25 years after 9/11, Hauppauge man puts remembrance on the road

Twenty-five years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, Hauppauge’s Scott Munro is still thinking about two detectives who died that day.

Joseph V. Vigiano and Claude “Dan” Richards were among the NYPD officers who responded to the World Trade Center that morning. Neither came home.

Munro, president of the NYPD Detectives’ Endowment Association and a former commissioner of the Hauppauge Fire Department, wanted to make sure their names were never forgotten.

So he built a van.

Over the past year, Munro has worked to bring the rolling memorial to life, honoring Vigiano and Richards, along with 79 other NYPD detectives who have died in the years since from 9/11-related illnesses.

Vigiano was a second-grade detective assigned to Emergency Service Unit Truck 2, while Richards was a second-grade detective with the NYPD Bomb Squad.

Their portraits are prominently displayed on the van alongside the Detectives’ Endowment Association emblem, the New York City skyline, an American flag and two beams of light symbolizing the Twin Towers.

The van will make a particularly meaningful trip to Ground Zero this December, when Munro plans to use it to carry a wreath honoring the 23 NYPD officers killed on Sept. 11.

“Someone said to me, ‘You know what, Scott? Why don’t you take this wreath and bring it to the site in the van?’” Munro said. “And we are going to lay that wreath there and we are going to remember the 23 police officers that were killed that day.”

Vigiano’s son is expected to join Munro for the tribute.

The van will then return to Hauppauge, where it will be displayed outside the Hauppauge Fire Department during its 9/11 ceremony.

Munro’s connection to the department goes back decades. He joined at 16 and eventually served as a fire commissioner for nearly three decades. His grandfather was among those who helped establish the department in 1934.

For Munro, remembering isn’t something reserved for an anniversary.

“We are going to remember the police officers that were killed that day, and all of these detectives and police officers are dying from 9/11-related illnesses,” he said. “We will never forget.”

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Top: Over the past year, Scott Munro has worked to bring the rolling memorial to life, honoring Vigiano and Richards, along with 79 other NYPD detectives. It was unveiled this week in Hauppauge. (Credit: GLI/Andrew Rappaport)