George Howard, Terry Farrell gave their lives at Ground Zero
Two local heroes, George Howard and Terry Farrell, who both held strong ties to the Hicksville community before their final hours on Sept. 11, 2001, will be honored this Sunday, Sept. 9 with a ceremony beginning at 11 a.m. at the Hicksville Fire Department’s Strong Street Fire Station Memorial.
Honorary Chief George Howard was an ex-captain of Emergency Company 5 and a member of the Port Authority Police Department working out of JFK Airport, where he organized the PAPD Emergency Service Unit. During the attack on the Twin Towers in 1993, Howard responded to the scene on his day off and rappelled down an elevator shaft to rescue more than 60 occupants trapped in an elevator – an effort that awarded him a subsequent Medal of Valor. In addition to his volunteer firefighter service, which spanned nearly three decades, Howard was a youth soccer coach in Hicksville. West John Street between Newbridge Road and Strong Street now reads, “P.O. George Howard Way.”
Ex-Chief Terry Farrell was a member of Citizens Engine Company 3 and elite member of the New York City Fire Department, Rescue 4. Farrell was on duty with the FDNY and was providing assistance in the Tower One relief effort when the building collapsed. He was an active member of the Hicksville Fire Department as the organization’s 55th Chief. In 1991, after 16 years with the Hicksville Fire Department, Farrell and his family moved to South Huntington, where he immediately became a member of the Dix Hills Fire Department and eventually served as their 1st assistant chief. Farrell’s bone marrow donation in the 1990s saved the life of a 6-year-old girl, who was suffering from blood cancer. The girl and her family flew in from Nevada to thank Farrell as the young girl, Chantyl, referred to Farrell as “my Mr. Nice Man.” Farrell’s five brothers established a firefighter’s assistance fund in Terry’s name (http://www. terryfund.org/).
Howard and Farrell were among the 343 firefighters and 60 police officers who died preserving the American way of life. The Hicksville Fire Department, Hicksville’s myriad service associations and local residents will pay tribute this Sunday to George and Terry and the thousands of lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001.
For more information, visit www. hicksvillefd.com.
