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NYPD Det. Joseph V. Vigiano and his brother, FDNY Firefighter John T. Vigiano, were among the thousands of heroes who courageously charged into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Neither brother came home.
The pair were honored Tuesday at a wreath-laying ceremony at Ground Zero by the Detectives Endowment Association, where their surviving loved ones reflected on the found family that supported them in the wake of the terror attacks.
“Post-9/11, after I lost my father, the officers of the 75th precinct became a second family to me,” said son Joseph Vigiano Jr., now an NYPD cop himself, as he touched the names of his father and uncle etched into the National September 11 Memorial.
“It’s a nice thing, the DEA keeping my father’s memory alive.”
His dad Joseph Vigiano was just 34 when he rushed into the North Tower in a heroic attempt to save the victims trapped inside — becoming, along with Claude “Dan” Richards, one of the only two NYPD detectives killed that day.
John Vigiano, who was two years older at 36, died along with four other members of the FDNY’s Ladder Company 132 when they rushed into the South Tower shortly before it collapsed.
The DEA laid a wreath reading “Never Forgotten” at Ground Zero in honor of the three heroes, and put up photographs of the 79 NYPD detectives who have succumbed to 9/11-related illnesses since responding to the terror attack 25 years ago.
“We’re remembering all of our detectives, not just those who passed on 9/11 but also those that have passed from 9/11 related illnesses,” said DEA President Scott Munroe to The Post.
“We have three in hospice right now. This number just keeps going up. We will remember every year, not just this year.”
The Vigiano brothers’ ultimate sacrifice lives on through Joseph’s three sons, Joseph Jr., John and Jimmy, all of whom followed in their father and uncle’s footsteps by pursuing their own careers as first responders — a family tradition that was the subject of the 2025 documentary “Twin Towers: Legacy.”
All three sons served in the US Marines, where John continues to work. Joseph and Jimmy are in the NYPD, which is also where their mother worked and where their parents met.
“Their father would be very proud of all three of our boys … They’re just living to honor their father,” said widow Kathy Vigiano as she looked on at Joseph Jr. in his NYPD uniform.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Gov. Kathy Hochul also attended the service, with the governor coming from a dedication ceremony honoring the members of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and on 9/11.
