New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade includes extended Haskell family marching to honor brothers lost on 9/11 

Kenny Haskell was on the Manhattan Bridge in a bus filled with fellow FDNY firefighters headed for the World Trade Center when the south tower collapsed that fateful morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

He turned to a seatmate and said: “We all know somebody who just died.”

Thinking back on that moment this week, Haskell, 54, of Seaford, said: “I had no idea just how prophetic those words were going to be for me.”

On Saturday, Kenny Haskell, now retired, will join more than a dozen members of his extended family — almost all will be in uniform — to march with the Holy Name Society at the front of the St. Patrick's Day Parade up Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. They'll do so to honor the two older brothers Haskell lost among 343 firefighters killed in the terror attacks on 9/11.

FDNY Capt. Thomas Haskell, 38, of Massapequa, was killed with fellow firefighters from Brooklyn Ladder 132 in the collapse of the south tower at 9:59 a.m.

Firefighter Timothy Haskell, 34, of Manhattan, who was with FDNY Squad 18 in the West Village, was killed when the north tower came down at 10:28 a.m.

Kenny Haskell said his brothers loved marching in the parade  ,   which first took place in 1762.

Getting family together

But getting the family together this year was the idea of cousin Jimmy Haskell, an NYPD detective with the firearms analysis section, ballistics, at the crime lab in Jamaica, Queens.

Jimmy Haskell was 15 when Timmy and Tommy died on 9/11.

“I just thought it'd be a nice thing to do,” he said, “taking a really horrible situation, using it to shed light on the idea and importance of service.”

He added: “Service has always been something ingrained in our family. There's always been this thing that service is something bigger than yourself.”

Retired FDNY firefighter Frank Haskell, 64, of West Islip, a cousin of the two Haskell brothers, said family members first arrived in America in 1642.

“The running joke in the family's always been they were here and helped tie up the Mayflower.”

Frank Haskell said some member of the family has fought in every American war; that wearing a uniform has long-been second nature. Maybe first.

Kenny Haskell's grandfather, Fred Robbert, served in the Navy in World War II. His father, Thomas Haskell, was a Marine during the Korean War and later served with the FDNY.

Frank Haskell's father, Frank, was in the Navy in Korea.

Marching Saturday will be a long line of Haskells — and extended family — representing all sorts of police, fire and military branches.

Kenny Haskell and cousin Frank Haskell are both retired FDNY. Jimmy Haskell is NYPD. Then there's cousin Col. David J. Haskell, Deputy Commander, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Liberty, North Carolina; Frank's son Nick is an Air Force Academy graduate and a captain and drone operator in the U.S. Air Force; Frank's nephew T.J. Haskell, also an Air Force Academy graduate, is a 1st lieutenant in the U.S. Space Force. Other cousins and in-laws marching include: NYPD officer Vince Peralta; NYPD Det. Mike Robbert; Nassau County Police canine bureau officer Denise Robbert; Suffolk County Police Det. John Terrillion; and Port Authority Police officer James Gambina.

Holy Name Society past President Desi Stokes, an NYPD detective who works with Jimmy Haskell in ballistics, said he helped arrange for the family to march for good reason.

“It's important to keep those stories going,” Stokes said, “because once we stop remembering, when we forget the legacy of what they did, that's when people truly die. I want people to remember this isn't just some name on a wall. There's a human side to the story. These were living, breathing men who went out that day to save those in need — and a lot of men and women gave their all to do that.”

Knew it was a terrorist attack

Before Kenny Haskell joined the FDNY, he spent three years with the NYPD. As a young cop, he responded to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. When he heard a plane hit the north tower that September morning, he said: “I knew it was a terrorist attack. I just knew.”

Off duty, he rushed to Brooklyn to get a ride with fellow firefighters to Ground Zero.

Tim Haskell was just coming off duty at Squad 18 when the attack happened — and also geared up to respond to the scene. He was at least 30 floors up, trying to help stranded workers, when the north tower fell. Tommy Haskell, who was posthumously promoted to battalion chief, was lost with everyone in Ladder 132. His body has never been recovered.

“That morning started with four Haskells in the fire department,” Frank Haskell, who was off duty and reached Ground Zero on Sept. 12, said. “By the end of the day, two of us were gone.”

Tim and Tom's mom, Maureen, recently celebrated her 80th birthday. She, daughter Dawn, son Kevin and Kenny Haskell have worked hard over the years to turn the loss into something good. Kenny is a member of an advisory committee that awards college scholarships every year to students at Seaford High School — two of those in the names of his fallen brothers.

“The best legacy you can do for someone tragically lost is to create something good out of that tragedy,” Kenny Haskell said this week. “To become better people, better citizens. … As sad as I was to lose them, to this day I'm incredibly proud. What they did is what people have come to expect from the FDNY. It's what people have come to expect from those who serve.

“There's a lot of people alive today because of what was given that day, what my brothers gave. That's a legacy I know … my family is proud of.”

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”