Picture of firefighter, John Chipura
John Chipura on a motorcycle
John Chipura, Marines
A smiling John Chipura pose for a picture
Picture of a smiling John Chipura at work
John Chipura posing for a picture
Picture of John Chipura with friends
John Chipura Memorial
Prayer card for John Chipura
Prayer card for John Chipura
John Chipura Memorial
Memorial card dedicated to John Chipura
Portrait of John Chipura in uniform
Picture of John Chipura in his police uniform
Monroe Township 9/11 Memorial
Staten Island 9/11 Postcards Memorial
Wings of a Monument, Memories Soar
Queen Elizabeth II September 11 Memorial Garden
Conseleya 9/11 Memorial
Dewitt 9/11 Memorial
Montclair State University 9/11 Memorial
East Newark 9/11 Memorial
Fair Haven 9/11 Memorial
Firefighter John G. Chipura had firsthand knowledge of terrorism's bloody horror before being caught in the chaos of Sept. 11.
A corporal in the Marines from 1980 to 1984, Mr. Chipura survived one of the most tragic terrorist attacks on the corps when a barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, was bombed on Oct. 23, 1983.
Mr. Chipura, 39, moved to Tottenville when he was just 12-years-old. A graduate of Tottenville High School in 1980, he later moved to Pleasant Plains in 1995. After his honorable discharge from the Marines in 1987, Mr. Chipura desired to continue serving the community and joined the city Police Department in 1987. He was assigned to the 72nd Precinct in his old neighborhood, Sunset Park, for seven years.
Mr. Chipura then devoted three years service in Brooklyn South Narcotics and then returned to the 72nd Precinct as a detective.
After 12 years of service to the NYPD, he followed the footsteps of his father, Anthony Chipura, and joined the city Fire Department. Graduating from firefighter training in 1998, Mr. Chipura was assigned to Engine Co. 219, Brooklyn, for one year. He then rotated through Ladder Co. 81, South Beach, and Engine Co. 80 in Manhattan.
Mr. Chipura had recently returned to Engine Co. 219 to once again serve Downtown Brooklyn. On Sept. 11, he arrived at Engine 219 to work the day tour and was detailed to Ladder Co. 105, which is housed in the same location.
Mr. Chipura and Ms. DeFalco, who met through a friend in the Fire Department, had planned to marry just six weeks after Sept. 11.
Mr. Chipura was a mentor for many at Boy Scout Troop 21. He was a member of the troop since 1974 and went on to serve as assistant scout master until he was lost in the attack.
He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Iwo Jima Association and the Beirut Veterans Memorial Association. Mr. Chipura was also a member of St. Joseph and St. Thomas Parish, Pleasant Plains.
New York Times Portraits of Grief
After a 1981 stint in Beirut with the United States Marines, John Chipura wanted to serve the city of his birth by becoming a New York City policeman, and rose through the ranks for more than a decade to the rank of detective.
But Mr. Chipura yearned for the camaraderie of the firehouse; his brother, Gerard, was a fireman, as their father, Anthony, had been. In August, 1998, Mr. Chipura achieved his dream.
Thus it was that on Tuesday, after the terrorist attack, suiting up with Ladder Company 105 on Dean Street in Brooklyn, that John phoned his fiancée, Gina DeFalco, to ask if she had any news of his sister Nancy, who worked in the World Trade Center.
"There wasn't any news," said Ms. DeFalco, "but later, when I heard that Nancy was safe, I called John to tell him. But his ladder company had already left." John and the five other firefighters in the truck have not been heard from since. Gerard Chipura, who survived, waits along with Ms. DeFalco, who refuses to give up hope; she and Mr. Chipura planned to marry on Oct. 27.
"The only good thing," she said, "is that he is with the guys he worked with, and loved."
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