[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 114 (Wednesday, September 11, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1545-E1547]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     PAYING TRIBUTE TO AMANDA DAVIO AND ST. MARTHA CATHOLIC SCHOOL

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                            HON. MIKE ROGERS

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 11, 2002

  Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Amanda Davio and 
her classmates at St. Martha Catholic School in Okemos, Michigan, for 
their special efforts to thank the thousands of volunteers and 
emergency workers who responded to the September 11, 2001, attacks on 
the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon here in 
Washington, D.C.
  Last year, soon after those tragic attacks, I asked children 
throughout Michigan's 8th Congressional District to write letters and 
cards to the military men and women who were preparing for the war 
against terrorism. St. Martha students responded to that request along 
with hundreds of other students. Several of the schools, like St. 
Martha and Amanda Davio's kindergarten class, also sent along letters 
and cards for the workers at the attack sites.
  These were forwarded to the Red Cross and eventually Amanda's card 
made it into the hands of New York City Police Officer Steve Tarricone. 
Officer Tarricone contacted the school, eventually traveled there to 
meet the students, especially Amanda, whose greeting has inspired him 
at a time when his spirits were very low.
  Since then, the Davio family has visited New York and the two 
families have become

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good friends, developing a special bond born out of the shared 
experience of dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy of September 
11, 2001.
  The remarkable story of this new friendship is best told in the words 
of Amanda's father, Christopher Davio who wrote:

