Queens Gazette

The permanent memorial to all New York City and Port Authority First Responders lost in the line of duty from 1995 to date includes members of the New York City Police Department, the Port Authority Police Department and the New York City Fire Department, with the exception of those lost on 9/11. A Memory Medallion for each family to remember their loved one with up to 500 words and a photo of their choice will be donated. Each year a Memorial Service will be held to honor those listed upon the monument and to include recent losses, if any.

A special guest at this year's memorial service is actor Tony Lo Bianco, known for his roles in the films "The French Connection", "The Honeymoon Killers" and "God Told Me To". At one time a Golden Gloves boxer, Lo Bianco founded the Triangle Theatre in 1963 and served as its artistic director for six years. Lo Bianco, an Italian American, is the national spokesperson for the Order Sons of Italy in America. With former City Council Speaker Peter Vallone Sr., he will read excerpts from the submissions to the Memory Medallions which are part of the First Responders memorial.

The ceremonies are scheduled to start at 1 p.m. with the entrance of the New York City Police Department and the Port Authority Police Department Color Guards and the PAPD Police Pipe & Drum Corps. Tony Barsamian, Gazette Publisher will introduce the service and serve as master of ceremonies. Canon the Rev. George W. Brandt, Jr, Rector of St. Michael's Church, Manhattan, will deliver the invocation. Brandt, Monsignor Ralph J. Maresca of St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church, Rabbi Jonathan Pearl, Ph. D and the Rev. Apostolos Koufalakis, Dean of St. Demetrios of Astoria will participate, lending an ecumenical note to the proceedings.

Congressmember Joseph Crowley is scheduled to participate. FDNY Chief Edward Baggott, Deputy Inspector Paul Vorbeck, commanding officer of the 114th Police Precinct and PAPD Captain Ramon Martinez will represent their respective agencies. Glenn Toothman of Memory Medallion, Inc. will also speak. Toothman's company, Memory Medallion, Inc., has provided the medallions for deceased persons on all the 9/11 memorials at St. Michael's Cemetery. Memory Medallions are small discs, about the size of a half dollar, embedded in a monument, memorial or grave marker. Inside each Medallion is a digital memory device that holds a photograph and life story of a loved one. The information on a Memory Medallion, is accessed through a handheld computer or laptop and a special Memory Medallion "touch wand". When the wand's cord is connected to computer and its metal tip touched to a Medallion, the information on the digital memory device is downloaded to the computer or device screen.

A Memory Medallion can store one photograph and up to 600 words.

Monuments to honor and remember the 23 NYPD officers, 76 Queens firefighters and the 37 officers of the PAPD who died on September 11 were dedicated at previous memorial services. Among the names on the firefighters' memorial is that of Christopher Santora, at 23 years of age the youngest firefighter to die at Ground Zero. The list of speakers at the September 6 memorial ceremonies at St. Michael's Cemetery includes that of retired New York City Fire Department Deputy Chief Alexander Santora and his wife, Maureen; Christopher Santora was their youngest child and only son. His interment at St. Michael's Cemetery was the impetus for the creation of the monuments honoring the memory of the members of the separate service agencies from Queens who died on 9/11. The first Responders Memorial differs from its predecessors in that it commemorates all First Responders except those who were lost in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

For more information about the memorial service, call Ed Horn, director of community relations at St. Michael's Cemetery, 72-02 Astoria Blvd., East Elmhurst; 718-278-32.40.