Remembering Bob Cirri

 I usually don't write about 9/11 but let me explain why I honor Robert D. Cirri SR every year. His callsign was KA2OTD and was a Port Authority Police Officer and Paramedic. We only knew each other only over the radio, never met in person, but I knew his voice. I would listen to him talk for his job and for enjoyment. I talked to him and like everyone else I talk to he was extre,mely patient with me.

9/11 disrupted a lot of communications, not ham radio. I remember being told to just listen, that's what I did for days, never picked up the microphone. Four days later I heard a ham radio operator driving all night from North Carolina looking to assist in New York. He was on the wrong repeater and I decide to get on the right repeater to get him some help. Well I was scolded. So I gave the ham from North Carolina the frequency, he programmed it in. When he got on the repeater HE said I HELPED HIM WHEN NO ELSE WOULD. I heard the entire thing and just went on listening.
This was a day I helped in a small way.
When I feel sad about today I think about the days after, I also think about Bob Cirri, the man I never met but I will always remember!

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