I took a walk with Mike Dzwill, Camp’s Property Director, through the halfway completed DeMartini Craft Center the other day and it is coming along beautifully!  This building is going to be awesome!  I can’t wait for the campers to see it this summer.  As exciting as it is to see a new facility nearing completion, let us not forget the courageous man that the building is named for.  Not only was Frank DeMartini a father, husband, and former Ocky camper, but he was also a hero who sacrificed his own life to save others in the World Trade Center on 9/11.  Frank was hired as an architect to assess the damage to the WTC after the terrorist bombing of 1993 and later became the Construction Manager for the Towers.  On that fateful morning over 10 years ago, Frank and his wife, Nicole, were in his office on the 88th floor of the North Tower when the first plane struck.  Frank immediately took charge of the situation on his floor and gathered all of his co-workers together.  He found an open stairwell and got everyone, including Nicole, moving down the stairs toward safety.  While everyone else was moving down, Frank and construction inspector, Pablo Ortiz, began to move up the building to see if they could help anyone in the upper floors where the plane struck.  While risking their own lives, Frank and Pablo were credited with saving the lives of 77 others who were trapped or injured.  After being rescued, many of these people saved others on their way to safety after witnessing the heroic actions of Frank and Pablo.  Tragically, neither of these brave men made it out to safety.  They perished during their continuing effort to save lives.  Their sacrifice in the WTC inspired the TLC movie, “9/11:  Heroes of the 88th Floor,” which aired for the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 back in September.  Frank DeMartini embodied our Values of Caring, Honesty, Respect, and Responsibility.  May our new Craft Center serve as a tribute to this heroic man and from his sacrifice, may we all learn a lesson in putting others before ourselves. 

Brent Birchler

Boys Camp Director