Im usually posting fishing reports and pictures of the great times people are having on my boat. Today is alittle diffrent for me. I never forget 9/11 it's like it was yesterday in my mind. I was living and working in Alaska at the time, I was just pulling into the harbor at 5:30 am from a long 3 month trip away from home when I heard the news. At the time my main concern was how were we going to ship our fish south, our last load gone!! because there was no air service..It wasn't till I got home that it really sunk in what was going on and how much family I had that worked in the financial district in New York and around the World Trade Center. I guess having been gone from home for 3 months I was still in that state of funk, just kind of out of it, just watching the tv as though I was watching another episode of Law and Order or something like that, just another day in the lower 48 how great it was to be in Alaska, so I though.
I received the call around 6pm Alaska time, none of my family had heard from my cousin, 25yr old Firefighter Michael Kiefer FDNY, In my mind he was just out there saving lives and doing what he loved to do, help people and fight fires and calling home was not an option at the time. It wasn't till the next morning that reality sunk in, still no phone call but that knock on the door that no one wants to here or answer when someone in your family works in that career field. Yes it was the FDNY informing my family there worst nightmare, that Michael and his whole company were missing. It was from that moment on that mine and my families live were changed for ever. Michaels body was never recovered, all that was found was the door to his fire truck which sits in his old room in Franklin Square, New York out on Long Island. His empty coffin was laid to rest on July 18, 2002.
People always say, it's time to move on, let it go. Well thats easier said than done. Michael and I shared alot of the same passions, Surfing, Fishing, Diving ,the Ocean so forgetting for me is impossible, I make my living from the Ocean so I guess Im the lucky one in my family, I get to spend everyday with him, because in my heart he is the Ocean. Capt. Kenneth Mullen
Michael V. Kiefer
Firefighter
Ladder 132
Laid to Rest
on
July 18, 2002
he is a very brave brave soldier there ken.. sorry for your loss.. my prayers go out for you and your family on this day of remembrance and remember he will never and i mean never ben forgotten.. he may be one loss but i am sure he was and will always be a hero for doing what he does.
people like michael go out and risk their lives all day everyday for the american people.. they deserve top honors anywhere they go.. it is extremly important that we neer forget them or anyone else.
my heart goes out to you ken and i am so sorry for your loss back then.. but like you said.. he will always be with you..
i said a prayer for him this morning.. he will be blessing you with some fish!!
Ken sorry for your loss, he is a hero to all of us, my father was in building 7 and we didnt hear from him until 8 hours after they came down, it was the longest 8 hours of our lives luckily him and our two cousins made it back to us. We were blessed
Not that it makes you miss him any less, but you know he is right there with you every time you surf, fish, or dive. It's still a damn shame Ken. My condolences bro.
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