Lt. Richard Michael "Mike" Benditt, 61, of Overbrook, a veteran Philadelphia firefighter who assisted in rescue efforts at ground zero after 9/11, passed away on October 9, 2011.

In 1999, Lt. Benditt was assigned to Rescue 1, the Philadelphia Fire Department's elite heavy rescue unit in Northern Liberties.

In September 2001, he and 18 members of his unit joined the Pennsylvania Urban Search Task Force at ground zero in Lower Manhattan. For more than a week, the team worked the overnight shift and slept on cots during the day.

According to an Inquirer account, Lt. Benditt and the other rescuers dealt with falling debris, fires that reignited, and asbestos-laden dust, and had to wade through endless rubble. They found no signs of life. "Everything had been pulverized," said his wife, Laura Alessandroni Benditt.

Lt. Benditt remained with Rescue 1 until 2008, the year he was promoted to lieutenant. At the time of his death, he was with Ladder 28 in Northeast Philadelphia.

A graduate of Darby Colwyn High School, Lt. Benditt worked as a machinist with local companies before serving in the Army from 1970 to 1974.

Though trained as a Green Beret, he was twice turned down for duty in Vietnam, his wife said, because his services as a radar technician were needed at the Nike Missile Base in Sandy Hook. He remained in the Army Reserve until 1980.

Lt. Benditt joined the Fire Department in 1977. In the 1980s, he received merit awards for bravery for pulling a woman from a burning trailer and for rescuing a baby from a rowhouse during a fire.

In 1989, he left firefighting to run his own construction business in Chester County.

He rejoined the Fire Department in 1996 and had to go through the training again, his wife said.

He had "hands of gold" and could do carpentry, tile work, and any kind of home repairs, she said. He also enjoyed bike riding with his granddaughter and nephews.

His first love, though, was the Fire Department, his wife said. "When the phone rang, he was out the door," she said.