Former New York firefighter plants flags in Cape Coral for 9/11 remembrance

No one will ever forget the horrific events of 9/11.

But now, 22 years later in Southwest Florida, some are showing appreciation for those who made the biggest sacrifice.

On Monday, a retired New York firefighter placed 343 flags in his yard.

The flags represent every firefighter who sacrificed their life at the World Trade Center on 9/11.

It’s a tradition for retired New York firefighter Joseph Gioia.

He’s been putting up these flags since 2002. But it’s the first year he’s put them up here in Florida.

Gioia was there on 9/11 and was sent on a search and rescue mission all the way from a fire station in Pelham, about 10 miles northeast of Midtown Manhattan.

He joined hundreds of other firefighters from Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island, and even as far as New Jersey.

“It was eerie because you were walking and in Manhattan, there’s always noise,” Gioia said. “And it was quiet. It was like after a snowstorm.”

Gioia said there was noise and it felt like walking on the moon.

“Everything was gray. People were gray, your clothes were gray, everything was gray,” Gioia said. “It was like snowflakes coming down. Like dust.”

Gioia said he was on a search and rescue mission and everyone had high hopes of finding survivors.

“I never came across anyone that was alive, let’s put it that way,” he said.

And that’s why Gioia put up these flags every anniversary to never forget what happened on 9/11.