story10608.xml
Title
story10608.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2004-05-18
911DA Story: Story
I was at my home on Marco Island having a light breakfast with my wife Nancy watching "Imus in the Morning" when the first plane hit the WTC. We thought it to be a small plane. The Imus show is one of the ways we keep in contact to find out what is happening in NY. Both my wife and I are originally from NY. She from Queens and me from Brooklyn. We also have a home in Breezy Point Queens NY where we spend the summers.
When we saw the second plane hit the second tower we knew something was terribly wrong. For a few minutes we were in shock and really did not understand what was happening. After about 5 minute3 I started to try and contact my sons Michael and Ryan by telephone. They are both NYC Firefighters. I was unable to reach them. I was finally able to get through to my Mother who lives in Breezy Point. When she answered the phone she was on the portable phone standing in the middle street looking straight down the street at the WTC engulfed in a huge cloud of smoke. She told me it was a beautiful clear day and you could almost see forever. She said my Brother Dan, a retired disabled NYC Firefighter (Line of Duty Injury), had just left heading for the WTC. She said she was OK and I hung up.
I then tried to reach out for my sons again. No luck. I called Jim Corcoran,good friend and Retired NYPD Detective. He was seating on his front deck overlooking Jamacia Bay in Breezy Point looking directly at the WTC. Jim was in early recovery from a heart attack. He said all of the off duty and retired cops and firemen in Breezy Point had left and were heading to the WTC. I asked him to keep me informed about what was happening and if he heard anything about my sons to call me.
I then started to call retired NYPD and NYFD guys I knew around Marco Island knowing that they would all want to do something. ( I am a retired NYC Detective} I suggested that for know we could start a Blood drive because I knew they would need blood. Different guys were designated to do different tasks to setup the blood drive. (We were informed latter in the day that lines to give blood had started to form by 10 AM throughout Collier County and no one was able to handle any more donors.I also found out later that they really didn,t need blood in NY because they were very few injured and most were dead)
At about 1030 AM I was able to get through to my son Ryan's Firehouse L166/Eng318 and was informad that Ryan was with the Ladder. They left quarters just before the first tower came down. The fireman I spoke to told me he was with a group of off duty firemen who went to the firehouse to get their equiptment and were ordered to stand by a cover a large area of south Brooklyn until Fire Departments from Long Island and NJ came to replace them.
Around noon I got a phone call for my son Ryan. he was with his company at the Towers. He was safe but it was bad. His cellphone was working off and on. I asked if he knew anything about his brother Mike. He said no. But was looking out for him.
Around 1pm I spoke with my Daughter in law Tina. The kids were all home from school and safe. She said Mike was home when the first plane hit the towers. He left soon after with another firefighter headind to the towers. She did not know where he was but just knew he was safe. We hung up and promised to keep in touch if we heard anything from Mike.
Mike had just graduated from the Fire Academy on Firday and was due in for his first day of work as a Firefighter on Sept 11 at 6pm at a firehouse Brooklyn. Mike had been a NYCPD Police Officer for 6 1/2 years before he entered the Fire Academy.
Awhile later I recieved a phone call from Mike. He said he was with a Capt. and 4 other firefighters in an office in one of the building next to where the towers were. They were taking a breather after spend hours in the pile searching. His small group had found no one alive. Just pieces of bodies. He said the air in the pile was terrible but he was ok. He said that when he left home after the first tower got hit he went to thee nearest Firehouse in Rockaway. Being a brand new firefighter and never having work a day in a firehouse he had all his fire equiptment with him. When he got to the firehouse he was one of only a few who had their equiptment. All the other off duty firefighter's equiptment was at their assigned firehouses. Mike was immediately ordered with three other firefighters to take a private car to a park closer into Mahattan to get bus into the WTC. When they arrived at the park they were immediately put on a bus and left for the WTC.The bus was filled with firefighters and they were the first bus heading in. Communications were terrible and no one new what to expect. On the bus there also was a priest. He stood up and they all prayered together and he gave them absolution ( Catholic like confession, forgiveness for there sins.) Just as they were approaching downtown the saw the second tower come down. He abruptly said he had to go.I quickly told him Ryan was there somewhere and I was praying for them.
I found out later that when he was talking to me they had just got a communication that building #7 was coming down. They weren't sure where they were but had a hand drawn map of the WTC area. They realized that they were very close to Bldg #7. The Capt ordered then all out of the building they were in, to head north and meet by the Woolworth Building. They headed out across the pile. He ended up with one other firefighter leaning against a building catching there breath when another firefighter ran by saying that was building #7. They took off. They were about a block away they stopped a an ambulance looking for a solution to clean out there eyes. They were having a hard time seeing. By coincidence the Ambulance was from the Breezy Point Volunteer Dept. One of only two Volunteer Fire Departments in NYC. As they were there Bldg#7 started to come down. (55 stories) Debris start to strike the ambulance and they took off running. The wind from the building coming down pushed them along as they were running. He said they did not stop running until they got to the Brooklyn Bridge.
Later that evening Nancy and I when to a quickly organized community wide Pray Service at a Marco Island Church. THe crowd at the church was overflowing outside to the parking lot. Many of th people on Marco knew that I had two sons that were NYC Firefighters.They all said a special pray for my son and prayer for evaryone else effected by terrorist act. I also remember someone in church saying that one of the stewardess on one the flights had a condo on Marco.
