Firefighter who died in World Trade Center attacks is finally buried after family use old blood donation to get Catholic funeral
Final farewell for 9/11 hero after 15 year wait
THOUSANDS of firefighters dressed in full uniform saluted a flag-draped casket carrying two tiny vials of blood on Friday - the only known remains of a colleague who died in the 9/11 attacks.
Since the deadliest ever terrorist attack on US soil, the family of New York Battalion Chief Lawrence Stack has been unable to give their loved one a Roman Catholic funeral Mass because no trace of his body was found in the rubble of the World Trade Center.
But after 15 heartbreaking years they have finally been able to properly put him to rest after discovering that the 58-year-old had donated blood as part of a bone marrow drive for a child with cancer before the 2001 attacks.
Rich Brandt, a chief at Long Beach fire department in California who began his career working with Stack in Manhattan, said: "He gives blood for a young cancer kid that's just Larry."
Brandt showed off a bracelet with Stack's name on it that he said he has worn since 2001.
"He was kind of a dad to me," Brandt said.
Stack's two sons, both New York firefighters, stood watch on the back of a ceremonial firetruck bearing the flag-draped casket with the vials of blood as it passed by firefighters and dignitaries standing at attention.
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The New York City Emerald Society Pipe Band led the procession, playing "Amazing Grace" as the casket was led into Saints Philip and James Roman Catholic Church, in St. James, on Long Island.
Michael Stack said during the funeral that his father, who was a safety expert, had been working in his office preparing a report on the deaths of three firefighters killed just a few months before the deadly terror attacks on Friday, on June 17, 2001.
When he learned that planes had flown into the World Trade Center he raced to the scene and began helping people flee the burning towers.
He was last seen assisting a man who had injured his leg when the south tower collapsed with him on the ground below.
Brandt said his friend could always be counted on to help others.
He said: "Not only did he help people that day, but his entire career and his entire life was about helping people."
Theresa Stack, marking what would have been her 49th wedding anniversary to the fallen firefighter on Friday, said last week that she had never given up hope that his remains would be found.
About a year ago, her family reached out to the New York Blood Bank after recalling both had donated blood weeks before September 11.
When vials of his blood were located, plans were made for a funeral.
Theresa Stack, who was presented with her husband's helmet as she left the church, said the family wanted to hold a public funeral "so people don't forget" the terrible events of the day he died.
Retired firefighter Ray Pfeiffer, who has cancer, attended the funeral in a wheelchair.
"Larry was killed by a terrorist," he said. "Whether it was done 15 years ago or whether it was done yesterday, he deserves a line-of-duty funeral, and he's going to get that respect. Larry was a good man."
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