Thank you Brian Decker, in VA Beach, for a reminder about the letter I wrote him about my brother on 9/11 === A letter from a dear friend a few days after 9/11/01, To all of my friends, thank you for your concern! I didnt find out until Wednesday that my brother (NYC COP) had to run for his life, not once, but twice. With all of my military training, Never did I actually have to run for my life. I got a chance to speak with him on Thursday, after speaking with him, I could tell that he will forever be changed. After the first plane hit, he assembled with his squad and his Sergeant in Brooklyn and left for Manhattan. He arrived shortly after the second plane hit. What the papers failed to mention was that there was a massive triage set up in between the two towers. Needless to say, those people will never be seen again. He was one block from the towers, conducting crowd and traffic control, when he said the street began to tremble. Then, Windows in the neighboring buildings began to shatter. And then he saw the site which he says he cant get out of his head. The rumbling grew louder and louder, and when he faced the direction of the noise, he froze. He said it looked like 8000 foot tall tidal wave of dark gray smoke coming towards him, people screaming and running towards him. He said he saw hundreds of people disappear into the gray smoke. He turned and ran half a block, made a left and ducked into a nearby building. Then everything turned black. He couldnt see and he couldnt breathe. He said he felt like he was suffocating. He said turning off the main street saved his life. He said that the radio communications would haunt him forever. Officers screaming 10-13, 10-13 (officer down in the NYPD code). Many were dying right on the radio. After about five minutes, he linked up with his Sergeant and some officers and fought through the rubble to try and help some people. Besides visibility being near zero, all of their eyes had numerous small tears on their corneas from the debris. Anyway, back they went. Then 10 minutes later, the ground started to tremble again. He said that he couldnt believe it, here came back that tidal wave again and this time he was even closer to it. This time he didnt freeze and knew not to run straight. By the grace of God, he made it to another building, ducked inside, and went through the same feeling of suffocating again. He ended up staying on scene for another 12 hours before being ordered to go home. All of the officers who were there at that time are forbidden to go back. The department is very concerned of the trauma the officers went through. I know the good Lord was looking out for my family because hours later my brother-in-law and NYPD Sgt., had to run for his life when the third building, building seven collapsed. He also ducked into a building and bunkered down. Yet, for some reason he said something told him to move further away. He got out and ran to a further building. Afterwards, he went back to the building he first stopped at and saw that it also collapsed. Its been a crazy week. I dont know if I will be called back to active duty or not, but if I do, my Machine Gun will show no mercy. Ill write again when Im not so emotional. Be safe and God Bless America!! Rangers Lead The Way...
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 13:51:33 +0000