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Children of 9/11 Firefighter Honor the Hero They Never Knew

Declan and Phelan Halloran never knew the father they lost in the Sept. 11 attacks on the Twin Towers. Here’s how they’ve coped without him.
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Looking at his shiny, new driver's license, Declan Halloran remembers the people who helped him practice for the big road test — his brothers and his mom. But he also thinks about who wasn’t there, his dad.

“There’s milestones in a boy’s life where their father would’ve been around to watch or celebrate,” said Declan. “It just became the normal.”

Declan was 2 years old when he lost his firefighter father, Lt. Vincent Halloran, in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Vincent Halloran left behind five children and a pregnant wife. Phelan Halloran, now entering her first year in high school, was born after her father died.

Related: Full coverage of the 9/11 anniversary

“I hear all of these stories that I’m like him, but I never got to have any memories,” said Phelan Halloran.

"Elementary school, they introduced this new thing: A father-daughter dance for fourth and fifth grade," she said. "Fourth grade year, I didn't go. Mostly because, 'Oh, yeah, I don't have a dad.'

The next year, Phelan asked one of her older brothers to stand in and take her to the dance. With an ice cream bar and dancing, Phelan had a great time.

“Up until that point there was an empty hole," she said, "and I just realized that it doesn’t have to be empty anymore.”