Over two decades since the 9/11 tragedy, the Bed-Stuy community came together Saturday to commemorate the life and service of Captain Vernon Allan Richard with a basketball tournament in his honor.

Captain Richard, a Brooklyn-born firefighter, dedicated 24 years of his life to the FDNY before he died on 9/11. Born and raised in Bed-Stuy, Richard moved to South Bronx when he joined the FDNY in 1977 and rose to the rank of lieutenant by the mid-1990s.

Richard's son, Vernon Richard II, traveled from North Carolina to participate in the event.

As a father, Richard instilled a sense of responsibility and motivation in his son, who reminisced about his father's love for adventure and his sage advice to always sit in the front row—a piece of wisdom Richard himself embraced when he received his promotion to Lieutenant.

In the years following Richard's death, a high school was named in his honor as a lasting testament to his legacy.

The basketball tournament, organized by Reverend Doctor V. Simpson Turner, serves not only as a tribute to Richard's life and service but also supports a local anti-gun violence program in Bed-Stuy.