story4968.xml

story4968.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I was an NYPD Narcotics Detective, assigned to Election Duty for the day as it was the New York State Primary in an elementary school. When you work Election Duty you don't carry a radio as Detectives are generally not assigned in an area where we work. At about 9 am a man wearing a Walkman came in to vote and commented to me "Damn shame about the World Trade Center." It was the first indication I had that anything was wrong. I tried to call my command via my cellular phone, but couldn't make the connection. I used an office phone and called my Watch Commander, who told me what happened. At that point, both buildings had been hit, but were still standing. I told the Board of Election employees what had happened and one of the ladies, who was a lay minister, started praying. A short time later we learned that the Towers had collapsed. My brother worked two blocks from the Towers, and I could only pray that he was okay; he's just the type of person to run into a burning building to help people. I called and left a message on his answering machine that I was okay, that my cell phone didn't work, and asked that he leave a message on my home machine. I tried to call my Aunt in Florida, but couldn't get through, so I called my neighbor and asked her to call my Aunt; my neighbor's brother was a Fire Dept. Batallion Chief and a number of her nephews were firefighters. She already knew that they were all at the site. She agreed to call my Aunt, who I knew in turn would call my other brother who lives in France. They cancelled the elections and I and a number of other officers from my command went to the nearest Police Precinct to report for duty. We were held there until 1 am and ordered to report to our true commands at 5 am. When I got home there were messages from both my brothers and my Aunt. All of them said the same thing: we love you. We thank god you're safe. Do what you have to do and call us when you can.

Two of my co-workers lost brothers - Det. Joe Paolillo lost Batallion Chief John Paolillo and Det. Letty Mojica lost Firefighter Manny Mojica. My friend, P.O. Annette Torress lost her boyfriend, P.O. Santos Valentine; they have only been able to identify a small part of his remains, but it is something for Annette and his family. The hardest loss was P.O. Walwyn Stuart; he served 20 years with the NYPD, retiring as a Narcotics Detective. Quiet, soft spoken, funny and deeply religious, he went to work for the Port Authority PD when he left the NYPD.