Brothers Tom and Tim Haskell, of Seaford, New York, were members of the FDNY and died while rescuing others from the Twin Towers on 9/11.
Now, more than a dozen relatives in the U.S. military and other fire and police departments, including his brother Ken Haskell, who also survived 9/11, are coming together to honor one of their favorite Big Apple traditions. They come from all over the United States. St. Patrick’s Day.
“We are an Irish family and especially my brothers Tommy and Timmy, we loved celebrating St. Patrick’s Day by attending the parade every year,” Haskell, 54, told FOX News Digital. “It was something they always did together, no matter where they worked.”
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Tommy and Timmy Haskell wear uniforms to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City. (Courtesy of Ken Haskell)
Typically, FDNY members march with other members of the same fire department or battalion, he said. However, his brothers always found a way to go together every year, even though they worked in different districts.
This year, a large group of patriots gathered from across the country, including members of the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, various police departments, the FDNY, and even the Space Force, to remember the two men who died.
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On September 11, 2001, Timmy Haskell of the 18th Squad died after running up the stairs of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. (Courtesy of Ken Haskell)
Tim Haskell was living and working in lower Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001, his brother said. He was off duty when the plane crashed, but rushed to the scene anyway along with other members of the fire department.
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He made it to the 30th floor of the North Tower, where he and another firefighter found a man who appeared to be suffering from a heart attack. While the evacuation was underway, his colleagues went looking for an empty staircase. Officers returned with the victim and told him that Tim Haskell had gone upstairs after hearing a call for help over the radio.
FDNY firefighters Thomas Theodore Haskell Jr. and Timothy Sean Haskell were honored at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York. (Robert Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
“We all know someone who just passed away, right? And I didn’t even know if my brothers were working at that point.”
Firefighters and police officers carried the injured men to safety and all three men survived, Haskell said. His brother didn’t.
“I remember feeling a lot of pride in what he did,” Haskell told FOX News Digital. “It was an incredibly brave and selfless decision he made, and he did it without hesitation.”
Ken and Tommy Haskell, their mothers in FDNY dress uniforms. (Courtesy of Ken Haskell)
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His other brother, Tom Haskell, was the captain of Ladder 132, based in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. His team responded to the South Tower and was assisting with evacuations there when the building collapsed on top of them.
“This was the second time a building was attacked, but the first time it collapsed,” Haskell said. “So they were just trying to evacuate people, including the emergency responders themselves.”
Several members of the Haskell family wear different uniforms in an undated family photo. (Ken Haskell)
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Ken Haskell, who was off-duty at the time of the attack, was jumping on a bus with members of the fire department and rushing to the scene when the tower began to fall. He did not know whether his brothers were at the scene until 1 a.m. the next morning. He then spent several weeks piecing together their heroism after speaking with other survivors.
Former President George W. Bush (third from left) and former Congressman Peter King (right) meet with members of the Haskell family at Eisenhower Park in 2004. (Ken Haskell)
Haskell said his family has a tradition of military service, starting with his grandfather, who served in the U.S. Navy.
So was his uncle. His father was a Marine and later joined the FDNY.
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Haskell was also a police officer before joining the fire department at the same time as his brother Tim and cousin Frank.
Today, the next generation is joining various branches of the military and law enforcement, or working in the fire service.
And they came from all over the Big Apple, from North Carolina, New Mexico, Florida and other parts of New York, to march in the St. Patrick’s Day parade with the NYPD’s Holy Name Society.
