9/11: The Chief Who Refused to Leave His Men Behind

FDNY Chief Peter Ganci, Jr. died in the North Tower collapse on September 11, 2001.

Peter James Ganci, Jr. was supposed to have jury duty on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, but told his FDNY driver, Steve Mosiello, they had too much work to do at headquarters that day. Ganci's son, Chris--now an FDNY Battalion Chief--has told the story often.

"My dad had subpoenas for jury duty and Steve was going to take him to the Mineola courthouse, and my dad's laughing at him," Chris Ganci recalled. "He's like, 'Steve, where we going? We got work to do.'"

Peter Ganci, Jr. was the five-star Chief in the New York City Fire Department, the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the agency. The sky was a brilliant blue when he and Mosiello arrived at 9 MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn. Ganci's son, Chris, was also in Brooklyn on September 11, 2001 (working a business job), and he could see the terror attack on the Twin Towers unfolding, across the East River in lower Manhattan.

"I was working a job for Merck Pharmaceuticals," Chris Ganci remembered. "I actually saw the second plane flying overhead."

Ganci's father was already at the scene setting up a command post when the second jet, United Airlines Flight 175, slammed into the South Tower at 9:03 a.m, seventeen minutes after American Airlines Flight 11 had hit the North Tower. Assistant Chief Salvatore Cassano was with the senior Ganci.

"Just watching him work was unbelievable," Cassano remembered, during a recent interview on PIX11+. "You could see the way he took command; it was amazing. The composure he had."

Salvatore Cassano was an Assistant FDNY Chief on 9-11. He helped to rebuild the FDNY and later served as Commissioner.

The outside command post was initially set up on the ramp leading into Two World Financial on West Street. It was between the towers. Chris Ganci was later told about a conversation his father, the FDNY Chief of Department, had with Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

"My dad told the Mayor, 'I think we can save everyone from below the impact point on,'" Ganci said. "And one of the city engineers was trying to relay the possibility there was a collapse possible in these buildings, due to their construction."

Firefighter Craig Gutkes of Ladder 131, who had responded from Brooklyn, was inside the Marriott Marquis Hotel--between the two towers--at this moment.

"We had just gotten called to go up," Gutkes remembered, "and I just got my mask on, when the building came down. We had no idea what was going on. The sky went black, the sky just went black, and we heard--it was almost like a locomotive above us. So somebody said, 'Another plane might be hitting.' We didn't know. It was just an unusual sound that we never heard before. I turned around, and I got blown into the bar."

Craig Gutkes, retired firefighter from Ladder 131, was inside the Marriott Marquis hotel when the South Tower collapsed.

Assistant Chief Cassano said outside, "When the first tower went down, we had to move the command post back to the World Financial Center--in the garage--and we did that for a reason....in case something flew off the building....debris.. people were falling."

Chris Ganci continued, "So now what happens is: You have hundreds of firefighters dead or missing in the south tower, and you have hundreds of firefighters still working in the North Tower." Ganci's father ordered his assistants to set up a new command post two blocks north. But the Chief himself went south, back toward the North Tower, with First Deputy Commissioner William Feehan.

Chief Peter Ganci, Jr. was commanding rescue operations on a ramp between the Twin Towers on 9-11-01.

"My dad had many friends in the fire department, who had children in the fire department," Chris Ganci noted. "I'm sure those things weighed on my dad's mind. I have to get these guys out of the building. And I know had my father survived, he would have died of a broken heart."

"If they weren't going to make it out, he wasn't going to make it out," Chris Ganci said. "He stayed until the end. That's the kind of guy he was. And as chief officer, 'I'm the last guy to leave.'"

"Unfortunately, the North Tower came down and killed him in the street," Chris Ganci said.

During this time, Chris Ganci was back home on Long Island with his mother and friends, believing his father was eluding danger.

"I was like 'NO! He's the Chief of Department. Like, he's in a bunker somewhere. He's somewhere safe, he's removed!' And in hindsight, I think that's a pretty naive thought: knowing who my dad was. He was a 'lead from the front' guy. He was never a person who would ask anyone to do something that he wouldn't do himself. So if he was going to put guys in harm's way, HE was in harm's way."

Chris Ganci relayed that his brother, who was also a New York City firefighter at the time, said, "I haven't heard dad on the radio for a while."

