Richie, We all miss and love you very much. You have no idea what you really meant to me. No one does. You are my hero and now I know that you are my very special angel.
Lisa Ann Pearlman, sister

Richard Pearlman, who lived in Howard Beach with his parents, was working for Cooper and Cully, a law firm, when he was asked Tuesday to run an errand at One Police Plaza.

Pearlman, 18, was a volunteer medic for the Forest Hills Ambulance Corps, so when he heard about the World Trade Center disaster, he called his boss and said he was headed over to help. His boss pleaded with him to return to work, his sister Lisa Pearlman said, but he refused.

"He said, ‘No, it's my job to help people,'” she said. "We haven't heard from him since.”

Richard Pearlman, who needs medication, wears a gold paramedic's badge, Number 3754.

Richard  joined the junior corps when he was 14 and recently graduated to the senior corps. While working as a paralegal near City Hall, Mr. Pearlman called his family and told them that he was helping the police at the trade center, according to Bryce Friedman, a vice president of the Corps. In addition to the Fire Department's E.M.S. workers, the 911 system dispatches ambulances from  private hospitals and private services.

"Richie was a constant presence at the Corps. He was the regular Tuesday night and Saturday daytime dispatcher. He was present at every can shaking and blood pressure screening the Corps held. He also became involved in the Boy Scouts of America, where he was able to pass on his knowledge of EMS to younger scouts around the area.

At 18 he joined the Senior Corps. He immediately became a source of knowledge for new dispatchers and new members. Richie was trained in CPR and First Aid, but looked forward to starting his EMT course in October of 2001.

On September 11,2001, Richie responded on foot to the World Trade Center. He was in Manhattan on business for his job when the incident occurred. His employer ordered him back to the offices where he would be safe, however Richie knew in his heart where he belonged. A picture on pages 16-17 in Newsweek's Extra Edition of America Under Attack shows Richie aiding the injured.

We remember that Richie was kind. We remember that Richie was eager to help. We remember that Richie wore our uniform proudly. We remember Richie as our friend. We remember Richie as our brother. We remember that Richie was one of many who turned Ground Zero into our Ground Of Heroes."Forest Hills VAC, co-worker