Retired firefighter John T. Vigiano is an ex-Marine whose sons, Det. Joseph Vigiano and Firefighter John Vigiano, died heroes on 9/11. Obviously, John Vigiano is someone who feels very deeply about the sacrifices young American servicemen and women are making these days on the streets of Baghdad and the other battlefields over there.

So John Vigiano does something about it. Every six or seven weeks, he collects a group of active and retired members of the NYPD service, many with U.S. armed forces connections of their own, and they travel to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., to visit the soldiers, sailors and marines being treated in the wards and occupational therapy units there. Under the supervision of U.S. Army Major John Kallerson, the hospital’s senior chaplain, they chat with the patients and distribute modest gifts. On one recent visit, PBA-donated NYPD shirts, hats and other paraphernalia were the order of the day.

Major Kallerson presented our active and retired police officers with a replica (see photo below) of the stained-glass window that is now situated at the site of impact of the hijacked 9/11 aircraft that struck the Pentagon.

(Left-to-right) Retired NYPD Lt. Joe Lisi, a former marine; Capt. John Durkin of ESU, who is a former Marine sergeant and currently a captain in the U.S. Army Reserves who has served three tours in Iraq; retired ESU Lt. John McArdule; John Vigiano; First Deputy Police Commissioner George Grasso; U.S. Army Major John Kallerson, Senior Chaplain at Walter Reed; retired ESU Lt. Owen McCaffrey; ESU Sgt. Franco Barbario; and P.O. Pasquale Sementelli of the 75 Pct.