His Quest to Find Fallen 9/11 Firefighter’s Family
Earlier this year on Sept. 11, Colorado firefighter Matt Seube climbed the Qwest Tower in Denver twice to equal the 110 stories of the World Trade Center. He and 343 other firefighters were given badges of fallen FDNY members.
“I was given the badge with a picture of Lt. Kevin W. Donnelly of Ladder 3 of FDNY, Seube wrote in his Sept. 18 Letter to the Editor.
While Seube noted he was not physically up to the challenge that day, he pushed on anyway.
“As I entered each flight, I looked at Lt. Donnelly’s picture and told myself this was for him,” he wrote.
Seube still keeps Donnelly’s photo in his fire helmet.
After completing the climb, he wanted to reach out to Donnelly’s family to thank them for his service and devotion to firefighting and helping others.
After the Letter to the Editor ran, the Tribune received several calls and emails from people who knew Donnelly, who was also a member of the Wantagh Fire Department. They wanted to contact Seube to thank him.
In addition to speaking with Donnelly’s parents, also Levittown residents, Seube said he received letters and emails from a longtime close friend of his, the Wantagh Fire Commissioner and a longtime customer of his of whom he provided lawn care.
“Having placed my letter in the paper afforded some folks to have some great memories relived,” he later told the Tribune.
