Remembering 9/11 – the heroes at Ground Zero

This week is the 18th anniversary of 9/11; the attacks on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and The Pentagon. It remains the single deadliest terrorist attack in human history, resulting in the deaths of 2,996 people (2,977 were victims of the attack).

The internet is saturated with information on what happened that day and conspiracy theories about who was really behind the attack. It’s information you probably know already.

In a slightly more positive note, I want to write about some of the stories of the heroes of that tragic day. These are just some of the people (and dogs) that deserve awareness. Not all of them survived. But their actions and sacrifices helped to save lives.

Rick Rescorla

A British-born military officer, Rescorla was the head of Morgan Stanley, an investment bank with offices in building 2 and 5 of the World Trade Center (Building 2 was 2 Trade Center – or the South Tower). After the first plane crashed into 1 World Trade Center (The North Tower), Rescorla ignored the Port Authority announcement for employees to remain at their desks, and began to evacuate employees of Morgan Stanley in WTC 2 and WTC 5. As he directed people down a stairwell from the 44th floor, the second plane crashed into the South Tower. He tried to calm the people in the stairway by singing songs from his childhood in Cornwall, UK (such as ‘Men of Cornwall’, based on the Welsh song, “Men of Harlech”).

Rescorla called his wife as he evacuated the Stanley Morgan employees. His last words to her were “Stop crying. I have to get these people out safely. If something should happen to me, I want you to know I’ve never been happier. You made my life.”

After evacuating most of the Morgan Stanley employees (2,687 people worked in the offices at the time), Rescorla went back into the South Tower, telling a colleague he had to get everyone out. Rescorla was last seen heading up on the 10th floor, just before the tower collapsed. His remains were never found. He was declared dead after three weeks.

Orio Palmer

Battalion Chief Orio Palmer was a firefighter who was evacuating civilians in the South Tower. After the plane struck the South Tower, Palmer went into the building alongside Assistant Chief Donald Burns.

Most of the elevators became non-operational following the crash, but Palmer had found a working one and took it to the 41st floor – halfway to the impact zone, which spanned the 77th to the 85th floors. Palmer began to direct a group of 10 people, some badly injured, to the elevator on the 41st floor. However, it is unlikely that, even by elevator, that Palmer and the group would have had time to escape before the tower collapsed.

Palmer was incredibly fit, participating in the New York City marathon and several triathlons. He was the first FDNY member to be awarded the physical fitness award five times. Today, the FDNY physical fitness award has been renamed the Orio Palmer Memorial Fitness Award.

Welles Crowther

Welles Crowther was a volunteer firefighter, with his main career being an equities trader for Sandler O’Neill and Partners. His office was on the 104th floor of the South Tower.

After the plane struck the tower, he called his mother and left her a message: “Mom, this is Welles. I wanted you to know that I’m okay.” He descended to the 78th floor in the impact zone and met a group of survivors, some badly injured. Crowther led the survivors down 17 floors, carrying an injured woman on his back, before he went back up the stairs to help other people.

He returned to the 78th floor, finding another group before proceeding to help put out fires and provide first aid. Crowther told the group “everyone who can stand, stand now. If you can help others, do so,” before leading them downstairs as well.

Crowther went back upstairs for the last time with member of the FDNY. His body was found in March 2002, alongside firefighters and emergency workers. It is believed that Crowther saved the lives of 18 people that day. He is largely remembered as the man in the red bandana, on account of him wearing a red bandana over his nose and mouth when directing people down the stairs.

Todd Beamer

Todd Beamer was one of the passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 93. The plane was hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists and was redirected to head towards Washington D.C. Flight 93 was believed to be used to crash into the White House.

Beamer had tried to place a credit card call to his wife, but was instead routed to GTE airphone supervisor, Lisa Jefferson, and had the FBI listening in. He informed Jefferson that the plane had been hijacked, that one passenger was dead and the pilots had been killed. After the plane sharply veered south, many passengers believed that they were about to crash. Beamer and others decided to act. With other passengers, including Mark Bingham, Tom Burnett, Jeremy Glick, Beamer carried out a plan to storm the cockpit and take over the controls. His last words heard by Jefferson were “are you ready? Okay. Let’s roll.”

The plane crashed in an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 580 miles an hour.

Jason Thomas and Dave Karnes

Jason Thomas

Former Marine Sergeant Jason Thomas had been dropping his daughter off at school on Long Island when the first plane struck the North Tower. He changed into his marine uniform, which had been left in the trunk, and drove to Manhattan to help find survivors. He told the Associated Press “someone needed help. It didn’t matter who. I didn’t even have a plan. But I have all this training as a Marine, and all I could think was, ‘my city is in need.'”

Former Marine Staff Sergeant Dave Karnes was in his office in Wilton, Connecticut, when he watched the attacks unfold on television. Like Thomas, he changed into his Marine uniform and drove towards Manhattan – reportedly at 120 miles an hour.

Dave Karnes

Both Marines went about climbing over unstable metal and concrete, calling out “United States Marines! If you can hear us, yell or tap!”

Thomas returned to Ground Zero for over two weeks to help with recovering survivors, Karnes returning for nine days before going back to Connecticut. Karnes re-enlisted in the military, serving two tours of duty in Iraq. Thomas joined the air force, and was a medical technician in 2013.

