7-year-old's letter brings NY firefighters to Georgia

ALAPAHA - The events of Sept. 11 meant more to Jarret Dean than most south Georgia 7-year-olds. <br> <br> Jarret&#39;s dream is to be a firefighter, so the tragedy that befell rescue workers in New York struck him closer to home. <br> <br> Two days after the terrorist attacks, Jarret wrote to New York firefighters expressing his sorrow for the many lives that were lost. <br> <br> A couple of weeks later, the letter made its way to Ray Tremer, a rescue specialist with Staten Island&#39;s Rescue 5, which lost 12 men in the disaster. <br> <br> Tremer said the letter could not have come at a better time. <br> <br> ``I was home alone,&#39;&#39; he said. ``I had sent my wife and kids to Florida to get away. It was about eight o&#39;clock at night and I&#39;d had a real bad day. I&#39;d seen some real bad stuff that day and I needed something positive. There was a knock at the door and it was a package. It was a handwritten letter with a picture of Jarret and a card from him. It was exactly what I needed.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Tremer returned the letter and the correspondence grew into a trip to Alapaha for Tremer, his neighbor, Bill Kanzler Jr., and Kanzler&#39;s father, who has been visiting Alapaha for the last several years after his fire department in Freehold, N.J., arranged to send two firetrucks to Alapaha in 1994. <br> <br> It was Kanzler Sr. who got Tremer&#39;s address to Jarret&#39;s mother, Libby. <br> <br> Tremer, the Kanzlers and fellow firefighter Harry Read have been treated to a gospel sing and cake sale Sunday night to raise money for victims&#39; families, a visit to some Berrien County schools Monday morning and a big cookout Monday night. <br> <br> ``These are the greatest people in the world down here,&#39;&#39; Tremer said. ``They&#39;ve been more than gracious and given me gifts I can&#39;t begin to explain. Everything&#39;s from the heart and I can&#39;t tell them enough what it means.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Jarret said he wrote the letter ``because they lost all their men.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> ``My mom helped me write the letter,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Jarret said he&#39;s enjoyed the visit by his new friends and is planning a trip to New York with his family. He said having his friends visit Alapaha ``has been cool. I like it a lot.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Tremer said he will take home even more than memories of his time in Alapaha. <br> <br> ``They feed us so much down here, my uniform&#39;s going to be tight,&#39;&#39; he said. ``But really, they&#39;ve been so wonderful. This won&#39;t be our last trip here. We plan on coming back soon. It&#39;s an honor for us to be here.&#39;&#39;