Thomas Langone

Thomas Langone

Thomas (Tommy) Langone was born on July 19, 1962. He grew up in Roslyn Heights, N.Y. with one brother and two sisters. He always had a dream of doing something good for his country, and he wanted to become a fireman like his father. When he was 17 he became a volunteer firefighter. Tommy also wanted to become a policeman and, at age 22, joined the New York Police Department.

Tommy worked in several precincts for the New York Police Department and eventually was accepted to be part of the Emergency Service Unit, or S.W.A.T. Force. This Unit would respond to emergencies such as hostages being held, bombings, and bad car accidents. But he did not always have to respond to bad situations. One time it was a funny situation where he had to respond to a wild pig getting loose on the expressway from a truck that opened by accident. He was always learning new things in the Emergency Unit. He took courses in rope rescue and rescuing people in confined spaces.

Praying to the people who lost their lives in 911

Tommy was a good teacher and leader. He taught new police officers that joined the Emergency Services Unit and new firefighters that joined the Nassau County, N.Y. Fire Academy. He was elected Fire Chief of the Roslyn Fire Department in 1989. Tommy also was a trained paramedic and became part of New York Task Force 1 which was part of FEMA. He was called to the Oklahoma City bombing of a federal building in the spring of 1990. There he helped look for bodies and gave first aid to people who were hurt. He did this without being paid. He did it to help other people.

Never forget all about what happened on 911

Tommy died as part of one of the rescue teams that responded to the bombing of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. He rushed to the Twin Towers when he got the call. He ran into the building to save people when other people were running out. He carried a man in a wheelchair out to safety that wouldn’t have made it out of the building otherwise. At Tommy’s funeral a man told his wife JoAnn that he carried out his son who was a rookie policeman.

I wish I had been able to meet Tommy Langone, but my mother knew him pretty well since he was married to my mother’s best friend, JoAnn Langone.

My opinion about Tommy is he was a true hero. He was helpful and extremely brave. He saved the lives of other people including the man he carried out of the World Trade Center who was in a wheelchair. He put their lives before his because it was a good thing to do.