Among the Missing at the WTC

By Joe Scotchie

Two lifelong Roslyn residents, Thomas and Peter Langone, members, respectively, of the New York City police and fire departments, are among the missing at the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan.

Tom Langone working among the debris in the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Along with his brother, Peter, he is one of the missing at the World Trade Center.

Mrs. Shelia Langone said she was notified by city officials at 4:30 a.m. Friday morning that her sons were listed as missing in action.

The circumstances of the Langone boys' situation, as with the incident itself, were tragic enough. Peter Langone is a firemen stationed at a firehouse in Bushwick, Brooklyn. After finishing his night shift, he was waiting for firemen from the daytime shift to report to work so he could return to his home in Roslyn. Then, his company was notified of the fire at the World Trade Center. He briefly spoke to his wife and along with his fellow firemen, quickly dashed downtown.

Thomas Langone, a member of the NYPD's Emergency Service Unit worked with Truck #10 in Queens County. On the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 11, he was on the job in Manhattan. He, too, quickly traveled to the Trade Towers. Both men and their companies were at the site of the fire before the two, 110-story buildings collapsed.

Until the family hears any further news, Mrs. Langone said they were "hanging on to what little hope we have." "We are very realistic," she added, "but we need to hang onto something."

Langone family members, once they heard the news, gathered at Mrs. Langone's home in Roslyn Heights. That included one of Tom and Peter's sisters, who, upon hearing the news, left her home in San Francisco to be with other family members.

Both men have been members of their respective departments for well over 10 years. Tom Langone is a member of the Roslyn Rescue Fire Company. Much of his work has involved rescue operations, usually when old buildings in the city collapse. In 1993, he did rescue work the first time the World Trade Center was bombed.

Two years later he and other New Yorkers traveled to Oklahoma City to do volunteer rescue work following a terrorist bombing of the Murrah Federal Building there. In an interview with The Roslyn News following that tragedy, Officer Langone recalled the depressing task of searching for bodies among the debris of the blast. He fondly remembered how well the volunteer workers were treated by the locals in Oklahoma City. "People kept coming up to us and telling us, 'you guys are heroes,' but we do this all the time," he said. After returning home from Oklahoma City, Officer Langone and his partners were given a Certificate of Appreciation at a City Hall ceremony with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.