| OFFICER DOMINICK PEZZULO New York/New Jersey Port Authority | |
 | Dominick Pezzulo, a former high school shop teacher, had been on the force barely a year on 9/11. He and several other Port Authority officers, on duty at a midtown bus terminal, commandeered a city bus and rushed to the scene. After entering one of the buildings, an explosion caused debris to come down around the officers. Officer Pezzulo ran out to safety, but realized two fellow officers were still inside. He went back in and found his comrades alive but trapped under rubble. As he worked to free them, the first tower collapsed. Officer Pezzulo was killed by falling debris. The two trapped officers survived. |
| A few days earlier, a priest had jokingly asked Dominick's seven-year-old son, "So, you're a tough guy?" The boy answered, "No. But my daddy is." At the funeral, New York's toughest and finest were reduced to tears by Dominick's two young children wearing their daddy's police hats. | |