US

Fire Chief Who Died on 9/11 Finally Buried

(Photo: Reuters)

Font Size:

New York Fire Department Battalion Chief Lawrence T. Stack was finally laid to rest nearly 15 years after dying in the line of duty on Sept. 11, 2001.

Stack died at the age of 58 while trying to save an injured man in the Marriott World Trade Center before the building collapsed on top of them, The New York Times reports.

Stack’s family knew of his death that day, but has delayed his funeral until now because they wanted him to have a proper Catholic funeral Mass, which requires the remains of the deceased — something they did not have until last year.

The funeral took place Friday at SS. Philip and James Church in St. James on Long Island in front of hundreds who gathered to honor his memory and service, USA Today reports. Friday would have marked the 49th anniversary of his wedding to his wife Theresa.

Stack and his men arrived at the Twin Towers and rushed into the Marriott World Trade Center’s lobby. It was being evacuated at the time, according to the Times. After saving a trapped firefighter, Stack decided it was time for them to get out as the building began to crumble. He ordered his men to exit the building to the command post. On his way out of the building, Stack stopped to help an injured man and stayed there with him as the tower fell.

Stack’s son, Lt. Michael Stack, was also on duty on that day. Lieutenant Stack learned of his father’s heroic death from the firefighters who were with him. He returned to the rubble every day to “dig and look, search, hope,” he told the Times. “That’s what I had in mind. I’m going to find him.”

Although Stack’s body was never found, his family recovered a small piece of him in the form of a blood sample about a year ago. Nearly 15 years after Chief Stack’s death, his family decided the blood sample was enough to constitute a proper burial.

South reflection pool at the Ground Zero memorial site (Photo: Reuters)

South reflection pool at the Ground Zero memorial site (Photo: Reuters)

Stack gave the blood sample for type matching in order to join the bone marrow registry to become a donor, the Times reports. The New York Blood Center set aside 143 samples given by firefighters who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Many relatives of the 143 firefighters have recovered the vials of blood to either keep or bury.

His vial will be buried at Calverton National Cemetery “in recognition of Chief Stack’s service in the United States Navy,” the Times reports. There, his family will finally lay a hero to rest.