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IBEW Remembers 9/11

September 9, 2011

After September 11, New York Local 3 pins backed with black ribbon appeared on many lapels.

None of us will forget the shock and horror we felt on that day 10 years ago on September 11. Nor will we forget the more than 3,000 people who died in the attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.

For the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers – meeting in San Francisco for its 36th International Convention at the time – the attacks hit home.

We lost 21 members at the World Trade Center that morning, including 17 members of New York City Local 3 and four from Local 1212. They were all on the job.

International President Edwin D. Hill, speaking before assembled delegates on September 11, 2001, said:

We had a long discussion this morning, [then] Secretary-Treasurer O’ Connor and I and a few of the vice presidents, trying to decide what we wanted to do and thought the best thing we could possibly do is pray, pray for those who have lost their lives and pray for the families and for their loved ones and pray for guidance.

But out of the horror, a remarkable sense of heroism and solidarity emerged, as working families throughout North America came together to support the victims and their families and to make sure the world would never forget what happened that day.

It is a spirit that continues today. New York Local 3 member Dennis Moran, who is helping to build the 9/11 memorial at ground zero, recently joined with New York City police officers, fire fighters, relatives of World Trade Center victims, and actor Robert De Niro in a public service announcement promoting the memorial.

In remembrance of the 10th anniversary of September 11 – and those brothers who lost their lives – we reprint excerpts from the October/November 2001 issue of the IBEW Journal:

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The IBEW honors its fallen brothers and sisters. No more will they go to work and bring honor to their trades as they once did. But they will never be forgotten.

September 11 dawned bright and beautiful in New York City, the kind of clear cloudless day that makes one glad to be alive. As usual, millions of people poured into Manhattan to go about their daily business.

Then the unthinkable happened.

Many stories have been told about those individuals killed or missing in the attacks. Here is what is known about the IBEW members among their number.

Thomas Ashton, 21, a first-year apprentice who had started working on July 18, 2001, was working on the 95th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center with Robert Caufield, 49, a journeyman wireman. They were working for the contracting firm Denino Electric.

Also in the North Tower were Local 3 journeymen Harvey Hermer, 59, Lester Marino, 58, Jeffrey Shaw, 42, and Glenn Travers, Sr., 53. This veteran crew was working for Forest Electric on the 105th floor.

On the same floor in the same tower was a telecommunications crew from Kleinknecht Electric. They were Salvatore Fiumefreddo, 45, Joseph Romagnolo, 37, and Kenneth White, 50. All were in the telephone division of Local 3.

On the 105th floor of the South Tower, P.E. Stone Electric had a work force in place consisting of Local 3 members James Cartier, 26, a second-year apprentice, and journeymen Ralph Licciardi, 30, and Charles Lucania, 35.

Also in the South Tower on the 90th floor, was journeyman wireman Jose “Joe” Martinez, 50, working for Forest Electric. Journeymen wiremen Joseph DiPilato, 57, and Steven Strauss, 51, were last seen stuck in an elevator on the 30th floor of the South Tower. They were working for Petrocelli Electric.

Michael Lowe, 48, an employee of Liberty Electric Supply, was last seen in the basement of the complex.

Meanwhile, the four members of Local 1212 were at their posts in the World Trade Center when the planes struck. They were Gerard “Rod” Coppola of WNET-TV, Steven Jacobson of WPIX-TV, and Robert Pattison and Isaias Rivera, both of CBS.   

[A 17th member from Local 3, Anthony Segarra, died November 28, 2001, from injuries sustained in the attack that were later identified as the cause of death.]

In a tragedy of this magnitude, the effects ripple like shock waves, touching many families. Two such stories tell of other losses.

The nation was touched deeply by the bravery of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) personnel who suffered such massive losses on September 11. One of the brave firefighters lost was Michael Haub, 34, son of Local 1212 member Helmut Haub. Michael was with the Ladder 4 Company of the FDNY.

The long hand of sorrow reached across the continent as well. Lisa Frost, 22, the daughter of Diamond Bar, Calif., Local 47 member Tom Frost and his wife, Melanie, was a passenger on United Flight 175, originating from Boston’s Logan Airport, the second airplane that struck the World Trade Center.

Lisa had graduated as class valedictorian from Boston University and was going home for a visit before she started her new job in San Francisco. Tom Frost is a system operator for Southern California Edison’s Transmission and Distribution business unit at the Villa Park Substation and a 25-year member of the IBEW.