In the summer of 1996, Kerri Meehan met a baby- faced guy at a bar in the Hamptons. She was so certain that she was his senior, she carded him.

Charles Mendez dutifully took out his driver's license and showed his future wife that he was five years her senior. Even as recently as a few months before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Mendez was carded at a bar, while his younger wife was waved past.

"He used to laugh about it," said Kerri Mendez. "He was 38, and they still used to proof him. He had a young face, a young outlook."

"Chuck" Mendez, a firefighter with Manhattan Ladder Co. 7, played beach volleyball in a league every summer and ice hockey every winter. He took up ice hockey at age 33. "Anything that involved having a good time, he wanted to do," his wife said.

"He had a million friends," she said. "We went on at least five vacations a year. I had a flexible job, and he could manage his schedule by working a lot one week. We went on a cruise every year, went to the islands twice a year."

Even financial concerns never held them back. "We never said no," she recounted. "We never said we can't afford it. I'd say: 'We'll deal with it later.'"

Those trips yielded a legion of friends, including Chris Caton, a firefighter in Yarmouth, Mass. Caton met Mendez on a cruise to the Caribbean. Caton and his wife frequently visited the Mendezes at their summer place in the Hamptons, while the Mendezes often made the trip to see their friends on Cape Cod.

In 1999, the Mendezes bought a century-old, two-family Victorian house in Floral Park with a big front porch. "It was literally falling down," Kerri Mendez said. At first, Chuck wasn't particularly handy, but he was game. Armed with his "bible," "Home Improvement 1-2-3," about a dozen other home repair books and advice from the guys at the firehouse, he restored the old Victorian.

"He always finished the job," his wife said. "He never left the job half done."

On Sept. 11, Caton and another firefighter were driving down to visit Mendez and ride with his fire company for the day. They got a late start, and when they were still in Connecticut, they got a call about the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. "We turned around," Caton said.

In addition to his wife, Mendez is survived by his mother, Doris; a sister, Patty D'Agosta, and brothers Tom, Steven and Rich, all of Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn.

Mendez's body was recovered at 11:15 p.m. on New Year's Eve. John Brown, a friend from beach volleyball and a fellow firefighter, was working at the trade center site and claimed the body. New Year's celebrations around the city prevented transporting the body right away. So while revelers elsewhere counted down, toasted and kissed, Brown spent some quiet hours in the ambulance with Mendez's body before accompanying it to the morgue.

"I had a wonderful chat with him," Brown told his wife later.

Charles R. Mendez: 'I Have No Regrets'

Charles R. Mendez was a reed of a boy who grew up to be a "good sized" man with a heart to match, said his mother, Doris Mendez. When Mr. Mendez's father died, he was a tremendous help to his mother, even though he was only 21.

Mr. Mendez was a firefighter with Ladder Company 7 in Manhattan. His last job was at the World Trade Center. He was 38.

"He was sort of quiet but well-liked all over," Mrs. Mendez said. "He wanted to be a policeman, first. Then he was working for a bank but when the Fire Department called him, that was his glory. He loved that job."

Firefighter Mendez's wife, Kelli, said her husband so enjoyed his job that there were many mornings he rose early to leave home in Floral Park, on Long Island, to get to work. When he was not working, he renovated their old house, she said. He learned how to be handy by reading books.

"He was always doing something," she said. "We had a million friends and we were always out doing something. We probably vacationed five times a year. I have no regrets -- we never canceled, we never said we can't go, we just did it.

"He was just a wonderful, wonderful person. If I'd known five years ago this would happen, I still would have married him. He was it. He was my best friend."

Tucsonans hit the streets in the name of war Saturday.

Protestors voiced their opinions outside Davis Monthan Air Force Base during the air show Saturday.

In the heat of the moment, things got ugly.

On one street corner, protesters wave American flags and hold up signs in support of our troops.

Directly across, an anti-war group asks for peace, calling the Bush regime a national disaster.

When the anti-war protestors cross the street, demonstrating what they call the American torture of Iraqi prisoners, things turned ugly.

After shoving, pushing, and intense words, police quickly try to get the upper hand.

Officers kept the groups separated for the rest of the protest.

Samuel Lucero's brother, a Marine, was killed in Iraq back in 2004.

