"In September of 2003, The New-York Historical Society (Jan Ramirez & Amy Weinstein : Curators) hosted Gary Marlon Suson's second museum exhibit, entitled "9/11: Loss and Remembrance", which was comprised of several portraits he had done of a group of men at Ground Zero known as the "BAND OF DADS". This group of men were comprised mostly of retired FDNY firemen who persistently dug at Ground Zero for their missing firefighter sons, dads and brothers. Mr. Suson had befriended many of them over the months he was at WTC and was inspired by each of their stories and refusal to walk away from the WTC site until every last piece of debris was cleared. Some of the men were fortunate enough to find their sons while others left empty-handed and broken-hearted.

Inspired by their courage, Mr. Suson wanted to immortalize this unique group of men and their sons by shooting portraits of them holding a personal item that had belonged to their sons. In the last week of the Recovery efforts at Ground Zero, he shot a few men but then decided it was best to leave it be as he knew this was an emotionally tough time for them. That's when retired Lieutenant Paul Geidel of Rescue 1 said to Mr. Suson, "If you're going to shoot one of us, then you might as well shoot all of us." Mr. Geidel quickly helped organize the shoots and with that, each day Suson photographed a different man. Some of them had lost their dads, others their sons and some lost their brothers. They each brought a sentimental item and the shoots were very emotional and filled with tears. Says Suson, "It will rank as the most "emotionally taxing" photographs I have ever taken, but it was well worth it because each family was so pleased that the memory of their loved one was immortalized on film. These images represent not just the FDNY, but EVERYONE who lost a loved one and was grieving."

Many times through the shoots Mr. Suson had to stop as the men would well up with emotion at the reality of the fact that this was it: The Recovery was over and their son, brother of father was never coming home. There would be no gravesite to visit; just a memorial. Says Suson, "My heart expanded twenty-fold and I will forever respect each of these men not just for who they are as human beings but for having the courage to partake in these painful photo sessions on behalf of their fallen loved ones. I hope that all who view these images will one day appreciate them as much as I do."