Twenty-four days from today marks twenty-five years since September 11, 2001. A quarter century has passed since that terrible Tuesday morning. It is the duty of the living to remember those killed that day. It is the duty of the living to make sure that the stories of their lives continue to echo through the years. It is the duty of the living to ensure that those who were murdered that day are never forgotten.
Leon Smith, Jr. was a FDNY firefighter, stationed at Ladder 118 in Brooklyn Heights. He was the "Chauffeur" - the driver. One of the lasting images of September 11, 2001, is the photograph Aaron McLamb took that morning from his apartment window, which captured Ladder 118 racing across the Brooklyn Bridge towards the Twin Towers, both of which were already engulfed in flame and black smoke. Leon Smith, Jr. and all five of his brothers from Ladder 118 who rode with him that morning were killed while saving innocents.
FF Smith joined the FDNY on February 27, 1982. Among those he loved who had to bid him farewell far too soon were his mother, his wife, and his daughters.
Forever forty-eight. Forever loved. Forever remembered.
-AK
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