Sirens and Salutes, Inc

09/09/2026

This image is of Lt. Rick Rescorla, an Army infantry officer who was photographed as he fixed his bayonet in the Ia Drang Valley in 1965. The image graced the cover of the first edition of the book, We Were Soldiers Once and Young, written by Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and Joe Galloway.

Rescorla would earn a Silver Star and Purple Heart and other awards, surviving the famously fierce battle. During battles, he was known for singing battle hymns which helped calm those around him. He went on to serve in the Army Reserve until his retirement as a colonel in the 1990s.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Rescorla was a director of security in the south tower of the World Trade Center. After the aircraft hit, Rescorla went up into the towers to help people evacuate. Evacuees who were helped by Rescorla said that through the smoke they could hear a man singing so they followed the sound which led them to Rescorla. He directed them to safety, down and out of the building.

He is credited with saving more than 2,700 lives. He was last seen climbing higher into the towers with his security team to help those that were trapped in the higher floors who still needed help.

His body was never found

09/09/2026

The only off-duty NYPD officer killed on 9/11 was hours from retiring...

John Perry was not your average New York cop. A graduate of NYU Law School, he had an immigration law practice before he ever went to the police academy. He was a linguist who spoke Spanish, Swedish, Russian, and Portuguese, among others. Not bad for anyone, let alone a kid who grew up in Brooklyn with a learning disability. He even joined the New York State Guard and worked as a social worker for troubled kids.

He was a jack of all trades, beloved by all. He even took a few roles as an extra in NY-based television and film.

He was appointed to the NYPD in 1993 and was assigned to the 40th Precinct, in the Bronx borough of New York. The morning of September 11, he was off-duty, filing his retirement papers at 1 Police Plaza. In his next career, he wanted to be a medical malpractice lawyer. That's when someone told him about the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. Instead of leaving his badge, he picked it back up.

He dashed the few blocks to the scene and immediately began assisting other first responders with the rescue operation. Perry was last seen helping a woman out of the South Tower when it fell just before 10 a.m. that day.

"Apparently John was too slow carrying this woman," said Arnold Wachtel, Perry's close friend. "But knowing John, he would never leave that lady unattended. That was just like him to help people."

Some 72 law enforcement officers and 343 FDNY firemen were killed in the 9/11 attacks that morning. John William Perry was the only off-duty NYPD officer who died in the attack. An estimated 25,000 people were saved by those who rushed to their aid.

The only issue for John Perry on September 11th was to help as many people as possible, even on a day when he was planning to leave the force.

Never Forget

09/09/2026

FDNY Firefighter Dennis Mulligan, 32, was an 8 year veteran with the FDNY and assigned to Ladder 2 his whole career. On Sept 11, Dennis had just gotten off duty when the towers were hit. He took the chief's truck and responded anyway. Being off duty, Dennis didnt have a radio, so he was ordered to stay in the lobby. Dennis held the door open to the B stairwell of the north tower as people evacuated. As another fire company came down to exit, they told him "Come on brother, we gotta get out." Dennis replied "my guys are right behind you, Im waiting for them."

Ladder 2 crew never made it out, they were recovered between the 2nd floor and the lobby.

Dennis was recovered still at the door...

Never Forget

09/09/2026

FDNY Lt Raymond Murphy and FF Robert Curtaolo head back into the north tower after the collapse of the south tower to look for their brother firefighters.

Neither man would survive.

Never Forget

09/08/2026

The Sirens and Salutes, Inc 9/11 Field of Heroes is complete and ready to open this friday.

09/08/2026

Between 1,344 and 1,426 of the individuals in the North Tower were above the 91st floor when Flight 11 crashed between floors 93 and 99 at 8:46 a.m. A minimum of at least 200 victims made the fateful decision to jump instead of suffocating by smoke and fire or collapse.
No words
Never Forget

09/08/2026

09/08/2026

A Father Heard His Son’s Final Moments Before Flight 175 Fell

On September 11, 2001, 32-year-old Peter Hanson boarded United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles with his wife, Sue Kim Hanson, and their two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Christine Lee.

The family was looking forward to a long-awaited trip that combined business, a family visit, and a vacation to Disneyland. For little Christine, it was supposed to be a magical first adventure to see Mickey Mouse.

