NANTICOKE, Pa. — Underneath the flags flying at the Walk of Honor memorial on the Luzerne County Community College campus in Nanticoke are plaques honoring Michael Carlo, a fallen New York City firefighter.
"Unfortunately, Michael was not, did not come out of 9/11 alive," explained family friend Jennifer Olszik of Nanticoke, Luzerne County.
Soon after the attacks, Michael's late mother, Phyllis, who was from the Wanamie section of Nanticoke, went to state legislators and asked for a way to honor him.
John Yudichak is now the president of LCCC, but at that time, he was a state representative for Nanticoke. He says Phyllis came to him with money from the New York Stock Exchange Foundation and said, "We're receiving this money, and I want to honor my son, Michael, and not only my son, Michael but all of those brave first responders who do the work that they do. We can't forget them," he explained.
Now, every year, a group of motorcycle-riding firefighters, led by Michael's brother Rob Carlo, travels from New York to LCCC and holds a ceremony in his honor.
"It could have been any one of us, and I know we all have our own story about that day, and we all know how close it was that we weren't there or were there. But we're here today," Carlo said to his fellow firefighters during the ceremony.
Rob says he and his brother grew up riding dirt bikes in the hills of Nanticoke, so this is a perfect place to reflect on Michael's life and legacy.
"What a great location," said Carlo. "This is overlooking all of these hills. You know, I know for a fact that there are trails everywhere that we probably covered."
Making sure to keep his memory and the memories of everyone lost on that day alive.
"Everybody that rode up here with me today was part of 9/11, you know. I would imagine that at some point, 9/11 memorials are going to be just like a World War II memorial or a World War I memorial where nobody's left that actually was there. But we still don't forget those memorials, and hopefully, we can carry on a legacy and the story of 9/11," said Carlo.