The Chief's son remembered first responders found his father 's body at 3 p.m. on September 11, 2001. Chief Ganci was discovered in a little alcove on West Street.

"They recognized him by his shoes," Chris Ganci said, "because most firefighters, we wear bunker boots. But my father had the patent leather officer shoes that we wear, almost like a parade uniform. And my father wore his uniform."

Chief Ganci’s FDNY helmet was crushed by steel during the collapse of the North Tower.

Steve Mosiello, the Chief's assistant, was tasked with notifying Peter Ganci's wife and children at their home on Long Island.

"They're trying to explain to my mom that 'He's GONE,' and my mom is like 'He's gone WHERE?' And Steve's like, 'He's dead. He's gone.' And I remember the noise, the scream, the shriek, that my mom let out. And I never want to hear it again."

Many people in Peter Ganci's Long Island community never knew the high rank he attained in the FDNY. They regarded him as Pete the Fireman. But the turnout for Chief Ganci's funeral was tremendous.

Chris Ganci already had an Ivy League degree in chemistry from Cornell University, and he recalled for us that his father used to tease him about it.

"He'd say, 'You think you're smart. We'll take the diploma. I'll hang it in the bathroom,'" Chris recounted with a smile.

Chris Ganci takes pride in talking about his father's service to his country as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division.

Peter Ganci, Jr. was a U.S. Army paratrooper in the elite 82nd Airborne Division.

In 1968, Peter James Ganci, Jr. joined the FDNY and served in the Bronx, where his son now works.

"They would call it the War Years," Chris Ganci told us. "Constant arson for profit. Entire blocks--vacant buildings--burning all the time. A modern-day war zone."

Peter Ganci, Jr. works as a probationary firefighter in the Bronx in 1968.

Chief Peter Ganci was 54 years old, when he led the rescue operations on September 11, 2001. He was an avid golfer in his spare time, and his son recalled that he played every Saturday with his father in the last months of his life.

Peter Ganci, Jr. served 33 years in the FDNY before he was killed on 9-11-01.

"My dad usually played golf with the same guys every Saturday," Chris Ganci said. "Whether he knew I was having pressure from work or feeling not confident, he asked me to join. So, he kicked out one of these long-time members and I had the opportunity to play golf almost every Saturday from April until he was killed, and I'll always value that."

Chief Ganci, 2nd from right, brought his son into a weekly golf game in the months before 9-11.

Chris Ganci then told us that his father's driver had found the car the two men arrived in on

9-11-01 amidst the rubble of the collapsed, Twin Towers.

"It was there and it was damaged, but he popped the trunk and my dad's golf clubs were there. And he made sure he took the golf clubs out of the department vehicle, so that I could have them. I still have them. They're at my mom's house."

Chief Ganci’s golf clubs were found in his FDNY vehicle at Ground Zero and returned to his family.

Yet Ganci noted that he doesn't enjoy golf the way he used to. He said his dad would probably feel badly about that.

Chris Ganci was working toward completion of a Masters degree in Business after his father's death, when he made a decision to change the course of his life and join the FDNY.

"I suddenly had no desire to pursue a career in anything else. And a week after I graduated, people would have thought I was crazy, but I ended up joining the New York City Fire Department," the younger Ganci said.

Chief Ganci’s son, Chris, left a business career behind and joined the FDNY in 2005.

Chris Ganci wanted to honor his dad in more ways than joining the FDNY.

"I ended up writing a children's book about my dad, of course, and I had the opportunity to read it to a class, an elementary school on Long Island," Ganci told us. "I met a teacher there, and a couple of years later, I ended up marrying that teacher.

Chris Ganci met his future wife, a teacher, when he read a children’s book dedicated to his father in a Long Island classroom.

And so, because of September 11th--and indirectly writing that book and going to that school--I met my wife, and I have three, beautiful children to speak about that. So things happen for a reason. I found my calling in both the FDNY--and in my wife and kids--because of September 11th."

Chris Ganci with his wife and children.

"I hope I made him proud," Chris Ganci said, speaking of his father. "Because I carry on, every single day when I walk in this firehouse or any firehouse, to try to maintain and carry on the legacy that he put forth."

Chris Ganci now serves as a Chief with Battalion 19 in the Bronx.