Tuesday, January 20, 2015 workout is dedicated to Thomas Hetzel, FDNY, Ladder 13, who was killed on September 11, 2001. Thomas J. Hetzel, 33, grew up in Garden City South and was living in Elmont. He was a member of New York City Fire Departments Ladder 13 in Manhattan. He was last seen in the stairwell of the north tower. His remains were recovered several weeks later. For Christmas in the year 2000, Thomas Hetzel gave his parents, Barbara and Egon, a picture of himself in uniform holding his toddler daughter, Amanda. It was similar to one that had hung above his bed growing up, of a firefighter cradling a child he had just saved from a blaze. As a child, he had painted his bike fire engine red, and chased fire trucks. When he turned 18, he joined the Franklin Square and Munson Fire Department, where he remained a member. Joining the FDNY in 1995 fulfilled a lifelong dream. He even passed up a family cruise to Europe just before Sept. 11 2001 - that would have saved his life - to study for his lieutenants test, said his mother, who lives in Garden City South. Outside of work, he was just as driven. He was the type of guy who, if he ran into you in Home Depot and asked you what you were working on ... he would show up later to help you with it, said his sister Dorine, seven years younger than her brother. A union electrician before he joined the FDNY, he once worked all night to get the lights working for a flower shop owner. When the owner asked what he could pay him, Hetzel said he just wanted roses to take to his wife, Diana. Next to the fire department and his family, he was proudest of his German heritage. A scholarship has been established in his name at Hofstra University for a student studying in Germany. Amanda, who was 2 1/2 when her father died, is now a sixth-grader who plays lacrosse and skis, as her father did. Theres always a piece missing, his sister said. Thomas Hetzel, 33, was attached to Ladder Co. 13 on the Upper East Side and is believed to have been rescuing victims at Two World Trade Center when it collapsed. An Elmont resident, Hetzel went to H. Frank Carey High School in Franklin Square and studied liberal arts at Nassau Community College. A firefighter for more than five years in the city, he also was a member for 15 years of the Franklin Square Volunteer Fire Department. He wanted to be a firefighter since he was 5, said his sister, Doreen Hetzel. She recalled that as a youngster he once painted his bicycle red to emulate a fire engine. Hetzel received a commendation from the city because of his efforts in helping motorists during a major flood on FDR Drive.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 04:05:00 +0000
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