Makes sense, doesn't it. Take care of those who take care of you. Probably part of the Cowboy Code that the left has such contempt for and all :)
From New Rochelle to Protecting the President of the United States
The Story of Nick Trotta
By Michael Moritz
Reprinted from The New Rochelle Sound Report
Friday, October 10, 2003
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Nick Trotta will always call New Rochelle "home" even though he spends much of his time alongside the President of the United States, protecting him.
For more than 23 years Trotta has climbed through the ranks of the United States Secret Service an is presently one of two people in the Secret Service who never leaves the President's side. There is The Special Agent in Charge of the White House and the Deputy Special Agent in Charge of the President's Detail. Trotta is the latter and this is his story.
Growing up in New Rochelle
Although Trotta is a shy and reserved man, he had no problem discussing his family history and the city of New Rochelle.
"When I say that I am going home, I mean I am going to New Rochelle," Trotta said, reminiscing.
Trotta was born in New Rochelle in 1959 to Italian immigrants Angelo and Angelina Trotta who came to New York right off the boat in 1954. he has a sister named Ann Marie. The family came from Stio, a small mountain town in Salerno, Italy.
"My grandmother Carmela - my mother's mother - had been back and forth to the United States in the 1800s - her father was an importer/exporter. My uncle Joseph came to live in Harlem, New York. From there he moved to New Rochelle, 6th Street by St. Joseph's Church," Trotta said.
It was this uncle who called the Trotta's to come to America.
"They had a great vision - they left everything except for one trunk (which they still have today) and moved to New Rochelle," Trotta said.
His father worked three jobs, saved most of his money, and within a couple of years purchased the house where they still live.
"I admire both of my parents," Trotta says naming them as his role models. "When I look at all of the traveling that I did throughout my career - I know that I am blessed, but for them to get up and leave - leave your own family - is just amazing."
Angelo worked 20 years for the Board of Education as a laborer. "My mother got a job at New Rochelle hospital - she was a seamstress who worked in the laundry department," he said.
Trotta attended kindergarten at Columbus School, grammar school at St. Joseph's, and then onto Salesian High School. "Salesian and St. Joseph's played a big role in my upbringing," he said. He also recalls Dennis Beavers who owned a gas station (now a repair shop on charles Street and Washington Ave.). "We used to hang out there since I was 9; Dennis kept me out of trouble."
Trotta has a routine when he returns to New Rochelle. "I walk up Washington Ave. and go to the deli on the corner of 4th and Washington Ave. I pick up the papers and I would walk to 3rd Street near Paul Sarachelli's house. I yell out his name, -He Paulie.... I do it to this day. he and his wife come to the window," he said. "I miss the whole New York scene."
Trotta also recalls playing stickball with childhood friends Doug McLeer, Joe Colangelo, Ed Spallone, Ed Amori, Claudio Trotta, Huey McLeer and Billy Banfield at Washington School at Union Ave. "We also played street hockey, we didn't have any equipment back then - we just kind of bounced off cars," he said. "Two things you didn't do back then were criticize Bruno Sammartino (a famous WWF wrestler) and curse on church property."
The Trotta Family
Nick Trotta's wife Donna grew up on Warren Street also in New Rochelle (her parents still reside there) and attended St. Gabriel Church. Her maiden name is Banfield. he met her in 1978 through a friend and they married in 1982. Three priests officiated the wedding: Father Diego Borgatello, SDB, Father Paul Avallone, SDB, and Father Joe DeSanto.
The trotta's have three children: Danielle, who is the oldest, a Sophomore at West Virginia, (born in New Rochelle), Jacqueline (also born in New Rochelle) is a Sophomore in high school in Maryland and the youngest of them is Nicholas, who was born in Maryland in 1992. He is an avid fan of the Orioles, unlike his dad who favors the Yankees. The last member of the Trotta family is their Labrador named Casey.
"Donna and I have never taken a trip alone in 21 years of our marriage because everything centers on the kids," he said. "Donna has four kids to worry about and I am one of them," he said. "If she had my job [I think she would be able to manage it] - I don't know how I would do her job. She keeps this thing together," he said.
The President has invited his family to Christmas parties at the White House. "My biggest thrill is when I bring my family and friends here - to give them a tour of the White House - this is the only way I can share with them what I do," he said.
