Thousands Gather to Honor Battalion Chief Lawrence T. Stack
June 17, 2016
Thousands of FDNY Firefighters gathered on July 17 for the funeral of Battalion Chief Lawrence T. Stack, who was killed along with 342 of his fellow FDNY members in the rescue effort at the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001.
“I know my husband and one thing is for sure. He called me before he went in, and if he had a beating heart, he would have called me and told me that he was okay,” said Chief Stack’s wife, Theresa. “When I didn’t hear from him, I knew that day that he was never coming home. And he never did.”
Chief Stack was the commander in charge of the safety battalion in 2001. On the morning of September 11th, he was in his office at the Brooklyn Navy Yard completing the Department’s safety investigation of the Fathers’ Day Fire (June 17, 2001) that took the lives of three FDNY Firefighters. When he learned a plane had just struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center, he ran to the roof to see what had happened.
“He went on the roof, looked through his binoculars, and saw the South Tower get hit with the second plane. He put his binoculars down, looked to the other Chiefs and Firefighters and said, ‘Guys, I think they’re going to need us over there,” said Chief Stack’s son, FDNY Lieutenant Michael Stack of Ladder Company 176.
“He demonstrated true courage, running towards the danger he witnessed just across the East River, the same courage that he displayed on every tour as a Firefighter, Lieutenant, Captain, and Chief in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens over an extraordinary career,” said Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro.
Chief Stack survived the collapse of the South Tower, quickly freed himself from fallen debris and continued to courageously help others. He bravely and selflessly stayed to help an injured New Yorker with a severed Achilles tendon. He worked feverishly to find a way to save that person and remove them from harm, as the North Tower collapsed, taking both their lives.
Get More Photos From the Funeral
“I understood what happened on September 11 because it’s work, it’s the Fire Department. Danger is always right around the corner. It’s part of the job,” said Chief’s Stack’s son, Firefighter Brian Stack of Rescue Company 4. “I was 30 years old when he died, and I know that I’m lucky that I got more time with my father than some of the men and women coming on the job now. They were much younger when they lost their fathers. We were fortunate to have so many years with him in our lives.”
Chief Stack’s remains were never recovered from the World Trade Center site. To date, 128 of the 343 FDNY members killed that day have never been recovered.
The Department held a memorial service in Chief Stack’s memory in December, 2001. With no remains recovered, a funeral was never held. After holding out hope for 15 years that he would one day be identified, the family contacted the New York Blood Center, seeking to bury vials of blood that Chief Stack had donated prior to his death.
“We told the New York Blood Center our story, that my father, FDNY Battalion Chief Larry Stack was at the World Trade Center and we never got his remains. Now we can lay him to rest,” said Lieutenant Michael Stack.
Chief Stack, 58, was a 33-year veteran of the FDNY. He joined the Department in 1968, first assigned to Ladder Company 107 and then Ladder Company 175 in Brooklyn. In 1981, he was promoted to Lieutenant and assigned to Ladder Company 35 in Manhattan. Three years later, he was promoted to Captain and assigned to Division 7 in the Bronx and in 1990 he was promoted to Battalion Chief, working in Queens, the Bureau of Operations and the Safety Battalion. Prior to joining FDNY, Chief Stack served in the United States Navy for six years, including a tour of duty in the Vietnam War.
“The Stacks will never forget the love he had for his family,” said Commissioner Nigro. “And we will Never Forget his sacrifice, his leadership, and most of all, his bravery.”