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Posted on 11/27/2001 8:59:04 PM PST by doug from upland

Profiles in heroism and courage...

* Hero fireman lost brother in WTC
* Told bin Laden to kiss my ...
* Saved lives on the ground in Flight 587 tragedy

Michael Moran, the courageous NYC firefighter famous for telling terrorist madman Osama bin Laden to kiss his butt, became a hero again when doomed Flight 587 crashed in his neighborhood.

Moran had already been shattered by the loss of his brother John in the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, along with dozens of other firefighter friends from Ladder Co. 3 on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

But on Nov. 12, when the American Airlines Airbus carrying 260 people crashed just blocks from his Rockaway Park, Queens, home, he didn't run away - he ran to help.

"I just thought: 'I can't let my hometown suffer anymore,'" Moran tells Star in an exclusive interview.

"I knew a lot of close friends, neighbors and relatives would be involved. My mother Peggy and my sisters Ellen and Mona live there. So I got over there as quickly as I could to help out in any way I could."

Even though Moran, 38, was off-duty, he hitched a ride from a police car that was speeding to the disaster area, and made it to the crash site in record time.

Once there, he helped extinguish blazing homes by manning hoses and picked through the wreckage, looking for survivors.

"It was devastating, Moran recalls. "Every time we pulled back an airplane seat, there was another body sitting in it. There was even one man clutching the body of a small child.

"The plane crash was like reliving that horrible 9-11 nightmare all over again. But you never know what you're capable of as a human being until you are staring it in the face. You just get on with it and do your duty."

Tragically, no one in the plane escaped the raging inferno, but his actions definitely saved lives on the ground.

America first learned of Moran's bravery because of the twin towers horror.

On Oct. 20, he took the stage at the Concert for New York, during which rockers including Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, and The Who raised millions for cops and firefighters killed on 9-11.

In front of millions watching around the world, an angry Moran boldly declared, "Osama bin Laden, you can kiss my royal Irish a**!"

He tells Star: "Osama bin Laden killed my brother and my friends on Sept. 11. Put me and bin Laden alone in a room together and I assure you in two minutes there'd only be one man standing."

Mike's beloved brother John was a fire chief who worked with the FDNY special operations division and was one of the first on the scene at the WTC attack.

"I knew John was down there at Ground Zero and as the day wore on and we hadn't heard any word, it began to look really bad.

"Eventually we realized that he was gone forever."

Although John's body has never been recovered, a moving memorial service was held for him Sept. 28.

He leaves behind a widow, Kim, who is an American Airlines flight attendant, and his two sons: Ryan, 7 and Dylan, 4.

Now, despite the horrors Mike has endured recently, he is looking to the future and marrying his sales rep girlfriend, Donna Strilich, 37.

He is also determined to stay on the force and keep working to help the people and the city he loves.

"No matter what life throws at me, I still want to do this job," the proud American declares.

"My brother and I used to say that being firefighters was like being soldiers in a never-ending war. I owe it to my brother and my buddies to carry on.

"The last few weeks have been devastating, but make no mistake: We will prevail!"

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