That night we had a very hard time getting to sleep. God Bless America
When we saw the second plane hit the second tower we knew something was terribly wrong. For a few minutes we were in shock and really did not understand what was happening. After about 5 minute3 I started to try and contact my sons Michael and Ryan by telephone. They are both NYC Firefighters. I was unable to reach them. I was finally able to get through to my Mother who lives in Breezy Point. When she answered the phone she was on the portable phone standing in the middle street looking straight down the street at the WTC engulfed in a huge cloud of smoke. She told me it was a beautiful clear day and you could almost see forever. She said my Brother Dan, a retired disabled NYC Firefighter (Line of Duty Injury), had just left heading for the WTC. She said she was OK and I hung up.
I then tried to reach out for my sons again. No luck. I called Jim Corcoran,good friend and Retired NYPD Detective. He was seating on his front deck overlooking Jamacia Bay in Breezy Point looking directly at the WTC. Jim was in early recovery from a heart attack. He said all of the off duty and retired cops and firemen in Breezy Point had left and were heading to the WTC. I asked him to keep me informed about what was happening and if he heard anything about my sons to call me.
I then started to call retired NYPD and NYFD guys I knew around Marco Island knowing that they would all want to do something. ( I am a retired NYC Detective} I suggested that for know we could start a Blood drive because I knew they would need blood. Different guys were designated to do different tasks to setup the blood drive. (We were informed latter in the day that lines to give blood had started to form by 10 AM throughout Collier County and no one was able to handle any more donors.I also found out later that they really didn,t need blood in NY because they were very few injured and most were dead)
At about 1030 AM I was able to get through to my son Ryan's Firehouse L166/Eng318 and was informad that Ryan was with the Ladder. They left quarters just before the first tower came down. The fireman I spoke to told me he was with a group of off duty firemen who went to the firehouse to get their equiptment and were ordered to stand by a cover a large area of south Brooklyn until Fire Departments from Long Island and NJ came to replace them.
Around noon I got a phone call for my son Ryan. he was with his company at the Towers. He was safe but it was bad. His cellphone was working off and on. I asked if he knew anything about his brother Mike. He said no. But was looking out for him.
Around 1pm I spoke with my Daughter in law Tina. The kids were all home from school and safe. She said Mike was home when the first plane hit the towers. He left soon after with another firefighter headind to the towers. She did not know where he was but just knew he was safe. We hung up and promised to keep in touch if we heard anything from Mike.
Mike had just graduated from the Fire Academy on Firday and was due in for his first day of work as a Firefighter on Sept 11 at 6pm at a firehouse Brooklyn. Mike had been a NYCPD Police Officer for 6 1/2 years before he entered the Fire Academy.
Awhile later I recieved a phone call from Mike. He said he was with a Capt. and 4 other firefighters in an office in one of the building next to where the towers were. They were taking a breather after spend hours in the pile searching. His small group had found no one alive. Just pieces of bodies. He said the air in the pile was terrible but he was ok. He said that when he left home after the first tower got hit he went to thee nearest Firehouse in Rockaway. Being a brand new firefighter and never having work a day in a firehouse he had all his fire equiptment with him. When he got to the firehouse he was one of only a few who had their equiptment. All the other off duty firefighter's equiptment was at their assigned firehouses. Mike was immediately ordered with three other firefighters to take a private car to a park closer into Mahattan to get bus into the WTC. When they arrived at the park they were immediately put on a bus and left for the WTC.The bus was filled with firefighters and they were the first bus heading in. Communications were terrible and no one new what to expect. On the bus there also was a priest. He stood up and they all prayered together and he gave them absolution ( Catholic like confession, forgiveness for there sins.) Just as they were approaching downtown the saw the second tower come down. He abruptly said he had to go.I quickly told him Ryan was there somewhere and I was praying for them.
I found out later that when he was talking to me they had just got a communication that building #7 was coming down. They weren't sure where they were but had a hand drawn map of the WTC area. They realized that they were very close to Bldg #7. The Capt ordered then all out of the building they were in, to head north and meet by the Woolworth Building. They headed out across the pile. He ended up with one other firefighter leaning against a building catching there breath when another firefighter ran by saying that was building #7. They took off. They were about a block away they stopped a an ambulance looking for a solution to clean out there eyes. They were having a hard time seeing. By coincidence the Ambulance was from the Breezy Point Volunteer Dept. One of only two Volunteer Fire Departments in NYC. As they were there Bldg#7 started to come down. (55 stories) Debris start to strike the ambulance and they took off running. The wind from the building coming down pushed them along as they were running. He said they did not stop running until they got to the Brooklyn Bridge.
Later that evening Nancy and I when to a quickly organized community wide Pray Service at a Marco Island Church. THe crowd at the church was overflowing outside to the parking lot. Many of th people on Marco knew that I had two sons that were NYC Firefighters.They all said a special pray for my son and prayer for evaryone else effected by terrorist act. I also remember someone in church saying that one of the stewardess on one the flights had a condo on Marco.
That night we had a very hard time getting to sleep. God Bless America
Collection
Citation
“story10608.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 10, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/8596.