ASSOCIATED PRESS New York City police officer Martin Dennehy and his wife, Virginia, smiled yesterday as they talked about their decision to get married a year ago while on a trip to Hawaii after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

NYPD couple replaces tragedy
with love of aloha on trip

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By Matt Sedensky
Associated Press

Even in paradise, with Waikiki's palm-tree-lined beaches as a backdrop, the hell of Sept. 11, 2001, is not far from Martin Dennehy's mind.

But Dennehy, a New York City police officer who survived the attack on the World Trade Center, has added new meaning to his life since then -- and he did it in Hawaii.

Last Dec. 7, Dennehy married the former Virginia Ruggiero while on a free weeklong vacation in Hawaii as guests of the state and its Visitors & Convention Bureau. Hawaii hosted about 600 fire and police officers and their families.

This year, the Dennehys are back to mark the first anniversary of a wedding sparked by tragedy.

"After Sept. 11 it was like, 'Why are we waiting?'" Virginia said.

"It could have been over before it started," said Martin.

While they had been sweethearts for seven years prior and had known each other since seventh grade, the Dennehys said they were not even engaged when they arrived last December. But being in paradise prompted them to tie the knot.

In three days they pulled together the ceremony. Martin wore his blue dress uniform, a black ribbon reading "NYPD 9-11" still across his badge.

In New York, less than three months before, Martin was inside Tower One helping to guide people to safety. After Tower Two collapsed, he was trapped for about an hour until escaping -- about four minutes before Tower One went down, too.

"Every day, you think about it," Martin, 33, said. "You think about the people that died. I'm here, someone died. I got lucky."

As a wedding gift, the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau gave the couple another set of tickets from their home in Bay Shore on Long Island, N.Y.

Since Nov. 30 the couple has enjoyed the Radisson's honeymoon suite, courtesy of the hotel. On Saturday they will enjoy the top tier of their wedding cake, which the Radisson has stored for them.

"They've opened up their hearts," said Virginia, a 32-year-old medical assistant. "As soon as they hear our accents, they want to hold you and give you a big hug and give you the aloha love."

Martin said the love they experienced here in Hawaii was similar to that in New York in the weeks following the terrorist attacks.

"We have these people in the world who will do anything for their cause," he said. "And then you come here to Hawaii, and you realize there's niceness in the world.

"They gave us paradise," said Virginia. "We don't want to leave."