DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
From left, retired New York City firemen John Kendrick,
Hank McMonigle and Frank Roddin say they called one
another and other friends around the country to share
their emotions after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Retired New York
firemen mourn
their lost brethren

The 3 isle residents felt an
emotional bond to rescuers in
efforts to save attack victims

---

By Pat Gee
pgee@starbulletin.com

Retired New York firefighters Hank McMonigle, Frank Roddin and John Kendrick have had smoke sting their eyes. They have choked on the fumes and felt the heat of flames. They know the urgency of helping someone in desperate situations.

So their hearts sank as they sat in their Hawaii homes helplessly watching the heroic and tragic efforts of their brethren after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

"I get a big thump in my chest, which is really fear for other firemen. ... It's impossible to comprehend (the disaster)," said Kendrick, 62, who is now an attorney in Honolulu.

McMonigle, 80, added: "I prayed for them. Basically, that's all I can do."

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
A Fire helmet belonging to John V. Kendrick, retired New York City
firefighter, sits atop the Star-Bulletin New York relief fund bottle
which employees have been filling with cash.

The only three members remaining of the Rainbow Division of the Fire Department New York are President McMonigle of Kailua, Roddin of Waikiki and Kendrick of Aiea. (They started out with six members several years ago, but the others have moved out of state.)

More than a week after the terrorist attack, they are still wrestling with their feelings as they try to comprehend the loss of more than 300 firefighters.

"It's such a terrible feeling, like I just lost my brothers. My wife could imagine me being there. It's difficult for her to sleep at night," said Roddin, 74.

All three were stationed in Brooklyn, about 20 minutes away from the World Trade Center.

Roddin said he has relived the collision of the planes with the Twin Towers every day since it happened.

He said firefighters are "known as brothers because they are closer than their own flesh and blood sometimes. You live and work with them day after day, around the clock."

The first thing the three did was to call one another and other retired firefighter friends around the country. They say to each other, "There but for the grace of God go I. We feel deeply for the firefighters and all the people who were smothered and crushed," Roddin said.

Firemen do not have to think twice about the hazards of running into a burning building when others are fleeing, Roddin said. Part of the reason is, they are "trying to save our own brothers; we'll rescue them at any cost," he said.

The dangers of the job are something firefighters cannot dwell on or be afraid of, McMonigle said. After leading Marine invasions onto beachheads during World War II under enemy fire, being afraid as a firefighter "never entered my mind. It's harder raising a family," said McMonigle, who has five children.

"I love the fire department. I loved going to work. It was an exciting job and we were doing something good."

Roddin and Kendrick, who also fought in World War II, attested to that also. Kendrick said most firemen were "thrill-seeking" former Marines or paratroopers who found excitement fighting fires as well as in saving lives.

"It takes a special type of person to be a firefighter, to run into a building when others are running out," Roddin said. "It's all about saving lives. It's something that has to be done, and I just do what I have to do."