       With the approach of the anniversary of the tragic events 
     of September 11, 2001, I'd like to relate an upl-fting side 
     to the story and how, out of such horrific happenings; 
     blessings and new relationships can grow.
       Shortly after 09/11/01, U.S. Representative Mike Rogers 
     sent out a request to the school children of his district to 
     write cards and letters to the rescue workers at Ground Zero, 
     the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. My daughters' school, St. 
     Martha Catholic School in Okemos, like I'm sure many other 
     schools in the area, answered the call and each class 
     composed cards, which were delivered to Mr. Rogers for 
     forwarding to the workers.
       The cards followed a circuitous route and my daughter 
     Amanda Davio's (age 5 and in Kindergarten at the time) card 
     ended up posted in a Red Cross tent at the Staten Island 
     Landfill, along with hundreds of other cards and notes. There 
     in early March of this year, the construction paper card 
     caught the eye of an NYPD officer, Steven Tarricone. The 
     card, with a 5 year olds rendition of the American Flag and 
     the words ``Thank You'' on the cover had a simple but 
     profound message inside, ``You Make Me Feel Proud.'' Officer 
     Torricone saw that the card, signed Amanda Davio, was stamped 
     with the school's name and address on the back and wishing to 
     express his gratitude for the support and comfort that the 
     card and all the other cards and notes had given him, placed 
     it in his pocket and took it home.
       Steve showed the card to his wife and his partner. He had 
     to put in long days and was drawing extra shifts while the 
     city still struggled with the aftermath of the devastating 
     attack. After a few weeks, he put together a package and sent 
     it to the St. Martha School. Inside the package was a thank 
     you card in which he wrote a little about himself and his 
     job. He described the day he found Amanda's card, he was 
     assigned to the Staten Island Landfill and as he said, ``My 
     job for the day was to sift through the debris to try to find 
     anything that would bring closure to the family members of 
     victims of the World Trade Center.'' He thanked Amanda, her 
     classmates and the staff at St. Martha School for their 
     support and for taking the time out of their day to thank all 
     the rescue workers. Steve included in the package five 
     pictures he took on the days immediately following the 
     disaster and took the time to describe on the back of each 
     picture what was shown. He also sent along an NYPD cap, arm 
     patch and ID cards with the request that they be given to 
     Amanda.
       Mrs. Helen Hillman, Principal of St. Martha, related to me 
     how moved she was as she opened the package and after 
     discussing the contents with other staff members, Amanda's 
     teacher, Kara Lampke, suggested she present the items to 
     Amanda at the upcoming spring program that the school 
     children were to perform the next week. When next she saw me 
     at the school, Mrs. Hillman told me to be sure and have my 
     camera ready at the end of the program as Amanda was going to 
     be presented with something. Being the proud parent that we 
     are, my wife and I videoed and photographed throughout the 
     show and when the time came for Mrs. Hillman to present the 
     items and relate the story, sat there stunned by the 
     thoughtfulness of Steve's reply. For him to express his 
     gratitude in such a way and to know that someone took the 
     time to show all the children how important their support was 
     to the workers and victims of September 11 was one of the 
     most significant events in my life.
       A few days later, Officer Tarricone called the school to 
     see if they had received the package and talked to Mrs. 
     Hillman at length about what the cards had meant to him and 
     other workers at the sites. He said he was amazed at the 
     outpouring of support shown by the entire county and was 
     moved by the fact that Amanda's card had come from a 
     kindergarten from halfway across the county.
       My wife and I began to put together a few things to send 
     back to Officer Tarricone and his family and after videoing 
     greetings from Amanda and her sister Angela (8) and Alissa 
     (14), included the tape of the presentation and the school 
     program along with other cards, photos and expressions of 
     thanks.
       When Steve got that package, he called to share his 
     excitement with us and told ``in the past 24 hours, I've 
     watched the tape at least 25 times.'' He had shown it to his 
     mother and sister and they were all so happy about our 
     reaction to his reply.
       We kept in contact over the next few weeks and Steve told 
     us that he had gone to the Policemen's Benevolent Association 
     for permission to have Amanda named an Honorary NYPD Officer. 
     After receiving permission, he had a plaque made and sent it 
     along with more photos, commemorative pins and the arm 
     patches from each of the units of the NYPD to Amanda.
       In the meantime, Mrs. Hillman called our local papers and 
     news outlets and a story was run on the front page of the 
     Community News as well as a news segment on WLAJ which was 
     aired as a local connection to the official closing of the 
     clean up effort at Ground Zero.
       Since then, Mrs. Hillman has traveled to New York on a trip 
     that she had planned long before all this developed. Steve 
     met her at the airport with a red rose and welcomed her and 
     her a red rose and welcomed her and her family. He arranged a 
