Back to photographs
of those who fell on September 11, 2001
Police Officer Walwyn Stuart
Assignment on September 11, 2001:
World Trade Center PA Trans Hudson Railway Station,
NYC
From
Police Heroes, a book by author
Chuck Whitlock:
Officer Walwyn Stuart was at his PATH station
post in the World Trade Center on September
11th. After the attack began, he got a trainload
of people to return to New Jersey, then evacuated
the station. He then went into the North Tower
to participate in the rescue effort.
At his memorial service on October 18, 2001,
his wife, Thelma, talked about how loving he
was and of the life they’d been building
in Valley Stream, New York with their baby daughter,
Amanda.
Officer Stuart was the youngest of six children
growing up in Brooklyn. He enjoyed playing baseball
and chess. He attended the State University
of New York – Stony Brook for two years
before joining the New York Police Department,
working out of the 88th precinct in Brooklyn
and earning commendations during his two years
there. For the next year and a half, he worked
undercover in the Narcotics Division of the
Organized Crime Control Bureau. After being
promoted to detective, he continued to work
undercover. He joined the Port Authority Police
Department when he learned that his wife was
pregnant. Their daughter, Amanda, celebrated
her first birthday on September 28, 2001.
Portraits of Grief, The New York Times
When the Hugs Ran Out
Oh, the mouth he had, that Walwyn Stuart.
His smile was incandescent, and his kisses
ever-flowing. His wife, Thelma, used to chide
him over his enthusiasm for his newborn daughter
– You’re going to smother her! –
and Mrs. Stuart didn’t much like it when
he came after her with his hugs and smooches.
Well, actually, she did. Just not all the time.
Mr. Stuart, 28, was a Port Authority police
officer who loved his family, chess and the
Lord. He had been a narcotics detective with
the New York City police, but switched jobs
after Mrs. Stuart became pregnant because he
wanted a safer assignment. He became a father
in 2000 and when he worked late nothing meant
more to him than returning home to Valley Stream,
N.Y. and holding little Amanda. He was great
with children, but Mrs. Stuart would sometimes
look on, just a little worried.
“I would be like, ‘Honey, that’s
enough,’” Mrs. Stuart said. “He
once said to me, ‘You know, you never
know when the day is going to come and you are
going to want that hug from me and I’m
not going to be there for you.’”
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