These 9/11 firefighter helmets are teaching NJ kids about a day they never knew
🔴 Australian firefighters sent two helmets to America after 9/11, covered in messages of support for the FDNY and those lost in the attacks.
🚒 A New Jersey firefighter has preserved the helmets and displayed them at schools, fire academies and 9/11 events.
🏫 The helmets have become a powerful teaching tool for NJ students who were born after 9/11 and never experienced the day firsthand.
On September 11, 2001, almost three-thousand innocent people lost their lives in the terrorist attacks that shook New York City, the country and the world to its very core.
People from all over came together to express sympathy for police, firefighters, and civilians alike in many different ways.
Now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of that horrific day, it’s important to pay homage to the love and support that came out of the tragedy.
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Australian firefighters sent 9/11 unity helmets to New Jersey
In 2001, a pair of firefighter helmets from Australia was sent to the United States to honor the New York Fire Department (FDNY) and all the lives lost that day.
Today, they are in the hands of a 911 responder and a New Jersey veteran firefighter, who has vowed to get them as much exposure as possible.
Peter Cagnassola, a past chief and firefighter at the Far Hills-Bedminster Fire Department tells the story about how these unity helmets, as he calls them, wound up in his possession.
At the time of the attacks, the daughter of a dear friend who has since passed, was working as the Consulate General in Australia. The unity helmets appeared in her office.
Her father suggested she send the helmets to Cagnassola, who would make sure they got to a New York City fire department.
The helmets arrived filled with signatures from members of Australian fire departments, as well has handwritten supportive and encouraging messages from individual firefighters, showing that they stood united with America.
“Our thoughts and prayers as well as condolences are with you at this time,” reads one message.
“You’re in our hearts,” reads another.
But first, Cagnassola took the helmets to a cabinetmaker in Bedminster who put them on beautiful plaques, and encased them with museum glass covers.
He then tried to get them to firehouses in New York, but at the time, there just wasn’t enough room to keep them, because they were getting swamped with so much stuff from around the world, Cagnassola said.
The fire departments were worried the helmets would either get lost or damaged, so the plan was for the helmets to have a permanent home with Cagnassola at the Far Hills-Bedminster Fire Department.
New Jersey firefighter turns 9/11 helmets into a teaching tool
Since then, Cagnassola has made it his mission to get the helmets as much exposure as possible.
“I think they demonstrate the brotherhood within the fire departments across the world. You don’t get much farther from New York City than Australia. It’s that brotherhood that’s the basis of all fire departments,” Cagnassola said.
The helmets have been displayed in the New Jersey State House in Trenton, the administrative offices of Somerset County, fire and police academies, a 4-H Fair, and even ballpark in Pennsylvania for a 9-11 tribute with the AAA team of the NY Yankees.
Over the past few years, the helmets have been made available to schools around New Jersey as a powerful visual teaching tool.
School-aged children today were not alive when 911 happened, and Cagnassola says the helmets have served as a powerful educational tool for them.
One school in Bernardsville put an 8th grade civics class through a week-long 9-11 education course.
“They talked about the world being united. All the eighth graders had to interview an adult that was around during 9-11. They had to write a note as to what they would write on those helmets if they were firefighters and what would their message be. I think it’s such a fantastic educational tool,” Cagnassola said.
An alumnus from Immaculata High School in Somerville was a firefighter who died in 9-11. The school is doing a big ceremony for him, and these helmets will be at the event also, he added.
9/11 unity helmets headed for New Jersey fire convention
The helmets plan to make their way to the 9-11 Museum in New York City and will be on display at the 51st Annual New Jersey State Firemen’s Convention, Fire Expo, and Parade on September 18-19 in Wildwood.
“I think where they have the biggest impact is in the schools. It just gives you such satisfaction to know that the kids are learning about 9-11,” Cagnassola said.
If a New Jersey school would like to have the helmets as part of a 9-11 teaching tool, they can reach out to Cagnassola through email.
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2026 9/11 Commemorations in New Jersey (listed alphabetically)
Gallery Credit: Dan Alexander
