It’s in moments when people gather to tell stories about their father that uplift Nicole and Samantha Palazzo. Their father, Jeff Palazzo, was a FDNY firefighter killed in the September 11 terrorists attacks .
At the time, Nicole was 4-years-old and Samantha was only 11-months-old.
"We get to hear all those things about him that we wouldn’t have known and he now gets to be honored in such a way so it is uplifting," Nicole said.
His namesake will live on. The US Coast Guard Station New York dedicated its new 25,000 square foot multipurpose building to Palazzo on Friday.
Opening the building signals full recovery for the station after Hurricane Sandy destroyed four buildings. Palazzo also served in the U.S. Coast Guard. His Coast Guard and FDNY uniforms grace the front hall.
Comrades shared stories of his bravery, his humor, and love for his family. Shipmates remember his actions to save smuggled Chinese immigrants who fell overboard the Golden Venture of Rockaway Beach in 1993.
Commanding officers endearingly remember the need to remind him to cut his hair. On September 11, 2001, Palazzo was off-duty and spending time with family, but he answered the call to duty on that tragic day.
"He was a true hero of the coast guard, but one of those unsung heroes that you don’t hear those stories but you need to hear those stories. There’s so many Jeff Palazzos out there. And Jeff Palazzo makes us proud and we’re here to honor him today," said FDNY Chief of Department, James Leonard.
It's those stories that help his children learn more about their father they had so little time with.
"I wish for [Samantha’s] sake and for my sake that we were able to experience more stories with him, and that we had some of our own, so hearing them, you compare them to the lives he really did touch," said Nicole.
Those who enter the MK1 Jeff Palazzo Hall building will know his story for generations to come.