Missing Their Heroes, They Come to Pray

By Halimah Abdullah | STAFF WRITER

September 17, 2001

At St. Francis de Sales Church in the Rockaways, grief has seeped in slow and powerful like the waters of the Atlantic Ocean that hug this neighborhood's backyard.

Families, friends and heroes - gone.

Masses yesterday were somber at this waterside parish, which has been especially hard-hit in the wake of Tuesday's attack on the World Trade Center. Gone from the pews of this church and others on this western end of the Rockaway Peninsula were, by some fire officials' estimates, at least 60 missing firefighters.

Among those missing are those who grew up listening to their fathers tell tales of putting out fires and saving lives from buildings engulfed in flames. As adults, they too took up hard hats and badges - they wanted to be like Daddy and help people.

"I have a friend who lost both sons," said Flip Mullen, who lives a few blocks from the church. "One was a firefighter. One was a cop."

Mullen retired 15 years ago, but Tuesday he put on his old boots and hat once more and headed to the haunting disaster scene. This time, though, old drinking buddies and his children's former playmates - fellow firefighters - were among those he was rushing to go help save.

He wore his blue firefighter's T-shirt to church Sunday, served as an usher and passed large wicker baskets to collect crumpled green bills. His ash-covered boots and hat, at least for this Sabbath, were left in a solitary pile on the back steps of his home.

The Rev. Louis DeGaetano stood alone near the stairs of the Catholic church after celebrating 9 a.m. Mass. His morning homily was words of peace and hope, but as he watched his sorrow-filled parishioners leave, he couldn't help but reflect on the many funeral Masses the church will celebrate in the coming weeks despite the absence of bodies to bury.

"'Father, when does hope become unreasonable?'" DeGaetano said one member of his flock who's missing a loved one asked him.

"People are coming to a decision," he said. "They are deciding to move on."

The widow and three young daughters of Fire Capt. Walter Hynes are moving to a new chapter in their lives; his funeral Mass will be celebrated Wednesday.

The Hynes family was among the lucky ones, his wife, Ronnie, said; Walter's body has been found.

"I think God gives you a certain amount of work to do on this earth," she said, brushing away a few tears and embracing well-wishers who rushed to her side after church services. "Walter's work was finished."