The legacy of a hero who died on 9/11 will set sail on a new journey after the US Coast Guard named a ship in his honor — and entombed a sacred piece of World Trade Center steel in its walls.
The US GC Vincent Danz cutter was christened Friday at the Big Apple’s Intrepid Museum before charting course for a career-long rescue mission in the Western Pacific.
“We’re absolutely overjoyed and feel extremely grateful and proud that the Coast Guard has dedicated this cutter to Vincent,” his widow, Angela Donohue, said at the ceremony.
“For anybody whose path he crossed, you would not forget him. He was a wonderful human being. And this is a great honor for our family. He’s irreplaceable, and he’s missed every day. … And he’s gonna be never forgotten. It’s remarkable.”
The single-masted patrol boat will serve as a Fast Response Cutter rescue mission ship for the Coast Guard’s sector in Guam, the military said.
It is one of 77 the Coast Guard has ordered, each named after an enlisted Coast Guard hero who performed extraordinary service in the line of duty.
The ship will conduct search and rescue expeditions, combat illicit activity and ensure maritime safety — all missions that carry the legacy Danz lived out before his tragic death.
A Marine veteran, Danz was serving in the NYPD’s elite Emergency Services Unit when he responded to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack — and was believed to be in the North Tower when it came crashing down.
He had called Donohue just before he died and asked her to pray for the victims who were stuck inside the burning building.
“I wasn’t surprised. He was selfless,” she recalled. “I’ll never forget it, you know? ‘Hi hon, it’s 9:50. I’m at the World Trade Center. I’m up in the building.’
“I remember it. Every word: ’Please pray for me, but pray for these people that we get some of them out of here.’ Those were his exact words.”
Danz was posthumously awarded the NYPD’s Medal of Honor.
He first served in the Marine Corps before entering the NYPD in 1987; but he continued to serve in the Coast Guard Reserve as a Port Security Specialist 2nd Class.
Also a carpenter by trade, he would have loved the cutter and its stunning woodwork — and how steel from the World Trade Center was incorporated into its structure.
The recovered steel is in a glass frame built into a wall at the entrance of the warship, so that everyone who boards the US GC Vincent Danz has a view of the piece of the city’s history.
“The Coast Guard was truly a huge love of his life, and I think for him to see this, he would be absolutely humbled,” said Detective Steven Stefanakos, who worked with Danz across several police precincts before they went into the ESU together.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the co-chief chaplain of the NYPD, gave a blessing on the new ship during the moving ceremony.
The honor comes at an incredible time as Danz’s family just welcomed his first grandchild.
But it’s not the only thing to bear his name. Last week, the NYPD’s ESU dubbed an adorable 1-year-old K9 “Vin” in honor of Danz.
The canine is one of nearly two dozen to graduate from a four-month training program and will go on to sniff out cadavers and bombs and collar crooks.
