My wife Carolyn and myself were so moved by the outpouring of love and emotion, and felt honored attending the funeral of our friend FDNY firefighter Daniel Foley today. Dan was a true American Hero, decorated for having saved lives as a fireman, yet losing his own life from the health effects of rummaging through the rubble of the 9/11 attacks for 6 months, including recovering his own brother, Tommy, who was a Rescue 3 firefighter who perished that day. Both of the brave Foley boys’ parents were also lost in the past few years, apparently also related to their exposure to the terrorist toxins.
To see the presence of over 1000 of Dan’s brother firefighters lining the streets at Holy Family Church in New Rochelle as the procession passed, to seeing each community fire department perched in the trucks on overpasses along the funeral procession route, saluting, and with American Flags displayed, on a 20 mile stretch of road that was closed to honor him from New Rochelle to his resting place at St Anthony’s Cemetary in Nanuet. The procession spanned the entire span of the Cuomo Bridge, and the NYS thruway was closed northbound from Yonkers to Rockland.
Rest in peace Daniel Foley, a true American Hero.