VIDEO — NYPD Officer Joins Elite Unit, Continuing 9/11 Hero Father’s Legacy: ‘He Would Be Very Proud’

A policeman in New York City is making his family members and community proud in a big way.

Joe Vigiano is following in his beloved father’s footsteps, a hero who died during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, by becoming a member of the group known as the Emergency Service Unit (ESU) during a graduation ceremony on Friday, the New York Post reported.

The unit “responds to a wide range of calls for assistance, including people threatening to jump off bridges or buildings, people stuck in elevators, barricaded perpetrators, and hostage situations,” the NYPD’s website read.

“ESU supports all department initiatives and provides assistance to every patrol command, as well as Federal and State law enforcement authorities,” it continued.

Vigiano is now assigned to Brooklyn’s Emergency Truck 7 where his dad worked during the first years of his career.

“His smile would have brightened up the whole room today,” Kathy Vigiano, a retired officer and the young man’s mother, said of her late husband Joseph. His brother, who was a firefighter, also died on 9/11.

In a social media post, Kathy said, “Over 400 applicants dwindled down to todays class of 42.”

“This is one proud but worried mom. I have some relief knowing he’s going to be learning from and working with Zajack and Raggione who both worked with Joeys Dad,” she continued:

Vigiano’s father lost his life trying to save people inside the World Trade Center complex on 9/11. Vigiano was only eight years old at the time.

“I hope he’d be proud. I mean, looking at my family and my now almost one-year-old son, I think he would be very proud of his family,” Vigiano said of his father:

Meanwhile, Lt. Keith Gallagher said the graduate trained hard to reach his goal, and “He was the number one student in the class in everything.”

According to the Post, Vigiano is a staff sergeant in the United States Marine Corps Reserves who also fought alongside fellow servicemembers in Afghanistan.