Remembering two firefighters -- and those before them

By Andy Cashman, Associate Producer

After 9/11, I had the privilege of working on a story I'll not soon forget.  As part of an hour-long documentary we were shooting for Dateline, I slept with, ate with and went on runs with the firefighters of Engine 24/Ladder 5.  I'd say I lived with them for the better part of 2 months and, as you can imagine, this was an emotional time in the lives of these firefighters. They had lost 11 of their members and I witnessed them cry, laugh and eventually heal a little bit.

On Saturday, Aug. 18, two firefighters from Ladder 5, Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino, were killed while battling a blaze at the Deutsche Bank building beside Ground Zero in downtown Manhattan. Though I got to know other firefighters better than Beddia and Graffagnino, I knew them a bit.  As soon as I heard about their deaths, a story came to mind...