Ten years ago, Rich Acritelli got the news that his wife Cynthia's best friend, Joanne Ahladiotis, was killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Acritelli, a teacher at Rocky Point High School was an army reservist for four years and a member of the U.S. Air Force's 106th Rescue Wing at Gabreski Airport in Westhampton.

Ahladiotis worked with Cantor Fitzgerald on the 104th floor of World Trade Center Tower 1.

"She (Ahladiotis) had gone out with my best man," he said. "We spent a lot of time together. I remember going out to work in Nassau county seeing the smoke from the buildings."

Acritelli helped design the Rocky Point VFW 9/11 Memorial with Morgan Walters, a former art student from Rocky Point. They worked with with Joe Cognitore, Commander of the Rocky Point VFW Post 6249, Councilwoman Jane Bonner and many others to create the memorial designed to honor victims of the attacks, first responders and rescue workers and "War on Terror" veterans from the Town of Brookhaven.

"The almost 3,000 people that passed away, rescue workers, war on terror veterans, wounded warriors, it’s important that we had something here that will hopefully stand the test of time," he said. "It was a tremendous experience and project."