HUDSON, Fla. — To walk into Gerard "Jerry" DeCanio's den is to the see the pride he takes in his decades of work as a public servant, both in law enforcement and the fire service. Mementos displayed on shelves and walls chronicle a career that began in 1971, when DeCanio became a volunteer firefighter while still in high school in New York. There's a battered, white chief's helmet that reads "Dix Hills Fire Dept", a miniature NYPD motorcycle that resembles one DeCanio is pictured sitting on in uniform and a name plate that reads "Gerard DeCanio - Chief" that sat on his desk in the Port Richey Police Department before his retirement last year.

"I think maybe the adrenaline junkie thing — that's what people talk about," said DeCanio of what drew him to become a first responder. "I don't know if it's a calling, but I've enjoyed every minute of it."

Among the photos and figurines, in front of a framed card with the words to "A Police Officer's Prayer" printed on it, is an item visitors likely couldn't identify right away, if at all. It's a hunk of rusted metal that looks like a large nut-and-bolt combination. This is a reminder of one of the darkest days in the history of the United States.

DeCanio says a friend who was at Ground Zero brought back this piece of debris from the rubble of the World Trade Center. (Spectrum News/Sarah Blazonis)

"This is actually a piece of the World Trade Center," DeCanio said, picking it up. "A friend of mine who was there was able to get some of the pieces."

There's no way to tell what part of the structure the piece came from. DeCanio said it's not the building he thinks of when he looks at it, anyway.

"I feel something, you know? I could feel the people that were lost in the terror attack. And what about the people on that plane? What did they go through?" said DeCanio.

After 20 years with the New York City Police Department, DeCanio retired less than two months before Sept. 11, 2001. He said he was at a neighbor's house that morning, doing a favor and hanging out while a contractor worked on a project with a team.

"One of them came out and said, 'Hey, we just heard on the radio that a plane hit the World Trade Center. So, all of us, you know, 'It's probably somebody sightseeing with a small Cessna or something.' Until we were able to get some video of it, and they said, 'No, the second plane hit.' So, that's when we realized that it wasn't an accident," DeCanio remembered. 

DeCanio said his thoughts immediately went to the first responders who would be heading to the scene.

"As an active volunteer firefighter back then, they started to page us out. We had one of our volunteer chiefs was also a member of FDNY, and in the initial stages of the building collapse, he was missing," DeCanio said.

Dix Hills Volunteer Fire Dept. Chief Terry Farrell, also a decorated member of Rescue 4/FDNY, was one of the 343 firefighters who died that day. According to the Terry Farrell Firefighters Fund, he was in Tower Two when it collapsed. 

Terry Farrell was chief of the Dix Hills Volunteer Fire Department, where DeCanio volunteered. Farrell, also a member of FDNY, died in the Tower Two collapse. (Terry Farrell Firefighters Fund)

Farrell wasn't the only friend DeCanio would lose that day.

"John, I didn't know. Joey, I knew very, very well. He was also one of those New York City Police officers who was a volunteer firefighter, and he was in the next town down from me, so our paths crossed constantly," DeCanio said, holding up a T-shirt.

Smiling out from the shirt are John and Joey Vigiano. Both are in uniform -- John in his FDNY gear with his arm around Joey, who's wearing a police uniform.

DeCanio keeps this T-shirt honoring the memory of the Vigiano brothers. (Spectrum News/Sarah Blazonis)

"They were both killed in the World Trade Center together on that day. So, the family lost both their sons," DeCanio said.

According to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Roll of Honor, John T. Vigiano II was with Ladder Company 132. NYPD's 9/11 tribute page identifies Det. Joseph V. Vigiano as one of the department's 23 officers who died on Sept. 11. Thirty-seven Port Authority Police Department officers also perished while responding to the attacks. 

But before he knew about the loss of his friends, DeCanio said his volunteer department was getting the call for help.

"We didn't really even realize how extensive it was," he said. "We didn't realize about the Pentagon and then Shanksville, PA, until later on because we were scrambling around to get manpower to try to help them out."

DeCanio says as a former chief of the Dix Hills department, he helped coordinate crews and equipment to send to provide relief at ground zero. 

"They lost 343 firefighters. They lost well over 100 pieces of equipment. So, we started to back fill at the fire stations for them," DeCanio said. "Women were sewing the booties for the cadaver dogs to go onto the pile. We were collecting respirators. They desperately needed respirators, boots, gloves, helmets."

He describes the aftermath of the attacks as surreal.

"There were times within hours or a day later that you could see the fighter jets going back and forth across Long Island, and you're just wondering how this happened."

DeCanio moved from Long Island to Florida in 2004. He served as Port Richey's police and fire chief for three and a half years. Two decades and a thousand miles separates him from that day, but it's still with him. It's in the "Fallen Heroes" seal and photograph of New York City with "We Will Never Forget" emblazoned on it that are displayed in his den. It's in the annual wreath laying ceremony he participates in with other retired NYPD and FDNY members. It's in two brothers' smiling faces on a T-shirt and a hunk of metal on a shelf.

A newspaper clipping of an annual wreath laying ceremony DeCanio takes part in to honor the victims of 9/11. (Spectrum News/Sarah Blazonis)

"I won't forget it. I lost too many people, too many friends of mine that were killed in that building. I don't think we should forget. I would imagine some people have," DeCanio said. "It's something that we should never forget."