Carl Vincent Bini

It is an honor to participate in "2996 - Honouring the 9/11 Victims". Please visit the following website www.dcroe./2996/ for more information about this project. Two thousand nine hundred ninety six bloggers are posting this weekend about those victims who were murdered five years ago.

I asked to receive a fireman's name because my father was a fireman. Every little girl's nightmare is to get that phone call that daddy wasn't coming home after being on a rescue call.

The information about Carl Vincent Bini was very sparse, but what I did find told me a story of a wonderful family man. Not only was he a New York City Fire Department fireman, but he co-owned a business named Tower East Construction Company. This past June, the 2nd Annual Carl Bini Golf Tournament was held at the South Shore Country Club in Staten Island.

The following is The New York Times obituary profile, originally published on December 1, 2001:

They met when they were 10, two kids from the same Brooklyn neighborhood. They married at 20 and in 23 years rarely left each other's side. "He was my best friend," said Christine Bini of her husband, Carl, who was 43.
So it was completely in keeping with routine that Mr. Bini telephoned his wife the morning of Sept. 11 at about 8:40 a.m. while she was en route from the couple's home in Staten Island to her job in Brooklyn just to check in and say hello. Minutes later he called again. "He told me about the plane," Mrs. Bini said. "He said he was going. I told him to be careful."
Carl Bini had been a firefighter for 18 years. Retirement was only two years away, and he and his wife had been looking forward to it very much. So were their daughters, Stephanie, 16, and Desiree, 19. That Tuesday was to have been a day off for Firefighter Bini. He and a friend were meeting to discuss a business project for after retirement. Upon hearing the news of the attack, he and the friend, also a firefighter, went to the Trade Center. "If I could have tied him down, he would have bitten through the ropes to go," Mrs. Bini said.

For the ultimate sacrifice, words can't express our gratitude. Thank you. And God bless you and yours.

FIREMAN'S PRAYER

When I am called to duty, God,

Where ever flames may rage

Give me the strength to save some life,

Whatever be its age.

Help me embrace a little child

Before it is too late;

Or save an older person from

The horror of that fate.

Enable me to be alert,

And hear the weakest shout,

And quickly and efficiently

To put the fire out.

I want to fill my calling and

To give the best in me;

To guard my every neighbour and

Protect his property

And if, according to your will

I have to give my life;

Please bless with your protecting hand

My children and my wife.

- Author Unknown