My own personal hero

Even though I missed both the deadline as well as the initial opportunity to share in class my feelings and pictures about my hero's of 9/11, I feel as though I must still share anyhow.

When I think of who my personal hero's are, especially in regards to 9/11, I immediately think about my friends John and Denise Casalinuovo, good family friends whom I've known for much of my life. John and Denise live in Chinatown, and on that fateful day rushed to ground zero to help in any way they could. They ended up helping to run and maintain one of the main relief tents at ground zero, dubbed, The Hard Hat Cafe. For 100 days straight John and Denise, among others, worked together to keep the emergency crews in good spirits as well as solid workboots.

A film was made about John and the people he met down at Ground Zero called 9/12: from chaos to community.



www.912film.com

This is the Bio they give for John on their website:

John Casalinuovo

John and his wife Denise Lutrey Casalinuovo, Chinatown landlords, volunteered at Ground Zero nearly every day from the morning of September 12, 2001 to the closing of the site in May of 2002.

They continue to own and manage their building and every year host the reunion of volunteers and recovery workers there.

John and Denise were hero's of mine well before 9/11, but I think that it's clear that they are hero's to many others as well. Here is John behind the bar at his apartment on the afternoon of 9/11/2008, just last month, gearing up for his annual 9/11 commemoration gathering. An American Flag hangs from the roof of the building, draping the entire structure in the stars and stripes.

John Continues to be not only one of the best, and coolest people that I know.