'DETECTIVE JOSEPH VIGIANO'

In Loving Memory of

Detective Joseph Vigiano

April 5 1967 - September 11 2001

The Monument

I never dreamed it would be me,

My name for all eternity,

Recorded here at the hallowed place,

Alas, my name no more face.

In the line of duty, I hear them say;

My family now the price they will pay.

My folded flag stained with their tears:

We only had those few short years.

The badge no longer on my chest

I sleep now in eternal rest.

My sword I pass to those behind,

And pray they keep this thought in mind.

I never dreamed it would be me,

And with heavy heart and bended knee,

I ask for all here from the past;

Dear God let my name be last.

By : Retired Sgt. George Hahn,LAPD

Joe and John Vigiano

If Tomorrow Never Comes

If I knew it would be the last time
that I'd see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly
and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.

If I knew it would be the last time
that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss
and call you back for one more.

If I knew it would be the last time
I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would video tape each action and word,
so I could play them back day after day.

If I knew it would be the last time,
I could spare an extra minute or two
to stop and say I love you,
instead of assuming you would KNOW I do.

If I knew it would be the last time
I would be there to share your day,
well I'm sure you'll have so many more,
so I can let just this one slip away.

For surely there's always tomorrow
to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance
to make everything right.

There will always be another day
to say our I love you's,
And certainly there's another chance
to say our "Anything I can do's?"

But just in case I might be wrong,
and today is all I get,
I'd like to say how much I love you
and I hope we never forget,

Tomorrow is not promised to anyone,
young or old alike,
And today may be the last chance you get
to hold your loved one tight..

So if you're waiting for tomorrow,
why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes,
you'll surely regret the day,

That you didn't take that extra time
for a smile, a hug, or a kiss
and you were too busy to grant someone,
what turned out to be their one last wish.

So hold your loved ones close today,
whisper in their ear,
Tell them how much you love them
and that you'll always hold them dear,

Take time to say "I'm sorry, please forgive me,"
"thank you" or "it's okay".
And if tomorrow never comes,
you'll have no regrets about today.

When Dick Wolf, producer of the NBC series Law & Order, began filming a reality-TV pilot about a New York City police squad, no one could have known that terrorists would claim the lives of fourteen of the men in that unit on September 11, 2001.

Joseph Vigiano, a highly decorated member of the NYPD Emergency Services Squad 2, died in the World Trade Center, along with his older brother, John, Jr., a firefighter with Bedford-Stuyvesant's Ladder 132. They both rushed to the scene as soon as the first building was struck and were still helping people evacuate when the towers collapsed.

The footage that had been shot for Wolf's pilot is the basis for this Academy Award-winning documentary. Twin Towers follows Joe's Harlem-based rescue team as they go on raids and investigate homicides, and includes interviews with their families, news footage and home videos to tell a story of dedication, heroism and the American spirit that defines us, as a people and a nation.