Kristin Marino’s FDNY firefighter father Kenneth was killed on Sept. 11, when she was just 3 years old, but his nine brothers made sure they were at her wedding this week to stand in for him.
Retired and new firemen from Kenneth’s Hell’s Kitchen’s Rescue Co. 1 patiently waited outside the Plaza Hotel Wednesday so they could see the beautiful bride off to her wedding.
“It was truly surreal to walk out and see so many firefighters lined up in honor of my father. The sight brought me to tears and reminded me of the incredible brotherhood within the FDNY,” Marino, 27, told The Post on Saturday, from her honeymoon in Hawaii.
“Having them there along with both of their trucks was so special, and it felt as though my dad was right there with me, walking me down the aisle. I am so grateful to the firefighters of FDNY for making my wedding day so meaningful and unforgettable.”
She captured the bittersweet moment on video, which she posted on Instagram on Friday.
“My dad couldn’t show up to my wedding because he was taken from us on September 11th, so look who did,” she captioned the emotional clip, which already has 2.4 million views.
“New and retired firefighters from my dad’s firehouse. I finally understand why they say, ‘It’s a brotherhood.’”
In a poignant moment, she stood by the firetruck and wiped away tears as she took in the meaning of the gesture — while her mom, Katrina, and her brother Tyler, looked on, also visibly emotional.
“We kept trying to hold it together, but tears came in waves, one of us would tear up, then another. All of us wishing and knowing he should have been with us. But so special to have his ‘brothers’ there with us,” Katrina told The Post.
“Kenny would be so proud, knowing Rescue One were there for us.”
After Kristin, Katrina and Tyler took photos inside the firetruck, the band of FDNY brothers drove it from The Plaza to Marino’s wedding venue, Rockefeller Center’s 620 Loft & Garden.
“I know my dad was smiling down knowing I was taken care of,” added Marino, a native of Mineola, Long Island, who married musician Noah Schnacky.
“Thank you for never forgetting FDNY.”
Marino visited her 40-year-old dad at his West 43rd Street firehouse on the morning of 9/11 — and she and her 1-year-old brother sat in the firetruck that would later report to Ground Zero, she told The Post last year.
“He placed me and my brother in that same truck that literally got crushed like an hour later,” Marino said of her father, who had served as a firefighter for over two decades‚ starting at 18 as a volunteer.
She also recalled a story about her father’s heroism that day.
“When he was in the towers, he had stopped for a guy that was having a heart attack and didn’t want to leave him,” Marino said.
“And all the guys were like, ‘Come on, we have a bigger thing to do.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, but I need to help him.’”
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