DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM After a wedding ceremony at the Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio Hotel yesterday, newlyweds Martin and Virginia Dennehy, above, went under an arch formed by New York City police officers.

Waikiki wedding bells
ring for 9/11 NYPD cop

The newlywed stayed on the job in
Tower 1 even as Tower 2 fell

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By Lisa Asato
lasato@starbulletin.com

A New York police officer who survived the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center celebrated life yesterday by marrying his girlfriend of seven years in Waikiki.

"I knew I should be buried in the Trade Center, and I thought I wasn't coming out," said Martin Dennehy, one of 600 New Yorkers who accepted Gov. Ben Cayetano's invitation for a free weeklong vacation in Hawaii. "When I got out, I thought, I gotta do what I gotta do."

Dennehy, 32, and his bride, Virginia Ruggiero, exchanged vows in the lobby of the Radisson Hotel Waikiki as about 15 fellow New York police personnel and their families looked on. Guests were outnumbered by members of the press, hotel employees and other onlookers.

Dennehy wore his blue dress uniform, which carried reminders of the attacks. Across his badge was a black ribbon reading "NYPD 9-11." Above that he wore an American flag pin.

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM They went through the traditional cake ceremony. The groom beat the odds on Sept. 11, surviving an hour under the rubble of the World Trade Center.

The celebration was pulled together in three days, thanks to the help of Radisson employees and local businesses that donated everything from the two-tier cake to the videographer.

The wedding was not entirely spur of the moment for the Long Island couple. They had an idea they would marry in Hawaii, and family members bid them farewell with encouraging gifts.

"They all sent me off with good wishes -- something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue," Ruggiero said before the wedding. The blue Hawaiian-print dress she wore was borrowed from her sister Rose. Her twin sister Josephine lent her a "very special Blessed Mother pin I had given her when she was in labor for her son Anthony." The something new was from her mom, a gold bracelet for her 32nd birthday, which she will celebrate on Dec. 21.

"We were definitely getting it done within the next couple of months, but Hawaii made it a dream come true," she said.

Virginia, who comes from a "big Italian family" of five sisters, said the only thing missing was family.

"I wish that our family was here, but they've all sent their best wishes to us and sent us here, so we're going to call them and surprise them this evening and let them know it's done," she said.

Looking on was NYPD Lt. Terri Tobin, whose head was still bandaged where she has 40 stitches after being struck by a slab of concrete. Tobin was overjoyed that something beautiful could come out of the tragedy.

"It's so wonderful to be here for this occasion," she said. "It has made the trip even more memorable for the rest of us."

On Sept. 11, Dennehy was inside Tower One helping "a couple hundred if not a thousand" people find their way out. After Tower Two was struck, he got a call telling him to "get out, get out," but he stayed because people were still coming down the stairs, he said.

He and about 50 others were trapped inside for about an hour when Tower Two collapsed. They found their way out by climbing up to the ninth floor, and made it out with four minutes to spare, he said.

Dennehy said the Police Department lost 23 officers in the attacks. He knew two of them.

"We prayed just for something (good) to come out of (the tragedy)," Virginia said. "There are a lot of miracle stories out there. We're just one of them."