A Lasting Faith
"Faith and religion play an important role in my life," Trotta explained. He had a strong Catholic upbringing and credits (beside his own family) a loving priest named Father Diego Borgatello, SDB who is now deceased. He left a big impression on many people in New Rochelle. Friends and family still honor the priest with a yearly dinner and Mass at Salesian provincial house.
Since he was eight years old - Nick remembers the beloved priest. "Our relationship with priests has always been excellent," he said. "Father Diego was a remarkable man, probably the holiest person I ever met. I feel his presence today. I truly feel blessed in my career due to this man."
Trotta spent several years of his life working with disabled kids in the New Rochelle Parks and Recreation Department during his attendance at Iona College where he graduated with a BS in Criminal Justice. "I can say that I am doing exactly what I wanted to do as a kid, not many people can say that," he said. Trotta said that he learned about the Secret Service at Iona and recalls a story the he will never forget.
"One of my supervisors from Parks and Recreation heard that I was going to be interviewed for The Secret Service and she told me that I can't get it - no one from here gets that, you have to know someone to get the job," he said. "I ran to Father Diego - and he said let's pray about it - to see what God had to say about it."
Perhaps God did have something to say about it because he was hired on July 20, 1981, with the Uniform Division of the Secret Service.
Father Joe DeSanto, who was the Department Chairman of the Criminal Justice Department at Iona College, had passed Trotta's name along to Jerry Parr - (the Special Agent in charge when President Reagan was shot; Parr was the agent who put Reagan in the car and made the decision to bring him to the hospital).
"I guess someone knew someone," he said. years later when Trotta checked his personnel file - he saw a not from Parr that read, "comes recommended by the priest." "I never forgot that," Trotta said.
The Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is mandated to carry out two missions: protection and criminal investigations. They protect the President and Vice President, their families, heads of state, and other designated individuals; and investigate threats against them.
The Uniform Division along with other members of the Secret Service protects the White House, Vice President's Residence, Foreign Missions, and other buildings within Washington, D.C. The Secret Service also investigates violations of laws relating to counterfeiting of U.S. currency. This is the world that Trotta would soon be committed to.
"Donna and I got engaged in October of 1981. I flew up from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia to see Donna and I said we have to go see Father Diego and went to purchase the ring and then I had to fly back - I left the next day - this set the tone for the next 23 years," he said. Trotta was then selected to be a Special Agent and with that came new orders - they were moving back to New York where they purchased a home in Pelham.
As a Special Agent, Trotta was tasked with investigations of counterfeit U.S. currency, which was the Secret Service's first mandate since its origin in 1865. As a new agent he was assigned to the New York field office at 6 World Trade Center.
Italy
From 6 World Trade Center, Trotta got to know what it was like in the Secret Service. Trotta's first experienced protecting America's leaders during a two-month stint with Presidential Democratic candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson in 1984. After that , he and his family moved to Italy and spent two years there working in conjunction with Italian authorities - with the Milan Italy Task Force.
"This was a very difficult time for my family," Trotta recalls. "I was traveling a lot over there. Italian wine was being poisoned at the time, president Reagan ordered a strike on Libya - we lived in a community where there were many protests against the U.S. Chernobyl hit - and Italy was the third country that was the hardest hit - Italy banned milk - so with all this, I sent my family home," he said. Eventually he was transferred back to New York in 1988.
Moving Up in the Ranks
"I did not want to go to Washington - I just wanted to stay in New York. The Assistant Director told me that I would soon be transferred to the Presidential detail," Trotta said. "It is a unique mission - protecting the President. I truly believe that every Secret Service agent comes on this job to protect the President or the Vice President," he said. That same year (1988) he returned from Italy back to New York and he served on the Presidential Detail at the end of President Reagan's Administration.
In November of 1992 Trotta was transferred to the Office of Training. In 1995 the Trotta's sold their house in Pelham. In April of 1996 he became the Assistant to the Special Agent in Charge of Special Services overseeing the armored fleet that protected the President. In 1998 Trotta was sent back to the Presidential Detail.
"It was an unbelievable honor and privilege to come back a second time." he said since he had already been with President Reagan and George Bush Sr. In January of 1999 he went back briefly to the Office of Inspection. In 2000 as an Inspector he once again became the Assistant Special Agent in Charge.
