I Remember William R. Johnston

Blogger D.C. Roe had an idea: to memorialize the 2,996 victims of the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001, by asking bloggers to volunteer to write a tribute post. I was the 496th blogger to volunteer, and I was assigned to write about William R. Johnston of Lindenhurst, New York. To see the list of participants and who they are memoralizing, visit the 2996 website by clicking here.

Mr. Johnston was 31, a bachelor, and the second of four children. He spent three years working alongside his father William for the Transit Authority, as an ironworker maintaining the elevated subway tracks. He took the firefighter exam because he wanted to serve the public, and for the camaraderie that comes with being a firefighter.
His family called him Billy.

Billy was a star soccer player, with what his childhood friend Eugene Masula told the New York Times was “a rocket of a right foot”. He played on a Long Island amateur team, and another article I read said he played professional indoor soccer.When he joined the New York Fire Department, his soccer skills earned him a place as a starting placekicker for the football team. He also played left field for the softball team.

One amusing anecdote I found described a practical joke he played on a fellow Engine 6 teammate. While travelling to an away game, he shaved off his teammate’s eyebrow.

Writing this tribute has brought back my memory of that day. It was a Tuesday, so I was driving the boys to our Mothers of Preschoolers meeting in East Lansing. Dan Rather had interrupted N.P.R. to announce that there were reports out of New York City that an airplane had flown into the World Trade Center. I thought, what a terrible way for a plane to crash. When we got home, I turned on the T.V. expecting to get “Blue’s Clues” and instead finding what looked like Armageddon. I watched for hours while the boys played. Over and over, the footage taken by a documentary filmmaker of the first plane flying into the first tower, then the second. The buildings collapsing, the unimaginably huge ball of dust and smoke rolling down the street while people ran as fast as they could away from it. And the firemen, the policemen, the paramedics, racing to the World Trade Center hoping to save people.

The images of the hospitals who had called in every staff member and set up giant triage stations, waiting for what they assumed would come-injured victims. But no one came.

On September 30, 2001, the Johnston family had a baby shower for Billy’s sister Diane Cuff. She was the first of the siblings to have a baby, and so to celebrate the occasion, the shower was to include the entire family, including the men. Billy was looking forward to being there. Here’s an excerpt from the story at Newsday.com:

“Mourning Johnston’s loss in the north tower, the family clung to hopes that his remains would be recovered before the baby’s shower. But the day came and went without any news.

The next day, though, her uncle, Bobby Johnston – a firefighter with Engine Co. 238 in Brownsville, Brooklyn – showed up at the family’s North Babylon home with astonishing news. Johnston’s remains had been recovered at 4 p.m. on Sept. 30.

“See,” his sister recalled her elated mother, Joy, saying, “he’s never let me down.”

On July 22nd, 2002, the First Annual William R. Johnston Golf Outing was held, with the proceeds donated to a scholarship fund at Billy’s Alma Mater, North Babylon High School. Three scholarships were awarded the following May.

Billy Johnston died on September 11, 2001 in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. I don’t even know how to adequately express to his family how deep my sympathies are, how sorry I am that they lost their son and brother. I’m sorry that little John William Cuff will never get to meet his Uncle Billy. I’m sorry that Billy went to do his job that morning and never came back.

Thank you, Billy Johnston, for trying to help save people that day. May you rest in peace.

The website United in Memory has a gallery of quilt squares honoring the victims. I found two squares made for Billy, which you can view here.

Sources: http://www.legacy.com/Sept11.asp?Page=Story&PersonID=103996

http://cf.newsday.com/911/victimsearch.cfm?id=451