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September 2002 IBEW Journal
On September 11, Thomas J. Leibold, general chairman of Local 589, Jamaica, New York, was in San Francisco attending the IBEW 36th International Convention as a delegate. He wrote an account, excerpted below, about how the shock and turmoil of September 11 affected his family. We delegates from Local 589 were all looking forward to a great IBEW Convention in San Francisco. I suggested to my wife, Tina, that I wanted to take my 16-year-old son, Thomas, with me to California to show him our great union firsthand. But Tina strongly opposed his going. She felt protective and fearful of letting her son travel since the loss of our oldest son, Frank, who passed away unexpectedly in January 1997. Understanding a mothers protectiveness, I assumed all responsibility for Thomas. What a wonderful chance for my son to travel with me and take in the convention events. It was a great start to a great conventiontrolley car rides, the Bay Area, meeting IBEW members from across North America and trading for those local union lapel buttons. On Monday, September 10, the convention opened with rousing pipe and drum bands from the Canadian military and Local 3, New York, New York. I told Tina that Thomas would be home for school and her birthday on Tuesday, September 11. On September 10 at 10:30 p.m., I placed my son in a taxicab and instructed the driver to take him to Oakland Airport. Thomas called at 11:15 p.m. to say he arrived at the airport safely. I asked him to call me when he landed at JFK and told him I loved him. At 6 a.m. the next morning I awoke to loud banging at my door. Brother Ricardo Sanchez, Local 589 president, rushed in screaming to turn the TV on. My cell phone started ringing and Tina was on the line. She was frantic and crying. Still half asleep and watching the TV come into focus, I saw the image of disaster, a plane crashing into the Twin Towers, the buildings ablaze. Terrible confusion: My son, the Twin Towers, Tina crying on the phone, Rick and I wondering where Thomas was. I finally got Tina to calm down and she told me it wasnt Thomas flight, but he was still in the air somewhere over New York. At 9 a.m. we went to the Moscone Convention Center. I still didnt know where Thomas was. Calls in and out of the New York area were impossible. Tina finally called and told me Thomas flight was on approach to JFK and then was diverted to Newburgh Airport in upstate New York. As I made my way over to join the Third District delegation, Brother Tim Paley, business manager of Local 236 in Albany, saw how I looked and asked if I was okay. I told him about my sons flight. Tim told Brother Dominick Macchia, Third District international representative, about my situation. Dominick promptly escorted me through a sea of thousands of delegates to find Brother Joe Maraia, business manager of Local 363 in New City, New York, which is near Newburgh. When Brother Maraia heard my story, he took out his cell phone and called Local 363 Business Representative James Bodrato back at the local and asked him to go find my son who was somewhere in Newburgh, feed him, give him money, whatever it takes, and take him home to his mother because she is worried. Now, Im three thousand miles from New York and the whole country is in panic. At 10:30 a.m. the phone rings and its Brother Jim Bodrato. He introduces himself and says, "Here, talk to your son Thomas." Brother Bodrato also called my wife, took my son out to eat and brought him back to his home to let him get some sleep. Jim would have driven my son home, but all the bridges and tunnels in New York were closed. Thomas finally did get home, driven by a U.S. Marine sergeant friend of mine who could cross the bridges. This is what our organization the IBEW is all aboutbrotherhood. When you need help, your brothers and sisters are there for you. I cant thank my brothers enough for their hospitality and friendship when I was in need.
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| In Memory of Brothers Lost The IBEW honors the memory of its fallen brothers whose lives were lost at the World Trade Center in the September 11 terrorist attacks. Two IBEW locals initially counted 20 members among the dead and missing, 16 from Local 3 and four from Local 1212. A 17th member from Local 3, Anthony Segarra, died November 28, 2001, from injuries sustained in the attack that were later identified as the cause of death. "Their names will be recorded with honor in the history of the IBEW," said President Edwin D. Hill. Our brothers will never be forgotten.
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