Mickey's Musings

Lt. Michael Fodor

When I saw the link for this project, I signed right up and was randomly given the name of a victim by the computer. I was a little stunned when it came back with Lt. Michael Fodor, Warwick, NY of the New York City Fire Department. No, I don't know him, but I may have passed him on occasion or even driven past his house.

In 1999 on a Mother's Day adventure day trip, my son and I decided to search out my childhood summer home in West Milford, NJ. In the process we came across the drive-in theatre that I had gone to as a child. My very first drive-in theatre. It was just a stones throw over the line from Jersey in Warwick, NY and it was still open and thriving. They were showing The Mummy that night, I don't remember what the second feature was. We were so thrilled that we started making a habit out of the two hour and fifteen minute ride, the theatre even allowed dogs and we'd pack up the (then) 2 pups and off we'd go, enjoying the ride and the discussions we'd have along the way and on the way back. These were treasured moments for a single mother and teenage son.

As I looked at Lt. Fodor's picture, I wondered if I'd passed him from time to time at the popcorn counter. My research found that he had children and a loving wife. I found this article with the opening line -

"Michael Fodor's entire life revolved around his family and his 29-year career as a New York City firefighter."

He sounded like somebody I'd want to know, someone who treasured his children as I treasured my child.

The article goes on the describe a man who was willing to make a longer commute in order to offer his family "a more bucolic setting". Warwick, NY is an adorable little town in Orange County, NY. This is exactly what my own father had done when I was ten moving us to the Jersey Shore, and making the long commute into NYC, trying it first by train and then by car, I know how tired he was after that long commute, I'm sure Lt. Fodor was tired many nights or mornings returning from duty, yet, it sounds like he always had time for his family. He was just a regular person, who, on September 11, 2001 was faced with an extraordinary challenge and he rose to the challenge. To him, it was probably nothing out of the ordinary, he was a fireman and lives were at stake and it was his job to save those lives, not thinking about his own,

Warwick, NY is actually referred to as a village. There are beautiful Victorian homes and little shops, a good pizza place and even a Burger King. A nice place to raise children. The Lt. has three children, two boys and a girl. Again, I was struck by the similarity to my own family, being the youngest daughter with two older brothers. I was 33 when my own father died and even at that age, my father's death was a blow. His daughter was only 16. Lt. Fodor had been a Boy Scout and an Eagle Scout in his youth, as a father, he served as an Assistant Scout Master. Somehow, he found the time to fit this all in.

Lt. Fodor was a member of Ladder 21, 440 West 38th Street in Manhattan, in the Wikipedia article it is referred to as "The Pride of Manhattan" located in the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan.
This website is outdated, as it still shows Lt. Fodor as a member. I don't know what happened to that fire company that day, I don't know where they were stationed. According to New York Metro, the number of firefighters and paramedics killed: 343. I tried to find out how many losses Lt. Fodor's unit had, according to this page, the following members of Lt. Fodor's company were lost on September 11, 2001 along with him:
Gerald Atwood, Firefighter
Gerard Duffy, Firefighter
Keith Glascoe, Firefighter
Joseph Henry, Firefighter
William Krukowski, Firefighter
Benjamin Suarez, Firefighter

This page also shows a different patch for his fire company, referered to on the patch as "34th Street Mutts", how ironic that I should have the honor of remembering someone from a company referred to as "Mutts".

On September 11, Lt. Michael Fodor lost his life in the line of duty as a Lieutenant with the New York City Fire Department. Like so many others, he did what he always did, he tried to save lives and lost his own. His wife Deborah Nelson Fodor was quoted as saying:

"It's very difficult to explain these firefighters. It's just something that they do without expecting any thank you or acknowledgment."

Well, Lt. Fodor, this is my way of saying thank you.

If you would like to read the other tributes, please click here. The 2996 page is down, probably too much traffic for the Dale, the wonderful person who set this up. But, that link is for a cache of the page of participants. Thanks to G.R.I.T.S. for the idea!

Posted by Mickey at September 10, 2006 6:09 PM | TrackBack