JACKSON, N.J. – Twenty-five years ago, first responders from Jackson Township joined thousands of others who headed toward New York after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center.
Some were firefighters. Others were police officers, EMS personnel and members of specialized rescue teams. On Tuesday night, Interim Jackson Mayor Jennifer Kuhn and the Township Council brought their names back before the community, recognizing those who responded during the days following Sept. 11, 2001.
Several of those first responders attended the council meeting and received proclamations. Many others have retired or could not attend, but the township included them in a lengthy recognition of the Jackson men and women whose service became part of the community’s 9/11 history.
Jackson Recognizes Its 9/11 Responders
Kuhn opened the recognition with a prepared statement reflecting on the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks and the families who lost loved ones.
Her remarks also turned to the first responders who entered an uncertain and dangerous environment after the towers fell, including people who traveled from New Jersey to assist with rescue and recovery operations.
Kuhn and the Township Council then presented proclamations to local first responders.
Among the firefighters recognized in person were Chief Stanley O’Brien Sr., Steve Gibson, Chaplain Rev. Dan Schaefer, retired FDNY firefighter Jimmy Kelen, Brian Alicia and Lt. Joseph Candido. A retired Jackson police officer identified by the township as John was also among those recognized.
Several additional responders attended but asked not to be named or photographed. The township honored their service without publicly identifying them.
Dozens of Jackson Police Officers Were Part of the Response
The list of Jackson responders extends well beyond those who were able to attend Tuesday’s meeting.
The township identified dozens of current and retired law enforcement officers who responded following the attacks.
Retired captains Norman Goldfarb, David Newman, Andrew Cheney, Thomas Hratko, John Seidler, Steven Laskiewicz, John McBride and John Giovanetti were among those listed, along with Richard Bosley.
The lieutenants recognized were Raymond Milewski, Christopher Parise, Wayne Olejarz, John Decker, Joseph Candido and Frank Mendez.
Jackson also named sergeants Russell Scialpi, Anthony Amalfitano, Edward Bennett, Donald Clark, Mitchell Cowit, Brian Geogehgan, Brad Reider, Arthur Salisbury, Charles Webster, Frank Cipully, Vincent Rubio, Patrick Mackin, Shawn Hobson, Michael Grochowski and Lawrence Logan.
Police officers Richard Speidel, Joseph Olesky, Anthony Senatore, Patrick O’Shea, Paul Reagan, Kevin Chesney, John Pejoski, Steve Scaglione and William Campbell were included in the recognition, as were detectives Howard Bogan and Dominic Manion.
Most of the officers on that list have since retired.
Their names offer a local measure of how widely the response to Sept. 11 reached. The attacks happened across the Hudson, but the response quickly drew police, firefighters and emergency workers from communities throughout Ocean County and the rest of New Jersey.
Station 55 Firefighters Also Answered the Call
Jackson’s fire service was represented in the post-attack response as well.
Station 55 volunteers James Howles and John Hussy responded with a rescue truck, according to the township.
Gerard Moroney, a career firefighter from Fire District 3’s Station 55, responded as a member of an Urban Search and Rescue team.
Their work placed Jackson personnel among the responders who traveled into an unfolding disaster whose scale was still being understood.
The council’s recognition came during a week when communities across the Jersey Shore have been looking back at their own connections to Sept. 11.
In Manchester, police recalled officers who traveled to the World Trade Center site for search-and-rescue and perimeter duties. Other departments across New Jersey have been identifying the dwindling number of active first responders who personally participated in the response 25 years ago.
Twenty-Five Years Later, Their Names Remain
Tuesday’s ceremony was about more than a number.
For Jackson, the anniversary provided an opportunity to preserve the names of local responders as the events of Sept. 11 move farther into history and more of the people who served that day enter retirement.
The township said their willingness to respond during a period of extraordinary danger represented the courage and sense of duty it sought to recognize through the proclamations.
For residents who were not yet born in 2001, those names also provide a direct connection between Jackson and the response that followed the attacks.
The township reaffirmed its commitment to remembering those killed, supporting families changed by the attacks and honoring the first responders who left their own communities to help strangers.
A quarter-century later, Jackson’s Sept. 11 history still includes the men and women who answered that call.