The NYPD rededicated a refurbished memorial wall honoring 14 Emergency Service Unit officers killed on September 11, 2001, displaying a service weapon pulled from the World Trade Center rubble as families gathered ahead of the attack’s 25th anniversary.
The ceremony took place Tuesday inside the ESU training center at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, where the updated wall now holds photographs and names of 45 ESU officers who died in the line of duty. Among them are the 14 who rushed into the collapsing Twin Towers nearly 25 years ago.
“Each name on this wall represents a person who dedicated their own life to the protection of others,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during the unveiling.
The weapon belonged to Police Officer John D’Allara, one of the ESU members who died trying to rescue people trapped inside the towers. His widow, Carol D’Allara, attended the service and spoke about the tribute afterward.
“The ceremony was beautifully done,” she told The Post. “It was an honorable tribute to my husband and the other heroes who were honored today.”
The ESU, an elite specially-trained division of the NYPD, handles hostage situations, building collapses, water rescues and disaster relief. Tisch noted that these “world-renowned” officers made up the majority of the 23 NYPD members killed on 9/11.
“On 9/11, when thousands of lives were at risk, ESU officers were the tip of the NYPD’s spear. They fought to get as many people out of those buildings as possible – while they themselves ran in,” Tisch said.
ESU commanding officer Assistant Chief Gerard Dowling also spoke at the event, addressing the cost of that bravery.
“This wall is not merely wood, pictures and nameplates. It is a permanent reminder that the highest traditions of the Emergency Service Unit are written in the very lives of those who gave everything in the line of duty,” Dowling said.
Dowling added that the courage displayed during the terrorist attacks “did not come without a price.”
The 14 ESU deaths on the morning of September 11, 2001 represented nearly as many members as the unit had lost across its entire 70-year history before that day. The attacks stand among the deadliest in the specialized unit’s history.
Officers who later died from 9/11-related illnesses were also remembered during Tuesday’s service. The memorial pairs each fallen officer’s photo with an individual nameplate.
The rededication comes as the city prepares to mark a quarter-century since the terrorist attacks that reshaped the department and the nation.