Dr. Rocco Ciccone, who operates a dental practice in Lake Orion, had never been to New York City before 9/11, but he now makes the trip nearly annually as a forensic dentist who helped to identify victims at the World Trade Center site.
Ciccone was on hand for the first anniversary of the tragedy, when a dinner was held on Sept. 11, 2002, for forensic dentists who came to help with victim identification. The event was held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, and Ciccone said he didn’t have the opportunity then to go back to Ground Zero.
“I didn’t go the first time…it was a bit much, event this time it was,” he said, after returning from his NYC trip for the second anniversary of 9/11, held on Sept. 11 of this year.
For the second anniversary, forensic dentists came back for a presentation and this time toured the site at Ground Zero, where construction continues.
“It’s changed a lot,” Ciccone said. “They’re making great strides though. The subway stop there is scheduled to be reopened in November.”
Ciccone and his colleagues were able to go behind the fence surrounding the site to get an up close look. Ciccone said three of his classmates from dental school were also at the site after 9/11 to help identify victims.
“I’ve been a forensic dentist since 1987, and I think this is the biggest thing I’ve been called to work on, that anyone has worked on,” he said of 9/11.
Ciccone, a native of Windsor but now a Clarkston resident, said his wife Phyllis made the trip with him the first time he returned to New York, but for the second anniversary he went alone.
“I don’t know if they plan to have (the forensic dentists) back every year, but I might just do it myself if I can,” he said. “A lot of us have made it an annual pilgrimage.
“I feel I’ve missed something not seeing the city (before 9/11) though,” said Ciccone. “The trade center was such a landmark.”
While he was in NYC for the third anniversary, Ciccone had the opportunity to look at a model of the planned renovation of the site at Ground Zero.
“There’s a series of smaller glass buildings, nothing like it was before,” he said. “They’ll be a rather large memorial in the middle of all this.”
Ciccone said he has never met any of the family members of the victims of 9/11, and that he doubts he ever will.
“It’s probably better that way,” he said. “It’s still basically a closed investigation. It’s almost better to keep things anonymous.
“It was hard though, but you had to be professional. With the team already in place there, it was easier to keep focus. The mentality was always to get the job done,” Ciccone said.