Gerald Baptiste, Lad. 9 NEW YORK (AP) — Just four days short of the fourth anniversary of his death in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, friends and relatives gathered for a funeral Wednesday to remember a firefighter whose remains were only identified earlier this year. Gerald Baptiste, one of three firefighters from his firehouse to die at Ground Zero, was last seen evacuating people from the north tower of the World Trade Center. ”He was driven by an unbridled passion to help others,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was attending the funeral at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in midtown Manhattan. In a scene reminiscent of the days following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, firefighters in their dress blues stood in a line outside the cathedral as bagpipers played. The 35-year-old Baptiste, one of 343 firefighters killed in the attack, was known to colleagues as ”Biscuits,” a tribute to his penchant for carrying treats for neighborhood dogs. A bucket of dog biscuits still sits inside the door of his old firehouse, Bloomberg said. Addressing the firefighter’s father, Bloomberg said that Baptiste ”died doing what he loved and believed in.” A memorial service was held for Baptiste by fire officials on Nov. 16, 2001. Relatives initially sought to bury Baptiste, a lieutenant in the National Guard, in Arlington National Cemetery. When their request was denied, they opted for a line-of-duty funeral. Baptiste’s death spurred his fellow firefighters at Ladder 9 in Manhattan to finish a project their lost colleague had started: the restoration of a rusted-out 1979 Honda CB750 motorcycle. A documentary, ”F.D.N.Y. Dream Bike,” recounted the rehabilitation effort.
