Trenton Firefighters Recall Their Tribute to 9/11

Just over a month after two planes were deliberately crashed into the World Trade Center, Trenton firefighter Alec Lesko found himself wanting to do something—anything.

He sat at the frustrated and upset with the tragic event that cost the lives of so many of his firefighter brethren.

Lesko and his fellow Trenton firefighters, including Randy Washburn and Jeff Bonkoski, had considered going to Ground Zero to help in the rescue effort. But New York City firefighters were already in abundance, according to Washburn.

In mid-October 2001 Lesko got word about an event that allowed them an opportunity to honor their fellow firefighters.

The three men heard about a walk organized by Jim Etzin of the Farmington Hills Fire Department.

Firefighters from Farmington and various other fire departments throughout Michigan had already begun walking from the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit to the George Washington Bridge in New York.

Incapable of doing nothing, Lesko, Washburn and Bonkoski decided to do something.

The other men had a few days head start and the Trenton firefighters met up with them as they passed through Ohio.

To little local fanfare and less than ordinary media coverage, the men walked from town to town, along main roads, each step bringing them closer to New York.

Occasionally their spirits would be lifted when residents of communities they were passing through would meet them in the street to offer words of encouragement and donations, and to shake their hands.

Lesko said his faith in humanity was shaken when those planes struck the towers, but as his hand made momentary contact with the hand of a complete stranger his faith in people was restored.

“The walk was very inspiring, and it seemed to be a time where our country, I felt, was individualized and this made me more aware of the people around me and the freedoms we have and the freedoms that were tested that day,” Lesko said.

Lesko added seeing people, including a group of elementary school children, line the streets of a town was a moment he would never forget.

“There was one older gentleman with a WWII hat on, and he was standing at attention and saluting and it made me realize it was guys like him that gave us the freedoms that we have today,” Lesko said.

Bonkoski considered the walk an event that changed his life. Ten years later, he still has difficulty talking about it.

“We were going through some very poor areas,” Bonkoski said. “We weren’t doing the walk to collect money and though the people didn’t look like they had enough money to put food on the table, they were giving it (money) to us to take to New York.”

Bonkoski remembered a woman gave him an angel pin and told him the pin would keep him safe. He said he wore the pin inside his fire fighting gear until the day he retired in June 2011.

Lesko also retired from the Trenton Fire Department in June 2011.

For Washburn, who remains a Trenton firefighter, the walk was a way to connect with different communities and offer hope along the way.

“I think in a way, with the support and stuff we saw from it, with the cheers, the high fives and the handshakes and everything, I think they were excited that we were walking there in support of our brothers that had fallen,” Washburn said.

Fifteen men walked for four days from bridge to bridge through good weather and bad.

Washburn said the weather was never severe and a large patch of fog was the worst they encountered.

They slept in two motor homes driven alongside them. They took turns walking in groups of seven or eight at a time. While some men walked the others rested or ate.

They called ahead to the different fire departments in their path and firefighters greeted them in the streets to wish them well.

After reaching the George Washington Bridge, the firefighters visited a nearby fire station. According to Lesko, the men at the New York fire station were dumbfounded and appreciative for the gesture.

“They thought we were crazy for walking all the way there,” Lesko said. “I think they were all still pretty numb from losing so many of their co-workers.”

Lesko recalled seeing stuffed animals and flowers leaning against New York fire stations.

The men presented a couple of commemorative helmets to their brethren and a firefighter from Flint sang the Fireman’s Prayer.

The men stayed in New York for two days helping the New York firefighters cook and clean up their stations and then made their way back to Trenton—by motor home.

“It was a few weeks after the incident and it seemed like there was a lot of people wondering how to coordinate something to get through this tragic thing,” Lesko said. “I think that was one of the things that moved me to do it. I thought this is a can’t miss. I want to be involved in this.”