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FROM ROCKAWAY

It's a part of New York City most tourists -- and a great many people who live here -- never see. Far down the Rockaway Peninsula, in the shadow of Coney Island and lower Manhattan, lie several communities that together form a cohesive example of small town America in a most surprising place.

Towns with carefree names like Belle Harbor and Breezy Point -- summery seaside names that belie the losses these towns suffered on 9/11 and the crash of American Flight 587 two months later.

The Rockaway area is home to many New York firefighters and police, and the roots of service to others run deep. There's no better embodiment of the Rockaway spirit than the subject of tonight's Making a Difference, retired fire captain Flip Mullen.

Matinee-idol handsome at 62 years old, this proud father of seven could be spending his days strolling the beach just steps from his door and playing with his grandchildren. Instead, he and his neighbors are constantly looking for ways to help their community, and the wider world.

In the wake of September 11, when Mullen and so many others rushed to Ground Zero and spent days digging for their fallen brothers, they formed a group called the Graybeards -- men of a certain age who once had gotten together just to play pick-up basketball, but who found a new mission. That mission, to help where help is needed, has taken the Graybeards to places like the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and just down the street, as in tonight's story by NBC Correspondent Mike Taibbi, where they organized a summer sports festival for wounded soldiers and Marines.

The culmination of the Wounded Warriors' visit to Rockaway was a Mass at the Breezy Point 9/11 Memorial. We've done a number of stories here at Nightly about the struggle over the World Trade  center memorial site.

What people might not realize is the fact that a very moving and evocative memorial already exists. Out at the end of the peninsula in the dunes of Breezy Point, stands a cross made of twisted steel beams salvaged from Ground Zero. At the foot of the cross, etched glass plaques commemorate each person who died in the attack -- and there are so many for such a small community. Families ere encouraged to make their plaques personal and reflective, and the result gives any visitor a renewed appreciation of the spirit and sacrifice of this unique corner of New York City.

To learn more about the Graybeards, visit www.graybeards.com. To learn more about the Wounded Warrior project, visit www.woundedwarriorproject.org.

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