September 2011 - Eventful Magazine

James Devery
Retired Fire Marshal Supervisor
“If it every happened again,
these crazy guys would go back
in and do it all over again”
John Devery was a fire marshal supervisor
who was investigating a fire on LaFayette St.
on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. He just
finished telling three workers who were running
late not to come in because it was going
to be a quiet day and he had Ronald Bucca
with him. Bucca who was a former Green
Beret and a terrorist specialist was Devery’s
best friend.
Moments later the duo heard yelling and
saw the plane hit the first tower. Already in
their gear they drove the five blocks to the
World Trade Center and went in through
the south side. As they got out of the car,
debris fell and crushed the car.
Bucca and Devery climbed up to the 51st
floor. Devery spotted a woman who was
badly burned who could not make it out on
Brewster/Southeast
Prayer vigil at Trinity Lutheran Church at
2103 Route 6 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Call 845-
279-5181 for details.
Patriot Day Ceremony at 2 Stone Ridge
Road in Brewster.
National Day of Service and Remembrance
at the Southeast Museum. Friends
and neighbors are invited on Sept. 21 at 7
p.m. for a Community Conversation on the
way that New Yorkers and people everywhere
were transformed and interconnected
through service in the aftermath of the tragedy.
This conversation will be centered around
a short, shared reading focused on the ways
people responded to 9/11 through service.
This event is free and refreshments and
all materials will be provided. Please RSVP
at 845-279-7500 or educator@southeast
museum.org. We look forward to having you
join us at this important community event.
Toolkit materials provided by the New York
Council for the Humanities.
Patriot Day Ceremony at Brewster Elks
Lodge, Route 22 and Milltown Road.
Carmel
9/11 Mass at St. James the Apostle Church
at 14 Gleneida Ave. at 5:30 p.m. Candlelight
procession to Cornerstone Park. Call 845-
225-2079 for details
Candlelight service at Cornerstone Park
her own. “I told Ronny that I would be right
back,” Devery recalled. “Then I scooped the
woman, Ling Young, up and carried her down
10 flights of stairs.” Devery never saw Bucca
again.
Bucca who was up on the 78th floor with
Battalion Chief Orio Palmer was the only fire
marshal ever killed in the line of duty in New
York City.
Devery intended on finding someone to
James Devery (right) with his wife, Patricia (left)
and his daughter June (center)
Remembrance Calendar
on the corner of Fair St. and Gleneida Ave.
Monument contains the names of the eight
Putnam residents who died on 9/11. A color
guard from West Point and the Putnam Chorale
will be in attendance.
Garrison
Rebirth and Resilience: A 9/11 Observance
will show the documentary Rebirth and
a discussion with the author of the companion
book from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The film follows
the lives of nine people coping with 9/11
over the past decade, and is both a remembrance
of the lives lost and a tribute to the
resilience of the human spirit. A light reception
will follow. Free and open to the public.
Doors open at the The Garrison Institute at
14 Mary’s Way, Route 9D, at 2:30 p.m. For
info or to RSVP, call 845-424-4800 or e-mail
garrison@garrisoninstitute.org.
Patterson
Memorial hike on the George C. Cain trail
at Michael Ciaiola Wildlife Conservation
Park will take place at 12:30 p.m. Trailhead at
Stagecoach Road.
9/11 10th Anniversary Putnam County
Heroes Memorial Candle Light Ceremony
will be held at the Stephen P. Driscoll Memorial
Lodge 704 of the New York State Fraternal
Order of Police on Sunday, Sept. 11. This
year, in the Lodge’s effort to continue to pay
hand Young off to so he could rejoin his partner
in the South Tower, but he could not find
anyone until he took her out of the building a
got a block away. That is when he found an ambulance.
At that point he was going to try to make it
up the North Tower but it started to crumble.
Devery hid behind a truck but the impact of the
building made him flip in the air.
Devery only physically suffered a few scratches.
He remained down at Ground Zero for
about two weeks, when his wife told him it
was time to come home. “None us wanted
to leave. We just want to find everyone,” he
said.
Devery, who was a fireman for eight years
before becoming a fire marshal, retired in
2003 after he realized that he had lost the
gusto needed for the job. “I stopped sending
my guys out at night because I did not want
to lose any body,” he stated.
What amazes Devery is the drive of firemen.
He said, “If [a terrorist attack] ever
happens again, these crazy guys would go
back in and do it all over again.”
homage to our heroes in the military who
answered the call to duty after 9/11 and who
continue to make America what it is today,
the Lodge members are honoring and bestowing
the title of Honorary Chairman to
local LCpl John G. Curtin, USMC, who sacrificed
and suffered severe injuries and loss of
both legs on Feb. 15, 2011, while serving in
Afghanistan. His service and sacrifice along
with those who served before him is symbolic
of everything we aspire to be as Americans.
The Lodge was formed to honor the memory
of Police Officer Driscoll who was killed
in the line of duty as a member of the NYPD
Emergency Services at the World Trade
Center on 9/11. The Lodge embarked on a
project and established the “Putnam Heroes
Monument” located at Cornerstone Park.
Learn more at www.putnamherosmemorial.
org or call 845-345-6704.
Mahopac
“New York Remembers” exhibition at
Mahopac Library 668 Route 6 in Mahopac.
This is one of 30 sites in a state-wide
recognition of the tenth anniversary of the
Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The exhibit
is open from Aug. 29 through September.
For more listings, visit
www.eventfulmagazine.com
12 Eventful Magazine - September 2011