Betty Ong and Amy Sweeney

Betty Ong

Betty Ong and Amy Sweeney were flight attendants aboard American Airlines Flight 11, which was flown into the North Tower. Having been pushed to the back of the plane, Ong and Sweeney used crew telephones to inform their colleagues on what was happening. They are known for their very calm demeanor, despite being in the middle of a hijacking.

Ong reportedly told her colleagues “Okay, my name is Betty Ong. I’m number three on Flight 11. And the cockpit is not answering their phone, and there’s somebody stabbed in business class, and there’s – we can’t breathe in business class. Somebody’s got mace or something.”

Amy Sweeney

Sweeney was able to tell flight service manager, Michael Woodward, the seat numbers of the hijackers and that all were of Middle Eastern descent, with one speaking English very well. With the information Sweeney relayed, American Airlines had information on the names and addresses of the hijackers – information that was useful to the FBI investigation.

Beau Doboszenski

Army Spc. Beau Doboszenski was working as a tour guide at The Pentagon when American Airlines Flight 77 was crashed into it. Despite not hearing the plane strike, Doboszenski was a trained EMT and responded to the sudden commotion. He ran around the building to the crash site.

After initially being stopped by police, Doboszenski jumped the barriers to access a medical triage station, before providing first aid to the injured. He then joined a six man team to go inside the burning building to pull out survivors.

Doboszenski survived and in 2017, he became the owner of Defensive Mindset Training.

Moira Smith

NYPD officer, Moira Smith, was the first to report the attack at World Trade Center. After witnessing Flight 11 crash into the North Tower, Smith rushed inside to assist with evacuation. After United Airlines Flight 175 was flown into the South Tower, she also helped to evacuate those stuck inside that tower too. She was last seen going inside the South Tower.

Smith was the only female NYPD officer to die in 9/11. Her body was recovered in March 2002. Her actions helped save the lives of hundreds, as remembered by survivor Martin Glynn.

“The mass of people exiting the building felt the calm assurance that they were being directed by someone in authority who was in control of the situation. Her actions even seemed ordinary, even commonplace. She insulated the evacuees from the awareness of the dangerous situation they were in, with the result that everything preceded smoothly.”

The Goodest Boys (and Girls)

It wasn’t just humans helping out one another. Search and rescue dogs also helped to find survivors (and, sadly, the dead) in the rubble. The sight of a rescue dog was considered a ray of sunshine. However, the dogs also suffered psychological strain in a manner similar to depression. Some of the dogs needed ‘cheering up’ due to finding so many dead. Emergency responders and handlers would go and hide so the dog could ‘rescue’ them in an effort to encourage them.

Here are just some of the approximately 300 dogs involved in the huge search and rescue effort.

Bretagne

Pronounced “Brit-nee”, she was the last surviving dog of 9/11. Ground Zero at World Trade Center was Bretagne’s first assignment and was in operation there for ten days. She was later deployed in search and rescue efforts following Hurricanes Rita, Katrina, and Ivan in 2005. Bretagne was retired at nine years old, and instead became a reading dog at a local elementary school in her home state of Texas. In later life, she suffered from kidney failure and was euthanized on June 7, 2016. She was 16 years old.

Appollo

Appollo was deployed with the K-9 unit of the NYPD and was the first dog at Ground Zero – just fifteen minutes after the fall of the South Tower. He was nearly killed at the scene by fire and falling debris, but was saved from burning since his fur was wet due to him falling into a pool earlier. Appollo was awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal – the highest honor for a service animal – for his services. Being a British medal, it is the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross, the highest honor for the British Armed Forces.

Sirius

Sirius is the only known K-9 fatality of 9/11. He was in his kennel in the South Tower when the North Tower was struck. His handler, Police Sergeant David Lim, told Sirius “I think we’re in a lot of trouble right now. I’ll be back for you.” Lim had assumed that he and Sirius had failed to find an explosive device in the tower.

The South Tower collapsed first, killing Sirius. The North Tower collapsed shortly after, which killed Lim when he was on the fourth floor. Both handler and dog were discovered in March 2002.

Ricky

Ricky was the smallest dog in the search and rescue effort. This was an advantage to him as he could get through smaller spaces and reach areas that the larger dogs couldn’t get to. Ricky worked for 10 days during the night.

Hansen

Hansen worked for 150 days at Ground Zero. He was able to help his handler recover the bodies of Officer John William Perry – who had been mere hours from retiring – and Sergeant Michael Curtin. Hansen was one of the later arrivals, helping out with the search effort months after the attacks.

Trakr

Along with his handler, Trakr came from Nova Scotia, Canada. Trakr found the last survivor of 9/11, Genelle Guzman-McMillan, in the remains of the North Tower 27 hours after it had collapsed. He collapsed after two days on the job due to smoke inhalation, burns, and exhaustion. He was returned to Canada to rest. However, his handler, James Symington, was not given the hero’s welcome upon his return. Symington was suspended from his police department for leaving without permission.

Jake

Despite a rough early start in life, when he was found abandoned on the street at 10 months old, Jake was adopted by Mary Flood and trained to become a rescue dog. At Ground Zero, he helped search for bodies in the rubble, serving for 17 days. Like most of the other dogs, Jake was treated as a hero. On the day he arrived, he was treated to a free steak at an upscale Manhattan restaurant. He was later deployed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In later life, Jake was used to train young prospective rescue dogs and was also a therapy dog in nursing homes in Utah.