One volunteer tied to 9/11 firefighter

CANNON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - One by one, the names of nearly 3,000 people who died on Sept. 11, 2001 echoed off the slope at Cannonsburg lodge.

Then, the one name Rich Hayes waited to hear was read:

"Lieutenant Glenn Perry."

FDNY Lieutenant Glenn Perry was one of 343 firefighters from New York who died on Sept. 11, 2001.

"I just feel really connected to him, being he was a firefighter, a father of three," said Hayes.

Rich Hayes never met Glenn Perry.

His interest in Perry began when Hayes bought a bracelet on the Internet with the name of a victim from the attack.

"It was a random name given to me. I had no clue who he was." said Hayes.

They were both firefighters, but in two different worlds.

Glenn Perry was assigned to Ladder 25, a busy Manhattan fire company. He was one of six firefighters from Ladder 25 who died when the South Tower collapsed.

Hayes is a captain with the rural Solon Township Fire Department in Northern Kent County. He joined the department shortly after 9/11.

"I'd always wanted to be one and that was just kind of the turning point," said Hays.

The men had a common bond found in a shared desire to help his fellow man.

"Ya know, at first the red firetruck and the sirens are pretty cool. I mean, who doesn't love a fire truck." said Hayes.

That excitement eventually gives way to a more meaningful calling.

"You love to help people. You feel satisfied helping people. I mean, that's the true reward, knowing you made a difference in somebody's life."

Friday, as Hayes made the solemn march across the bottom of a soon to be snow covered ski hill, planting the flag which would soon be part of a field of 3,200, the fact the two men never met didn't matter.

"It's just an emotional thing for me. Feel like it's a brother I never met."