Firefighter Lincoln Quappe

Rescue 2, FDNY

Firefighter Quappe's Act of Heroism

Over 400 first responders lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Heroically performing their sworn duty, these firefighters, members of the NYPD and PAPD, and numerous other rescue workers will forever be remembered for their sacrifice.

My Hero

It would not be accurate to say that Lincoln Quappé attended every one of his son's baseball and soccer matches; his job as a firefighter with Rescue 2 in Brooklyn required him to work all hours.

But he never missed a game, thanks to the Quappé Broadcasting Service, otherwise known as his wife, Jane. "If I was at a game and Lincoln was working, I would call and give him the play by play," she said.

And when Mr. Quappé, 38, was at home, in Sayville on Long Island, he was all kid- business — "a true sit-down-on-the-floor- play-G.I.-Joes-play-Barbies-build-Legos- 100-percent kind of dad," Ms. Quappé said.

On weekends, taking care of the children, a son and daughter, often meant nature trips on the boat Mr. Quappé's stepfather kept behind his house in Brookhaven and pointing out the herons and egrets and osprey nestled in the reeds or soaring overhead.

Mr. Quappé, who, like his father, was also a volunteer firefighter in his town, showed the same devotion to his job as to his family.

"Being a firefighter defined him," Ms. Quappé said. "It was his blood. It was his life. I've said to many people that if he had to die at such a young age, this is how he would have wanted to go."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on January 29, 2002.
Information courtesy of the Remember 9/11/2001 memorial site on legacy.com