Henderson couple honors firefighter sons, one a 9/11 victim

On Sept. 11, 2001, Gary Geidel was just four shifts away from retiring as a firefighter at New York City Fire Department Rescue Company 1. He had spent the past 20 years as a firefighter.

And though Geidel was not scheduled to work that day, he decided to work an overtime shift. He had no idea that it would be his last.

“When I found out the towers came down, I didn’t believe it,” Geidel’s father, Paul, said in Henderson on Saturday. “My first thought was I hope my boys aren’t working.”

All three of Paul’s sons, Michael, Gary and Ralph, followed in their father’s footsteps and became a firefighter at Rescue Company 1 in Brooklyn.

“It’s the best job in the world and it’s so fulfilling being able to save someone’s life,” Paul said. “I insisted my sons take the firefighter test, not the job. That choice was theirs.”

When Paul found out his son had perished trying to save lives at the World Trade Center, he, along with Ralph and Michael, spent nearly nine months digging through the rubble for any sign of Gary.

“You don’t want to know what I saw,” Paul told the Review-Journal.

After Sept. 11, 2001, Paul and his wife, Barbara, bought an RV and traveled across the country. However, when a health issue arose, they decided to settle down in Henderson.

Their Candy Tuft Drive home resembles a firefighting museum. Newspaper clippings and photos line the walls, representing Paul’s time at Rescue Company 1. His medals from his time spent in the Air Force in the early 1950s hang close by.

The newest addition to the mementos is a memorial to Ralph, who passed away on Oct. 21 from a heart attack.

On Saturday, the Geidel family hosted a remembrance ceremony at their home to honor the lives of Gary and Ralph.

The Remembrance Rescue Project, a not-for-profit organization that seeks to educate younger generations about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was in attendance along with the New York City Fire Department Rescue Company 5 truck, which was salvaged from the rubble at the World Trade Center.

The project’s founder, Chris Gantz, a firefighter from Skokie, Ill., said the organization’s goal is to preserve memories and teach future generations.

“The whole point is to keep children aware of the events so they’re never forgotten,” he said.

Paul first met members of the Remembrance Rescue Project while attending a Sept. 11 memorial last year in Kingman, Ariz.

“When I realized the truck was from the World Trade Center, I was speechless,” Paul said.

“We want people to know how great these guys are,” Barbara said. “They’re giving their time, support and energy, and if they don’t continue, how will future generations know about what happened on Sept. 11?”

The Remembrance Rescue Project began out of a Chicago suburb more than three years ago, according to project member and firefighter John Jacquette.

“When these trucks became available, we purchased Rescue 4 and 5 with the idea that we’d operate one on each side of the Mississippi,” he said.

“As the 10-year anniversary approached, we talked about how many of today’s young people either weren’t alive (on Sept. 11, 2001) or were too young to remember what happened. We decided to add an educational piece so fire departments we visited could reach out to local schools and invite students and the general public.”

Jacquette added that remembering the terrorist attacks is crucial.

“It was an awful event, and hopefully by continuing to remember it, it will never happen again,” he said.

Los Angeles resident Solange Schwalbe worked as a safety monitor during the cleanup of the World Trade Center. She met Paul, Ralph and Michael at ground zero during their search for Gary.

“They became my guardian angels,” she said. “I only knew them for three months and it became a lifetime friendship.”

Solange added, “I made friends that I should have never made because it never should have happened.”

Paul, like Solange, said he wished that many friendships he made during his time at ground zero had happened differently.

“I wished I never met them,” he said. “At least not under those circumstances.”

Contact Ann Friedman at afriedman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4588. Find her on Twitter: @AnnFriedmanRJ.