kept, when I brought Tommy home."



Danny recalled the nights spent talking across bunk beds to his older brother, discussing what he called their common interests: football, fishing, becoming a firefighter and girls. 



In later years, he recalled joking about his big brother's pin-up pose in a firefighter's calendar, a charity fundraiser that led to modeling jobs and appearances among “eligible bachelors” in People and also the Top 100 Irish Americans list published by Irish America magazine. 



"I knew someday I wanted to be just like my big brother," Danny recalled. "He's always been a hero to me, and now he's a hero to people around the world."



Bob Conroy, the family friend who earlier recalled the young Tommy Foley running around a Harlem firehouse, and would later become the Foley brothers' FDNY mentor, echoed the sentiments of so many families and friends when he said, "I only wish I could see him one more time – just one more time to tell him how much I love him."



Foley was not the only September 11 victim to have previously appeared in the pages of Irish America magazine. 



Of the more than 70 employees lost from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, two were former honorees among the Irish America Wall Street 50: Chairman & CEO Joe Berry and Executive Vice-President Joseph Lenihan.



Another victim from the same firm, Chris Duffy, was the son of Wall Street 50 honoree John Duffy. 



Berry, Lenihan and the two Duffys were among those who attended Irish America's Wall Street 50 reception on July 11, an event that was held annually at Windows on the World restaurant. 



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