For Port Authority Cops, A Sense of Loss Lingers; Fallen Colleagues Remembered
By TOMMY HALLISSEY
Seven years removed from the terror of 9/11, Sgt. John Adorno chooses to remember the tight-knit family of the Port Authority Police Department as he acknowledges scenes of devastation at Ground Zero will linger forever in his memory.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow 'I'LL ALWAYS THINK OF THE DEVASTATION': Port Authority Police Sgt. John Adorno, who knew each of the 37 PAPD cops who died during the World Trade Center rescue efforts, said their deaths brought surviving officers even closer together, but the tragedy of that day still weighs on him.

"It was a lot of mixed emotions," he said on the steps of St. Peter's Church where the Port Authority's memorial was held Sept. 11. "I worked there several times before that but to see the smoke and rubble ..."

'Something You'll Never Forget'

Sergeant Adorno said he knew all 37 of the Port Authority officers who died on 9/11, but was particularly concerned about one of his classmates, Officer Uhuru Gonja Houston. "I was praying that I would be there to help them find him," he said.

He recalled being at Ground Zero when the ground was still hot and smoke billowed out. "You would think that as the years go on you'll try to forget, but this is something you'll never forget," he said. "The first thing I think of now when you say the World Trade Center is the devastation, not the new building. I will always think of the devastation."

Sergeant Adorno said the PAPD, whose members were close to begin with, became even tighter after the terrorist attacks. Chief of Department Christopher Trucillo agreed, saying, "The men and women of the Port Authority Police Department, even while devastated with the single greatest loss of any police department, worked tirelessly six days a week for 18 months. They did it in honor of their 37 colleagues lost on 9/11."

Superintendent of Police Samuel J. Plumeri Jr. said each year Sept. 11 is a trying day for the Port Authority family. "We work hard every day to ensure this doesn't happen again," he said.

'A Universal Respect'

In an interview inside St. Peter's Church, Mr. Plumeri dismissed any thought that the Port Authority was not receiving enough attention given that more members of its force were killed on 9/11 than from the NYPD. "I think there is a universal respect that crosses every line of first-responders," he said. "It's much greater than that. I am extremely proud every day of what [PAPD officers] do given the challenges they face."

In the months and years following 9/11, Chief Trucillo worked with PAPD victims' families after dealing with the loss of a relative who worked at Cantor Fitzgerald. "It's an experience you wish you never had, but to see the caliber of people, the families of the 37 victims, how they supported one another and how they went through their own grief is something I'll never forget," he said.

Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Paterson and New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine spoke at the memorial in the church on Barclay St. near Ground Zero. "It's a day for honoring the bravery of the first-responders who, without a thought to their own safety, rushed into the burning towers to rescue so many people," the Mayor said. "It's a day for recalling how New Yorkers pulled together to comfort one another, and then worked together to bring our city back. It's also a day for recognizing the great strengths of our city and our society, the strengths that protect us from those who wish us harm."

'PA Keeps Doors Open'

He recalled a ceremony earlier in the day in Zuccotti Park where students from 90 nations that lost citizens on 9/11 read the names of the fallen. "It was a vivid reminder that New York is the world's most international city, and it underscored the important mission of the Port Authority, on 9/11 and every day since then: to keep the doors of New York open to the rest of the world, to promote trade, assist in travel, and encourage the free global movement of people, goods, and ideas," Mr. Bloomberg said.

Governor Paterson spoke of the importance of remembering the fallen. "Socrates once wrote a person lives as long as they are remembered," he said. "We are going to remember all of those whether in the state of Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia or right here in Lower Manhattan."

He said he would not be deterred in building the Ground Zero memorial — which has been delayed by interagency disagreements. "We will continue to honor those lost survivors, those families who have loved ones who lost their lives and those who continue to be injured or suffering as a result of that day seven years ago today," he said. "We are going to rebuild this area. We are going to find a way to memorialize those who lost their lives in the most proper way possible and we are going to continue our civilization and our democracy just the way it has always been."