On Sept. 11, 2001, Petty Officer 1st Class Jeff Palazzo was one of the hundreds of FDNY members that made the ultimate sacrifice trying to save others. Photo courtesy of the Palazzo family F ollowing eight years of Coast Guard active duty, Petty Officer 1st Class Jeff Palazzo joined FDNY Rescue 5 on Staten Island while continuing his service in the Reserve. On Sept. 11, 2001, Palazzo was one of the hundreds of FDNY members that made the ultimate sacrifice trying to save others. Irene Palazzo and her husband adopted Jeff at the age of five months from the Angel Guardian Orphanage in Brooklyn. “He was adopted May first,” Irene recalled, “so that became ‘Jeffrey Day’ every year his entire life.” Saving lives was what drew Palazzo to the Coast Guard in the first place. According to Irene, Jeff’s first rescue occurred when he was eight. He helped some boaters who had capsized while sailing. Jeffrey's wife, Lisa, said she saw his drive to help others when the two were in college together. “It was just clear that college wasn’t his thing. I was writing all his papers for him!” she joked. After their sophomore year, they were at the New York City Fourth of July celebration, and Jeff helped some boaters in distress. “In the process, he met some Coasties,” she said, “and the rest is history.” Palazzo served with distinction in the Coast Guard as a machinery technician on the Coast Guard Cutter Cape Horn. When the cutter was decommissioned in 1990, he continued his service at Station Rockaway in New York. “Jeff was a force of nature,” said Chris Cassano, a retired New York Police detective who’d also served with Palazzo in the Coast Guard Reserve. “He was fearless, brave, and determined, so when he put his mind to doing something, he would get it done.” While at Station Rockaway, Palazzo responded to many high-profile incidents and large-scale emergencies, including 18 RESERVIST � Issue 3 • 2021 the sinking of the Bronx Queen, a charter boat off the Rockaways in rough seas during the winter of 1989. Seventeen passengers from the sinking ship were successfully saved from the frigid waters. Years later, Palazzo was on the first Coast Guard boat to discover the Golden Venture, a cargo ship carrying more than 200 immigrants from China that ran aground in Queens June 6, 1993. “We heard the cries of distress in the dark, and we began pulling people out of the water,” said Cassano, who said Palazzo was directly responsible for saving dozens of people from the water. “Jeff had a great sense of urgency, and that mentality of being ready at a second’s notice. We would sleep in our uniforms in case we got a call in the middle of the night.” Palazzo served much of his time in Rockaway under Bruce Schneider, a now-retired chief warrant officer, who described him as a very ambitious and smart individual. “As a Coast Guardsman, Jeff was focused on rescue through and through,” said Schneider. It came as a surprise to no one in 1996 when Palazzo decided to change careers, becoming a New York City firefighter. He spent his first five years with FDNY at Ladder Company 109 in Brooklyn. In the spring of 2001, Palazzo joined Staten Island's elite Rescue 5 squad. "He was tremendously sincere," said Firefighter John Drury of Rescue 5. "He was not only passionate about his work as a rescue firefighter, but was always quick to tell you a caring story about his own family." Like many of his New York first responder colleagues, even during his time with FDNY, Jeff continued his Coast Guard service as a member of the Reserve. “Who are the members of the Coast Guard Reserve in New York? Police and firefighters.” Cassano said. “There’s a lot of crossover.”
