An excerpt from AIR FORCE NEWS
by Capt. Kristi Beckman
376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
GANCI AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFPN) — He was a legend, a hero, and a role model, someone everyone looked up to. He gave his life Sept. 11 protecting his men during the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
He was Chief Peter J. Ganci Jr., chief of the New York City Fire Department, and his name will forever be etched in time as Air Force officials chose to name the air base here after him.
When asked why the base was named after Ganci, Brig. Gen. Chris Kelly, 376th Air Expeditionary Wing commander, said it was just the right thing to do.
“A great young American by the name of Captain Erik Rundquist read an article about Chief Ganci and suggested we name the base after him,” he said. “We started to do the research of trying to find the family, and without even mentioning the chief’s name, we miraculously found his brother. So, it wasn’t us who decided we should name it Ganci Air Base, it was God.”
The chief’s brother, Army Reserve Col. Daniel Ganci, said his brother deserves an honor like this and he is very proud of the Air Force for thinking of him.
“I know he wouldn’t believe it,” Daniel said. “He was just a regular guy and never thought of himself as someone important even though he was very important.”
Daniel said the Air Force picked the right man to name the base after.
“Pete loved the fire department more than life itself,” he said. “He saved lives and fought fires and he did it better than anyone, and he had the decorations to prove it. Fighting fire was as important to him as flying is to the Air Force.”
And Peter believed that if you are going to do it, you do it with the best, you train with the best and you strive to be the best, Daniel said.
“When it comes right down to it, Peter J. Ganci is a legend to firemen and women around the country, not because he’s the chief of the FDNY or because he gave his life on 9-11,” said Nick Kelly, a D.C. firefighter and son of Brig. Gen. Chris Kelly. “Chief Ganci is a legend because he was really, really good at what he did, being a fireman. He was not a chief, boss, or administrator first. Chief Ganci was a smoke eating guy, just like the rest of us. Like Omar Bradley was a soldier’s soldier, Chief Ganci was a fireman’s fireman.”
Firefighters are a family, Nick said.
“We eat, sleep, go on calls, and risk our lives, together,” he said. “I don’t necessarily agree that Chief Ganci gave his life for his men, as much as he gave it with his men. He was not going to leave his brothers and sisters alone in there. He thought of himself as a fireman first. We, as firefighters, don’t leave anyone behind.”
For more than 33 years, Peter found himself at the top of his profession just because he wanted to be the best fireman he could be, Daniel said.
“The part I was always proudest of, whenever anyone asked what he did, [was] he would tell you he was a New York City fireman,” he said.
Some people think he had his head screwed on backward because he ran into burning buildings for a living, Nick said. But would he say it is his job and it was the job of those 343 firefighters who lost their lives on Sept. 11.
“I have been asked many times since then, ‘Would you have gone into the towers?’ I never hesitate, my answer, ‘Hell yes,'” he said.
That can-do attitude is what makes Ganci a legend and hero, Kelly said.
“He never hesitated,” Kelly said. “I’m sure he was scared out of his mind. We all were that day. But, Chief Ganci and his men strapped on their gear, like a thousand times before, and went to do their job. Much like you and the rest of the people in the armed services do every day. You show up, and do the best you can.”
(Courtesy of U.S. Air Force in Europe News Service)