     visit to police headquarters and Ground Zero for all of them.
       We took our family to New York at the end of August to meet 
     Steve and his family (wife Michelle and daughter Ashley). 
     Upon our arrival at a nearby hotel Wednesday, August 28, we 
     called Steve and he immediately came to meet us. Greeting him 
     for the first time was like seeing a close family member 
     after a long absence. Amanda ran into his arms and the smiles 
     lit up the whole lobby of the hotel. Steve took us to his 
     house and we met Michelle and Ashley. Steve had a shirt made 
     for Amanda in the style of his uniform, complete with her 
     name and honorary badge number as well as NYPD arm patches 
     and badge insignia.
       We saw Steve again the next day at his house and met with a 
     reporter and photographer from the Long Island Catholic, a 
     diocese newspaper who had heard of the story from one of 
     their staffers with family here in Okemos. After visiting 
     with the representatives from the paper, we did a little 
     touring locally then went to dinner with Steve and his 
     family.
       On Friday, Steve and Michelle met us at our hotel and took 
     us into Manhattan. He had arranged a tour similar to the one 
     given to Mrs. Hillman on her trip earlier in the month. We 
     got to lower Manhattan about an hour before our appointment 
     at One Police Plaza and while driving near Ground Zero, saw a 
     fire station at the corner of Water and Wall Streets. Steve 
     asked us to wait in the car while he went in and talked to 
     the firemen on duty. The firemen, after hearing the story 
     from Steve, welcomed us into the station, gave us a tour of 
     the fire trucks and equipment and posed for pictures with the 
     girls in fire suits and helmets. We paid our respects to the 
     fallen members of the station at a memorial on the sidewalk 
     in front of the firehouse, thanked the two firemen for the 
     tour and their welcome, and went on to our appointment at 
     Police Headquarters.
       Pulling up to One Police Plaza was like entering a military 
     post. Concrete barriers are placed so that only one vehicle 
     can enter or leave the lot at a time and a large sanitation 
     truck blocks the opening, pulling away to allow access after 
     getting clearance from the guard post, then moving back to 
     block the entrance. Security was tight! Upon entering the 
     building, we passed through metal detectors and were 
     photographed and given passes to wear on our outermost 
     clothing.
       We were all escorted to the Division of Community Affairs 
     where we met Detective John Rowen and his daughter Ashleen. 
     Detective Rowen took us to a conference room where we also 
     met Detective Eugene Canapi. Gene had heard the story and 
     came in on his day off to show us a presentation that the 
     department had put together as a historical documentary on 
     the events of September 11, 2001. Both men expressed their 
     welcomes to us and told us how much the cards and letters 
     from across the nation had meant to them. John said that of 
     all the cards he had seen, it never occurred to him to answer 
     back and he was glad that Steve had shown such thoughtfulness 
     to reply to Amanda.
       After the presentation, reporters from the New York Post 
     and Newsday interviewed us and took photos of Steve and 
     Amanda in their ``uniforms!'' We met Deputy Commissioner 
     Patrick (Division of Community Affairs) and were greeted and 
     treated like VIP's by everyone.
       Detective Rowen and his daughter took us all down to the 
     waterfront near Battery Park where we boarded a Police Harbor 
     Patrol boat and were given a tour of the area from the water. 
     We rode under the Brooklyn Bridge, out to Ellis Island and 
     the Statue of Liberty. I'm not usually an emotionally 
     demonstrative person but I had tears in my eyes when I saw 
     the Statue. It was my first visit to New York City and had 
     never seen it before. I remember thinking back to 9/11/01 and 
     hearing the threats made to her after the horrible attacks. I 
     was sure at that time that I'd never see it in person and was 
     truly overcome at seeing her from the boat. I imagine that is 
     how my ancestors felt coming over from Italy at the turn of 
     the last century.
       While on the Harbor Patrol boat, I talked with one of the 
     officers that made up the crew of three. He had no idea who 
     we were and when I told him the story he told me how glad he 
     was that Steve had replied in the way that he had. He 
     described the events of that day and how they ferried 
     survivors and rescue workers to the site and told me how much 
     they all appreciated the support shown by the rest of the 
     country after the attack. He said that the Red Cross had 
     given him a box of cookies sent by some school children from 
     New Jersey and that he still kept the note that they had 
     enclosed in his wallet, nearly a year afterwards.
       After the harbor tour, we returned to One Police Plaza and 
     were told that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly would like to 
     meet Amanda. We were absolutely floored! Steve was really 
     nervous as we waited to be escorted into the Commissioner's 
     office, as he had never met him before either. Detective 
     Rowen remarked that he doubted that many officers with 
     Steve's experience (he's been on the force for seven years) 
     had been invited to meet the Commissioner in his office. 
     Commissioner Kelly greeted us warmly and posed for pictures 
     with Amanda and Steve and a group photo with all of us. He 
     gave us a brief

