Small Slice

The following entry is part of the 2,996 Project - in memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks on 9-11-01. 

Eugene Whelan was only 31 when the Twin Towers crumbled on the morning of September 11, 2001. He was a proud six year veteran of FDNY working out of Engine 230 in Bedford-Stuyvesant. 

The Irish Voice wrote a moving tribute to the families of Rockaway Beach - a community that suffered heavy losses on 9-11.

Eugene Whelan is among those for whom his friends, his family and his community grieves today.

Eugene grew up in Rockaway, one of 10 children, and like so many of his fellow Bravest, had always wanted to be a fireman growing up.

When he finally joined the FDNY six years ago, it was the culmination of a lifetime dream. He was working out of Engine 230 in Bedford-Stuyvesant and enjoying  every minute of it.

When he wasn't working was spending time with his friends and family   - he especially liked spending time with his nieces and nephews. "He was very good with kids,"

Eugene's brother Alan Whelan told the Irish Voice. "He was like a kid himself. He was everybody's favorite uncle."

In fact, when he wasn't playing with his siblings' children, Eugeneused to always play with the local kids outside the firehouse in Bed Stuy, sometimes even dragging out the blackboard and holding an impromptu teaching session.

Before the tragic events of September 11, life was going great for Eugene Whelan. He was working at his dream job and living with two of his brothers, Chris and Bobby, above the family-run Harbor Light Pub and Restaurant, on 130th and Newport Avenue in Belle Harbor.

Harbor Light has become one of Rockaway's many grieving places since the Twin Towers tragedy - another part owner of the business, Bernie Heerin, is a retired firefighter whose son Charlie was buried last week.

Locals have been flocking to the bars to comfort the Heerin and the Whelan family while trying to draw some comfort of their own from friends and neighbors.

"A lot of Rockaway has been joining together over this." "It's been good seeing everyone together,"Eugene's brother John Whelan told the Irish Voice.

The FDNY has been amazing as well, Alan Whelan said. "It's really true what they say, about the fire department being a second family," he added.

The Whelan family will be joined by their FDNY family and their Rockaway family on Thursday, when they hold a memorial service for Eugene at the local church, St. Francis de Sales R.C. in Belle Harbor.

"Having mass will be of some comfort," Al Whelan said. "We need some closure now." The healing has already begun, and the Whelan family will continue for years, perhaps even the rest of their lives, to struggle with the sudden loss of Eugene.

There is one thought, however, that will sustain them whenever they're feeling   particularly low. "He's a hero," Al Whelan said simply. "People keep telling us, 'we were running out the door and he was running in to save people'."

The New York Times also shared memories of this young man's life:

Eugene Whelan: Guilty of Serial Hugging
 
He was no saint!" said Eugene Whelan's mother, Joan, her laughter bubbling up. "Yeah, he could be a giant pain!" her husband, Alfred, added, chuckling about the ninth of their 10 children.
 
But examples eluded them.
 
While Firefighter Whelan, 31, undoubtedly jettisoned saint eligibility at some Rockaway pub or Grateful Dead concert — a captain called him "the king of fun" — he was still terrific. He kept extra winter jackets in his Jeep in case he spotted a shivering homeless person. He was a persistent serial hugger, spreading those burly embraces known as "Eugene hugs."

 He was a Mr. Fix-it and human Velcro to kids. In Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn,the neighborhood served by Engine Company 230, children would arrive at the firehouse with broken bicycles for Firefighter Whelan to make whole.
 
During a school visit, he asked why one child was left in the bus. The child was paralyzed, a teacher replied. Mr. Whelan carried the child to the fire truck. "He understood what life was really about," said his father, "so we feel pretty good about him."
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Eugene was a huge fan of The Grateful Dead, and was known by his friends and family as "Peaches."  I would love to know the story behind the nickname!  He was also known as the King of Fun - since his passing, his family and friends have a charity dinner and dance every year in his honor - The Eugene Whelan King of Fun Foundation Dinner Dance.  From the photos I've seen, it looks like they have a marvelous time raising money for good causes.

Eugene's youngest brother, Bobby has entered FDNY, and has taken on Eugene's Badge Number - 3206.  From the photos I've seen of Eugene and his loved ones, and the tributes I've read - this family was not shy about sharing their affection for one another. 

The day Robert Whelan decided to join New York's Bravest his older firefighter brother, Eugene, gave him his own FDNY tie pin. Yesterday, Bobby, as his big brother called him, wore the pin to his signing-in ceremony as a reminder of Eugene - who was killed at the World Trade Center. Whelan was among 307 new recruits who joined the city's beleaguered department yesterday to begin the process of rebuilding its ranks. At an emotional ceremony at the Fire

Academy at  Randalls Island, the "probies" were the first to be sworn into the department since it lost 343 men in the terrorist attacks. Whelan, 28, of Queens, said he was disappointed he wouldn't serve with his brother but added, "I think actually we will be together." "Through the academy and while I am a fireman, he will always be there," he said of Eugene, who worked at Engine Co. 230 in

Brooklyn

I got wrapped up in the warm recollections of Eugene's friends and family, when I stumbled across this quote, from a Newsweek Talk Transcript with David Ansen about the movie 'World Trade Center':

Adams, MA As a brother of a lost firefighter (Eugene Whelan, Engine 230) I have found it very difficult to escape the ongoing visualization of 9/11. You claim your movie is therapeutic, but how? Most of us get emotional talking about it or even anything more than a five-second video bite will send us on an emotional roller coaster ride. I am interested in your approach to the effect it had on people and rescuers on the ground. I was at Ground Zero for a couple of days searching for my brother and to this day just a thought can bring the smell & taste of those moments to my senses.

I had to walk away from the computer for a while, after reading that.  For me, 9-11 was a senseless tragedy, but an impersonal one.  For Eugene Whelan's loved ones, it was very, very personal. It was wonder-if-he-made-it, digging-through-rubble, praying-to-God personal.  I'm weeping as I type. 

Eugene, let me add my voice to the already booming chorus of all the lives you touched in your time here on Earth.  I will remember you.