I signed up for the 9/11 Memorial Project and received Eugene Raggio as my person to remember. Now, I never met him, so all I had to go on was what I could find on the web. I hope that if his family and friends stumble onto my blog, that I do his memory justice.
Eugene was a 55 year old Port Authority operations supervisor. The picture I have is from his ID, I believe. He was trying to help people get out when the towers came down. Here is an article about that. Of course, there was more to Mr. Raggio than his job and his tragic demise. According to this website, he liked to bowl. According to this one he had a dog named Tinkerbell that he loved.
As an editorial comment, I had done some research when I first signed up for the 2996 project. Today (Sept. 6) I ran across this page which is better than anything I could write. It includes comments from people who knew Eugene (who was apparently called Gene or Gino by his friends). I also learned that Eugene was around during the first WTC bombing in 1993 and helped people out that day as much as he could also.
For a better understanding of who Eugene Raggio was, follow the link above. I hope his friend doesn't mind, but I'm going to copy part of the rememberence from his friend, Freddie V. Torres from that page so you can see what type of guy Eugene was.
"But one thing that I respect about you was that you truly was a professional at what you did. Mrs.Raggio, oneday I was attacked when working at the WTC on liberty street. Gene, made sure that I recived care and that my wife was called and taken to meet me at ST.VINCENTS. He then visited me and asure me that my job would be waiting for me when I returned. You see Mrs. Raggio, usully if you got hurt you would never return or you would be placed some place in the basement. but Gene got me back. I will always remember him and thank him for that."
7 comments:
I admire people who stand up for their fellow humans...and try to protect them too....it is becoming more & more of a rarity in this world.
What a lovely tribute. You brought Eugene Raggio to life for me, and left me just a little sadder on this sad day. So many heroes, so much selflessness that day.
I honored Dinah Webster on my blog.
Thank you for sharing Eugene's story with us..
My thoughts and prayers were with all the families on this 5th Anniversary of 9/11.
God bless you,
Hugs,
BrassyLady (2,996 blogger)
You may visit my tribute at:
http://www.geocities.com/brassylady57/InMemoryOf/MarkandStephenColaio.html
Well done Nuggie!
9/6/09 As we get closer to another 9/11 anniversary I am thinking about Gene more and came across this.Gene was a very good person that I was very lucky to have as my brother-in law. Yes, he was in the 93 bombing and was located in the basement when the bomb went off and he was injured from that bombing. He was shown for years to come on the TV news clearly injured but still helping to get other people out of the building. He was a true hero.Even with his injuries he returned to work the next day to get the buildings back in operation because they were his buildings. Gene was a great friend to all he met and someone you could always depend on. He is really missed by his friends and family.God must of needed someone to keep an eye on his buildings up in Heaven and called on Gene. R.Smith
Gene was a wonderful guy. I had the honor of working with him for many years in the Operations Division. He would do anything in the world for his fellow man. He had the most incredible ability to make people smile and laugh, always made our day when he would walk in the office. Never a dull moment! Rest in peace Gino, you are greatly missed.
I just finished reading Angus Gillespie's book "Twin Towers." Eugene "Gene" Raggio is mentioned on pages 228-9. The book was first published in 1999, and it now serves as a poignant memorial to the Towers and the people who worked in them.
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