Instead, their journey became part of one of the darkest moments in American history.

Shortly after takeoff, hijackers seized control of the aircraft. During the chaos, Peter used the seatback Airfone to call his father, Lee Hanson, in Massachusetts. At 8:52 AM, he calmly described what was happening aboard the plane, including the attack on a flight attendant and the hijackers' control of the cockpit.

A little more than ten minutes later, Peter called his father again.

His voice remained remarkably composed as he described the worsening situation and the plane's descent toward Manhattan. He told his father that he believed the hijackers intended to crash the aircraft into a building.

Then, at 9:03 AM, the call ended.

Moments later, Flight 175 struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

Peter, Sue, and Christine were among the 2,977 people killed in the September 11 attacks. Christine, only two and a half years old, was the youngest member of the Hanson family and one of the youngest victims of that terrible day.

Today, their names remain together on Panel S-4 at the National September 11 Memorial in New York City.

Their story is remembered not only because of the tragedy that took their lives, but because in Peter's final moments, he tried to communicate what was happening and reassure his father despite the unimaginable danger surrounding him.

Twenty-five years later, the Hanson family's names remain a quiet reminder of the lives, dreams, and loved ones lost on September 11.

09/08/2026

She arrived at the waterfront anticipating smoke.
Kathy Cacicedo had witnessed the initial reports on television — it was stated that a small plane had collided with the World Trade Center. She quickly took her camera and drove to the Jersey City waterfront, situated across the Hudson, with the intention of photographing smoke billowing from a tower. However, what she encountered was history unfolding in real time.
Her photograph, captured at 9:02 a.m. on September 11, 2001, depicts the Twin Towers still standing — damaged and ablaze, yet upright. Mere seconds later, United Airlines Flight 175 entered her view at nearly 590 miles per hour, crashing into the South Tower between the 77th and 85th floors.
She later recounted the moment succinctly: "I found myself documenting history."
The South Tower endured flames for 56 minutes. At 9:59 a.m., it collapsed in approximately ten seconds — a destruction so intense that seismic monitors at Columbia University, located 21 miles away, recorded it as a 2.1 magnitude earthquake. Clouds of ash and debris engulfed Lower Manhattan, causing thousands to flee through streets that had become obscured.
Over 800 civilians and first responders lost their lives in and around the South Tower. An additional sixty were aboard Flight 175 and had no opportunity for escape.
Kathy Cacicedo set out to capture smoke. Instead, she immortalized the moment when the world transformed — encapsulated in a single image that remains unforgettable to all who view it.

09/08/2026

Boston College and Rutgers were always scheduled to play this season. Boston College moved the game to Friday night on purpose.

September 11, 2026. Twenty five years.

Rutgers is the FBS program closest to New York City. Thirty seven of their alumni were killed that day, including a football letterwinner named James Martello.

So every helmet Friday night will carry the number 37, along with the names of the people it stands for.

Never Forget runs down the sides of the jersey. The striping is a tribute to first responders. Players who wear the gloves can lock their hands together and the gloves read Never Forget too.

Nothing on that uniform is a design choice.

Boston College honors one man.

Welles Crowther was a BC graduate working as an equities trader in the South Tower. He was also a volunteer firefighter back home in Rockland County, New York.

When the building was hit, he went down to the 78th floor sky lobby, where dozens of people were trapped and badly hurt, and started getting them out. He carried a woman on his back down seventeen flights of stairs.

Then he went back up.

He did that over and over.

He is credited with saving 18 people.

The survivors who got out couldn't tell anybody who he was. They didn't know his name. All they could describe was that the man leading them down had a red bandanna tied over his mouth and nose to keep the smoke out.

That's how the world came to know him. The man in the red bandanna.

He didn't make it out.

Since 2014, Boston College has played one Red Bandanna Game every season. The bandanna pattern runs through the numbers, the sleeves and the trim. Where a player's last name normally goes, the jersey reads For Welles.

Friday night is that game.

So on the 25th anniversary, in Chestnut Hill, one team runs out carrying 37 names on their helmets.

The other runs out wearing a Hero's bandanna who lost his life rescuing others.