12/3/2017 Shucking Peconic Bay Scallops

I received a call from a friend of mine, Brendan Fogerty, an FDNY Lieutenant covering in Engine Company 302/The Vipers Nest during the late afternoon of December 2nd to see if I could help him shuck some bay scallops. He was just finishing up a scallop trip off Robins Island in Peconic Bay with a friend of his, also from Engine Company 302, named Chris Raguso. I’ve shucked thousands of clams, but never a bay scallop. I knew if I agreed to help him, I was coming into some of the catch. After having agreed to help him, I immediately went to YouTube, to learn how to complete the task. Chris was killed in western Iraq shortly afterwards when his HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter crashed in Iraq. Chris perished that day with fellow firefighter Christopher T. Zanetis and several airman from his Air National Guard unit in Westhampton Beach New York. They were the best bay scallops I ever had. God Bless Chris, Christopher and the Airmen killed that day