"They say they support our troops. They carry those stupid coffins with the fake dead bodies in it, and I just think that's stupid. If they actually support the troops, they should be with us holding a flag, saying thank you for your service."

Others, like Felix Slette, support his view.

"Those people are defending our country. Aside from politics, without any politics at all, they deserve our respect. They've put their lives on the line."

Anti-war demonstrators say they do support American troops.

Chris Dashiell says, "We're not here to protest our fellow citizens across the street. We're here to protest the government's policy on Iraq, and foreign policy in general, which doesn't make me feel any safer."

Lauren Eggert-Crowe says, "The majority of Americans want the troops to come home and the majority of the Iraqi's want the troops out."

After police kept the groups separated, everything ran smoothly.

You're invited to the Gathering of Eagles - Tucson at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Craycroft and Golf Links Gate or Swan Gate on Saturday 03/17/2007 10:00 am to 1:00 PM. Please send this on to all your patriotic friends in the area and military family members as well as veteran groups.

We're going to defeat them again! Last year in Tucson on March 18th for this annual "anti-war" event, 100 patriotic Tucsonans occupied the Military Recruiting Center on Speedway to stop a local march of 2000 protesters (with participants bused in from as far as Mexico) from vandalizing it. Instead of rampaging through the Center as they had planned they were forced to go across the street and stand there looking crazy. The Tucson Police Department Bicycle Squad kept a watchful eye out and there was no trouble.

This January in Washington DC, Jane Fonda jumped back in to the "anti-war" business in a big way. At the same rally, protesters spray-painted the Capital building after Capital Police were ordered to let them do it, even though the officers had them under control. The next rally on March 17th was scheduled to be near the Vietnam War Memorial! Concerned about this and other reports of war memorial desecrations, veterans started the Gathering of Eagles http://www.gatheringofeagles.org to protect the Wall. The Gathering has mushroomed into a gigantic rally to support the troops!

Here in Tucson, the "anti-war" faction, organized by the Arizona District Leader for Communist Party USA, has made a new plan. Stung by last year's stunning defeat, their current scheme is to protest the brave men and women of the US Armed Forces at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson. They plan to meet at the Craycroft and Golf Links gate on Saturday, March 17th to picket, give a few propaganda speeches and march over to the Swan and Golf Links gate to picket there for awhile. If they follow their usual Modus Operandi, the "anti-war" radicals will vandalize the sidewalks in front of the military installation.

Why protest a military base, recruiting center or hospital? The military doesn't make foreign policy. The answer is that while some in the crowd may want peace and just don't know what they're doing, the leaders are attempting to demoralize our troops and our country to the point of surrender, as Jane Fonda and her friends did in the Vietnam war. Our military won every battle there but lost the "protest war" at home. Brave and victorious Vietnam Veterans came back to be spit on at airports and other travel stations! Will we let this happen again? No!

The Gathering of Eagles - Tucson will meet across the street from this protest and stand peacefully holding signs of troop support and military/American flags. As soon as the protesters move away from any area we will immediately inspect and scrub off sidewalk vandalization. Yes, we will be earlier and stay later than the radicals. Our troops work long hours for us every day under harsh conditions! But even if you can only stay briefly on your way to the Air Show that day it will be appreciated.

Come early if you would like to help set up and volunteer to help in other ways. Bring a case of water if you can. Also bring a flag or sign of support such as "God Bless Our Troops!" or "Home of the Free Because of the Brave." Be creative. Our troops have heard of the Gathering of Eagles and are watching closely. So are politicians. Even the terrorists wonder if this will hurt their cause. Let's show them that American citizens care by standing up for the troops and America! See you there!

For more informatoin or to volunteer email tucson4america at yahoo dot com

Hi again everyone...sorry to be a pest, but I wanted to make sure everyone remembered our special day at the gates of Davis Monthan AFB. We will be at the Craycroft gates (Craycroft and Golf Links) from 0800-1000. There is parking on the NW corner in Freedom park and more parking if needed at the Post Time bar and grill...

We will have plenty of signs and flags for you to use, so bring yourself, bring a friend, bring your family, bring your kids, bring your dog on a leash and join us with the japanese media for a morning of supporting our troops. Even the boys on base know about this event as I have made it a point to tell as many soldiers on the base as I could in my time working out there. Limited water is available so if you can bring some extra we would appreciate it. Our goal tomorrow is to fill all 4 corners of the intersection.