[[Page E1547]]

     tour of his office and explained that his desk was Teddy 
     Roosevelt's from his tour as Commissioner in the late 1800's.
       After leaving the Commissioner's office, Detective Rowen 
     took us to see Ground Zero. After seeing it so often in news 
     coverage, it was an uncanny feeling to actually be at the 
     site. I said a quiet prayer for the victims and listened 
     while Detective Rowen related his memories from the day of 
     the attack. He was at the command center when the first plane 
     hit and was helping victims at the foot of the buildings when 
     the first tower fell. There is a brief shot of him running up 
     the street in one of the CNN videos as the cloud of debris 
     follows behind. He said it was like a wall of water, he 
     ducked into a side street and the wave of dirt followed him 
     around the corner. A nearby visitor asked what is was like to 
     be surrounded by the smoke and he said it wasn't smoke, it 
     was more like dirt and fine particles of concrete dust that 
     followed him and eventually covered him like so many of the 
     photos we all saw from the news that day.
       The site now looks more like a construction site and an 
     individual happening along on it today would probably wonder 
     what was going to be built there. The sides of the hole go 
     straight down for probably five or six stories and you can 
     see each level of the substructure of the underground areas 
     across the way. We could see where the subway tunnel was 
     going north from the site. For someone who had never seen the 
     World Trade Center, it was hard to imagine just how tall it 
     was. Standing at Ground Zero now, you are surrounded by 
     skyscrapers, the tallest of which is 54 stories. I tried to 
     explain to my daughters that if they took that building and 
     placed another one just like it on top that would have been 
     about the same height as the 110 stories of the Twin Towers. 
     Many of the buildings still show damage from the attack and 
     collapse of WTC. Still the clean up has been a heroic effort 
     in and of itself.
       My family thanked Detective Rowen as we left and my middle 
     daughter, Angela (8) exchanged e-mail addresses with Ashleen 
     planning to stay in contact. As we drove back to Long Island 
     we all were just amazed at the events of the day. Reflecting 
     on the tragedy of last year and remembering the expressions 
     of welcome and gratitude from each and every person we met.
       When we had first discussed going to New York City to meet 
     Steve and his family, he had told us that when we got there 
     he was going to throw a big party. As the plans for the trip 
     grew, we found out that his daughter Ashley's second birthday 
     (September 1) would be celebrated on Saturday, August 31 and 
     that he was having his whole family over. We picked that 
     weekend to go so that we could meet all of them and make sure 
     that they knew just how special we thought that Steve and 
     Michelle were. Saturday dawned with a story in the New York 
     Post about Amanda and Steve and how a small thank you card 
     and its magnificent reply reached halfway across the country 
     to bring them together. As we arrived at Steve and 
     Michelle's, we were welcomed by all of their family and 
     friends as a new part of the family. Steve's mother Linda had 
     gifts for each of our girls, as did his Aunt Val & Uncle Len. 
     We got to meet his partner and other friends form the force. 
     About halfway through the party, we all heard the sound of 
     bagpipes tuning up. Steve had told me that there was another 
     surprise coming and as he called us all to the patio, he 
     announced his Lieutenant and other members of the Emerald 
     Society, NYPD's pipe and drum corps. They gave a short 
     concert for all of us in honor of Ashley's birthday and 
     Amanda's visit. Once again the emotions overflowed to hear 
     the patriotic medleys and other songs from the bagpipes and 
     drum. It was a great way to cap off another extraordinary 
     day.
       Our last full day in New York was spent touring the city 
     like normal visitors. We left Steven and his family to give 
     them a chance to spend Ashley's birthday alone while we went 
     to the observation deck of the Empire State Building, drove 
     down Broadway and explored Manhattan by ourselves. For 
     visitors coming to New York for the first time, you're struck 
     by the size of all the buildings, the number of people and 
     you quickly come to see that there is no place like it in the 
     country. I've had the privilege of visiting 46 of the 48 
     contiguous United States as well as Hawaii and Puerto Rico. 
     Truly New York City has no equal.
       After having dinner with Steve, Michelle, Ashley, and 
     Steve's sister Lisa's family, we headed back to our hotel and 
     the next morning left for home. Our trip to New York City was 
     way more memorable than we could ever have imagined. It gave 
     my children an experience that they will never forget. Steve 
     and his family are in the process of planning a trip here for 
     a visit to St. Martha School in early November. We are all 
     looking forward to seeing them again. The police officers and 
     firefighters of New York showed the rest of the nation that 
     heroes arise from adversity. My family has been fortunate to 
     meet one of those heroes and to get to know him as a good 
     friend. People like Steve Tarricone are around us every day, 
     and sometimes the small gestures, like a thank you card sent 
     by a kindergartener can bring them into our lives. The next 
     time your child comes home from school and says that they 
     sent cards to someone, be it at a local nursing home, or to 
     the President of the United States, I hope that you will 
     recognize the importance of those messages to all who see 
     them.
       Mr. Speaker, Christopher Davio is right. Small gifts of 
     kindness can have immeasurable benefits. Today, we wish to 
     extend our appreciation to Amanda Davio and her family, 
     Officer Steve Tarricone and his family and colleagues, and 
     all the students from the 8th District who helped our nation 
     begin its recovery. I now ask that our colleagues in the U.S. 
     House of Representatives join us in recognizing this 
     remarkable American story.

     

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