For North Bergen Police Officer Anthony Cirri, remembering the loss of his father has not gotten easier, nine years after the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, even as he has attempted to follow his father’s example by embarking on a law enforcement career.
His father, Port Authority Lt. Robert Cirri, a Guttenberg native and North Bergen High School alumni, was killed attempting to help people in the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Cirri, 23, talked about what his father meant to him, and how he helped guide his career, following North Bergen’s 9/11 memorial ceremony outside the high school on Sept. 10.
Cirri graduated the Jersey City Police Academy three months ago. He has since joined the North Bergen Police Department. He is currently on bike patrol, and hopes one day to be a ranking officer in the department.
“Now I’m a cop, just like my father.” – Anthony Cirri
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The loss of his father in such a tragic way follows him through life, but he said that it has also helped him to cope with other tragedies.
Still, he wishes his father could share in his successes now.
“I miss him very much,” said Cirri. “I know he is proud of me. I wish he was here to be able to be here with me for this experience, for my career now. I know he’s looking over me. I wish he was still here, [so that I would have] someone, when I have questions, that I could go to.”
Remembering 9/11
The North Bergen Board of Education hosts a 9/11 memorial every year in front of the high school honoring three alumni who perished in the attacks. Along with Cirri, Port Authority Police Officer Christopher Amoroso, and Sal Edward Tieri are also remembered.
Amoroso was also honored at the North Bergen Recreation Pop Warner 50th Anniversary last Saturday, which he was involved with.
“Family members are of course out there, still remembering today as one of the most trying days of their lives,” said Mayor Nicholas Sacco at the ceremony. “It was exactly like this day. The weather was perfect…and we were in shock.”
Sacco said the event would be held every year around the same time to make sure that “we remember.”
The North Bergen High School Chorus sang the National Anthem and “God Bless America,” while Tyler Manzi and Sergio Gomez, members of the high school’s band, played “Taps.”
Along with Sacco, Superintendent Robert Dandorph, Hudson County Surrogate Donald DeLeo, Board of Education members and employees, North Bergen Police Officers, veterans, family members, and residents also attended.
Honoring a fallen soldier
Sgt. Marcos Gorra, 22, was an Army paratrooper in the 2nd Battalion, 82nd Aviation Brigade and 82nd Airborne Division who died after he sustained injuries from a training exercise this past February.
The North Bergen Board of Education decided to honor Gorra, a 2006 graduate from the school, last Friday by adding his name to a plaque that originally was dedicated to Vietnam soldiers who died in service to their country.
“He’s known by many of the students and it was appropriate that we honor him also,” said Sacco.
Tricia Tirella may be reached at TriciaT@hudsonreporter.com.