Derby Man’s Moving Tribute To Sept. 11

The first few times I saw Thomas Rak Jr.‘s Jeep barreling along Coon Hollow Road in Derby I made sure to keep my eyes straight.

It wasn’t that Rak was traveling at the speed of sound — it’s just that at first glance from a moving car, the man’s Jeep looked that intimidating. 

I figured a guy driving a hopped-up fire red Jeep was probably also blasting bass from his stereo while greeting the world with a Calvin Peeing” sticker on his back windshield.

Boy was I wrong.

The 2011 Jeep Wrangler is, literally, a moving memorial to the firefighters who lost their lives in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Rak, a life-long Derby resident, works as a dispatcher for the Milford Fire Department. He purchased the Jeep last year. 

The price was right and it seemed like a cool vehicle to cart around his two young sons.

Then he met John Turek of AAS Custom Jeep in Ansonia. 

Turek knows Jeeps like the back of his hand. He suggested Rak customize his Jeep with some sort of theme.

Rak decided to memorialize the firefighters who lost their lives Sept. 11 trying to save others.

He and Turek started with installing over-sized tires, removable steps, winches, roll bars, rear and front bumpers — and a bunch of other things I can’t begin to comprehend, because I’m a guy who has to ask for assistance filling my PT Cruiser’s tires with air. 

All I know is that it made the Jeep look cool.

Check out this photo gallery:

Then he started adding personal Sept. 11 touches — decals related to the New York Fire Department’s efforts on Sept. 11 and actual firefighter equipment such as axes. See the above photo gallery to see em all.

He’s got emergency lights on the Jeep, along with flags containing the names of all the people who died in the terrorist attacks — and the emergency responders who died in New York City.

Decorating and customizing the Jeep has become a bit of an obsession for the 43-year-old single dad. A ton of companies have donated equipment. 
There’s also donated patriotic music from singers Todd Allen Herendeen and Jo Ann Biviano.

He’s even started a Facebook page where he asks for suggestions as to what to do next with the Jeep.

Rak thinks that in the years since the attacks, people have started to forget about the firefighters who gave all that day.

People are forgetting. They’re forgetting the fact there were 343 firefighters inside the towers charging up when they fell.”

You can’t help but notice the Jeep if you live in Derby — and the tribute vehicle is now making public appearances.

Rak e‑mailed Derby Mayor Anthony Staffieri earlier this year asking if the Jeep could ride in the last month’s Derby-Shelton Memorial Day Parade. Staffieri inspected the Jeep himself as was impressed by the patriotism, Rak said.

The parade was Rak’s first parade.

That was a huge, huge honor,” he said.

Next, Rak displayed the Jeep at Derby Day earlier this month. He’s made looking at the Jeep an interactive experience. He plays audio of the emergency radio dispatches from New York City the day of the attacks and hands out a key so listeners can understand the radio codes used in the calls.

He also keeps a list of the firefighters who lost their lives and a list of apparatus destroyed that day.

Rak said this September he hopes to display his Jeep at a fire house that was destroyed when the towers fell.

It’s a moving memorial. Absolutely. It’s my tribute,” he said.

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