Protecting Governor Bush
In 1997, Congressional legislation became effective limiting Secret Service protection to former Presidents for a period of not more than 10 years after they left office. And then in 2000, The Secret Service changed the way presidential campaigns were staffed. "They selected me to oversee Elizabeth Dole's Presidential campaign, but then she dropped out," he said. "I was then told that I would be reassigned to Texas Governor George W. Bush, he said, adding that Secret Service Director said he wanted Trotta to bring the Bush campaign to the same level of protection as the presidential detail. "That was the only thing I knew," Trotta said.
Trotta was placed in charge of all the agents assigned to Governor Bush. "So I sat down with Governor Bush and worked out the details. I felt that the Director asked me to do this because of my merit." During the busy campaign Bush made a stop at New York "I invited my family," he said, recalling that his mother (being the Italian woman that she was) wanted to bring the governor a dish of lasagna. "I got on the phone and told her 'mom - you can't do that' - you just can't bring food to the governor," he said, jokingly. "It was a very emotional moment for me. There was the Governor talking to my family and the senior staff showed a lot of interest in my family - their background and their morals."
When Bush was elected - Trotta was there. "I was asked to, by the Director, to work the transition between the Clinton Administration and the Bush Administration." While Bush was in Rome in July 2000, Trotta took the opportunity to pray about this job. "I told the advance team that I would be off from three hours and I went to the Vatican." There Trotta prayed and pondered on his future and the fact that God had blessed him for 20 years and asked if he should retire.
"Father Diego said to me that when making a major decision - don't do it by yourself - go to God," he said, adding, "I am still here [in the Secret Service]." The Director then asked Trotta to go back to the Presidential Detail with President Bush. "When the Director asks, you go," Trotta said.
At first he was charged with protecting the first Family. For a third time he would be returning to the Presidential Detail as he became the Assistant Special Agent in Charge. "Not many of us have the privilege of serving a third time with President," he said. In January 2003 he was selected as Deputy Special Agent in Charge of the Presidential Detail. "When the President leaves the White House - it is either he [The Deputy] or the Special Agent in Charge who accompanies him," Trotta explained.
September 11
"September 11 is one of those days we will never forget," Trotta said. "I was assigned as the afternoon supervisor- back then I was the Assistant Special Agent in Charge." Trotta was at the White House. President Bush spent the morning talking to schoolchildren in Florida.
Trotta was at the White House gym on that fateful morning. He was flipping through the channels when he saw the images like everyone else witnessed. "My first reaction was a plane hit the towers like the one did to the Empire State Building in the 1940s." When the second plane struck the towers, Trotta knew there was an attack.
"I quickly got dressed and reported to my office and met the Special Agent in Charge. We began making decisions. We train and practice for this," Trotta said. At sometime during the day it was decided that Trotta would to to the First Lady's location (which was undisclosed).
That night, by the President's own decision, Bush came back to the White House and the First Lady was relocated back to the White House. "We know there are people who watch us - we have to stay alert - I have to motivate way over 300 people - every agent and officer assigned to the President has to stay sharp," he said. As part of their training, Trotta explained, the Secret Service contemplated that initial strikes could be a diversion and "we were prepared for that."
Trotta admits that the Agency learned from the whole experience. "We as an agency succeeded because of our training and we have gotten a lot better."
A Humbling Experience
Trotta's office is actually located in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building formerly known as the Old Executive Building. "The White House has been with me since 1981," he said. "I never forget where I am at [The White House]; a day does not go by that I am still in awe."
Trotta knows his actions and words are extremely important and can have a huge impact on our nation's leaders. "I have to be very sure of what I say to the Chief of Staff to the President, or the First Lady or even the President," he said. "I don't get involved with politics. When we make a decision - we do so with one that is the safest for the President and his family. Ultimately the President says what he wants to do, usually taking the Secret Service's advice."
The Road Ahead
Trotta was once again on the move in September as President Bush gave a speech at the United Nations urging the international community to assist the United States with rebuilding Iraq. "We had 60 heads of state in New York so it really was like a Secret Service reunion," he said.
As another election draws near, it is clear that Trotta has his eyes on retirement which more than likely will encompass this lasting faith and his family in a strong capacity. "I do miss a lot of family functions," he said. "But, I am really not sure that I ever dreamed about getting this far." And for now, he chooses to continue to stand next to the President.
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We thank you, Lord, that another REAL MAN is protecting our brave President and his family .. God Bless him and his family for their loyal and devoted service.