1 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:06,650 Yeah , mhm 2 00:00:10,040 --> 00:00:11,040 mm . 3 00:00:16,540 --> 00:00:16,860 Yeah 4 00:00:21,740 --> 00:00:24,630 my name is joe Vetri joe foreseen a my 5 00:00:24,630 --> 00:00:27,760 name is doug more john papers . I'm joe 6 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,050 see both . My name is Roselle , hence 7 00:00:31,050 --> 00:00:34,930 turn carl van floor key . I was captain 8 00:00:34,970 --> 00:00:38,250 of the dredge Macfarlane in 2000 and 9 00:00:38,250 --> 00:00:40,800 one . My name is john Przybyla . My 10 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,290 name's Dave leach . I'm currently the 11 00:00:43,290 --> 00:00:45,510 deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army 12 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:47,740 for Civil works . My name is mickey 13 00:00:47,740 --> 00:00:50,190 Malvina . My name is Colonel David Wong . 14 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:52,760 20 years ago I worked at new york 15 00:00:52,770 --> 00:00:55,580 district and I was the environmental 16 00:00:55,590 --> 00:00:59,520 analysis section chief . 20 17 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:01,740 years ago I was the Chief of emergency 18 00:01:01,740 --> 00:01:03,518 management in the Army Corps of 19 00:01:03,518 --> 00:01:05,684 Engineers , philadelphia district . 20 20 00:01:05,684 --> 00:01:07,684 years ago I was chief of the survey 21 00:01:07,684 --> 00:01:09,796 section for the philadelphia District 22 00:01:09,796 --> 00:01:11,907 Corps of Engineers during 9 11 when I 23 00:01:11,907 --> 00:01:13,684 was a captain in the Army Corps 24 00:01:13,684 --> 00:01:15,840 Engineers . As a individual 25 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:17,890 mobilization augment . E I was the 26 00:01:17,890 --> 00:01:20,410 network administrator for philadelphia 27 00:01:20,410 --> 00:01:22,700 and also an sme for north atlantic 28 00:01:22,700 --> 00:01:26,030 division when the 9 11 occurred , I was 29 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,490 the Deputy District Engineer . That's 30 00:01:29,500 --> 00:01:31,880 the philadelphia district . 20 years 31 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:34,840 ago I was the area engineer for 32 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:37,950 metropolitan new york Army Corps of 33 00:01:37,950 --> 00:01:40,250 Engineers 20 years ago . Boy we're 34 00:01:40,250 --> 00:01:42,417 going back now . So 20 years ago I was 35 00:01:42,417 --> 00:01:44,194 actually the assistant Chief of 36 00:01:44,194 --> 00:01:46,417 planning in the new york district right 37 00:01:46,417 --> 00:01:48,472 there in Manhattan a few blocks away 38 00:01:48,472 --> 00:01:50,060 from Twin Towers . 39 00:01:54,540 --> 00:01:58,290 Um the day 9 40 00:01:58,290 --> 00:02:02,050 11 uh was really 41 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:05,470 a beautiful day and I had commuted in 42 00:02:05,470 --> 00:02:07,470 early before the meeting . That was 43 00:02:07,470 --> 00:02:09,359 supposed to be held with the port 44 00:02:09,359 --> 00:02:11,600 authority . My whole recollection of 45 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:13,656 everything with 9 11 sort of started 46 00:02:13,656 --> 00:02:16,690 the day before 9 11 and on september 47 00:02:16,690 --> 00:02:19,100 10th , you know like the 11th . They 48 00:02:19,100 --> 00:02:22,550 were just too beautiful fall days in uh 49 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:24,727 you know , early fall days in new york 50 00:02:24,727 --> 00:02:27,060 city , chris clear skies , not a cloud 51 00:02:27,060 --> 00:02:29,550 in the , you know up there and weather 52 00:02:29,550 --> 00:02:31,606 just perfect . Then we were actually 53 00:02:31,606 --> 00:02:33,730 doing a helicopter inspection of the 54 00:02:33,740 --> 00:02:35,629 many of our projects with Senator 55 00:02:35,629 --> 00:02:38,750 Schumer and we were leaving and 56 00:02:38,750 --> 00:02:41,270 returning to the heliport at Wall 57 00:02:41,270 --> 00:02:43,890 Street , which is right down there by 58 00:02:43,900 --> 00:02:45,844 uh sort of on the east side by the 59 00:02:45,844 --> 00:02:48,570 towers . And as we were coming in that 60 00:02:48,570 --> 00:02:50,903 night later , much later in the evening , 61 00:02:50,903 --> 00:02:53,014 it was a beautiful sunset and we both 62 00:02:53,014 --> 00:02:54,959 remarked it , look at this view of 63 00:02:54,959 --> 00:02:57,014 lower Manhattan and how you know how 64 00:02:57,014 --> 00:02:59,126 striking it is and just the statue of 65 00:02:59,126 --> 00:03:01,292 liberty two towers everything in . And 66 00:03:01,292 --> 00:03:03,800 so It was interesting because that was 67 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:05,800 sort of the last view I ever had of 68 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:07,967 that particular skyline . I was on the 69 00:03:07,967 --> 00:03:10,780 18th floor Of 26 federal plaza in my 70 00:03:10,780 --> 00:03:14,110 office having a discussion with another 71 00:03:14,250 --> 00:03:17,680 project manager . I heard this 72 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:21,560 sound which sounds strange , but 73 00:03:21,940 --> 00:03:24,218 you know , just shook it off basically . 74 00:03:24,810 --> 00:03:26,921 And as I came to learn later that was 75 00:03:26,921 --> 00:03:29,250 the first plane impacting the World 76 00:03:29,250 --> 00:03:31,472 Trade Center . We went outside onto the 77 00:03:31,472 --> 00:03:34,320 dock and we looked across the river and 78 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:37,980 the one building was on fire and like I 79 00:03:37,990 --> 00:03:40,323 said at the time to my friends , I said , 80 00:03:40,323 --> 00:03:42,434 I have friends who are firemen in New 81 00:03:42,434 --> 00:03:44,546 york city , they're going to get that 82 00:03:44,546 --> 00:03:46,712 fire out and that building is going to 83 00:03:46,712 --> 00:03:48,823 be half occupied tomorrow . I thought 84 00:03:48,823 --> 00:03:50,879 it was no big deal . So we went back 85 00:03:50,879 --> 00:03:52,823 into the classroom . Yeah and then 86 00:03:52,823 --> 00:03:55,046 there was an unbelievable roar over the 87 00:03:55,046 --> 00:03:57,268 top of the building . It it felt like a 88 00:03:57,268 --> 00:03:59,601 plane was going to land on the building . 89 00:03:59,601 --> 00:04:01,712 And somebody outside we heard yelling 90 00:04:01,712 --> 00:04:03,823 there's another one , there's another 91 00:04:03,823 --> 00:04:06,890 one and by the time we got outside it 92 00:04:06,890 --> 00:04:10,090 didn't hit the second building But that 93 00:04:10,090 --> 00:04:13,050 one hit lower . You know the first one 94 00:04:13,060 --> 00:04:15,171 was way up high in the second most la 95 00:04:15,171 --> 00:04:17,240 la . So then we were thinking that 96 00:04:17,250 --> 00:04:19,361 something's going on here . There's a 97 00:04:19,361 --> 00:04:21,194 problem that day was pretty much 98 00:04:21,194 --> 00:04:23,361 standard day . We were sitting the new 99 00:04:23,361 --> 00:04:25,583 office uh doing the stuff . I worked in 100 00:04:25,583 --> 00:04:25,120 the office , I didn't work in the field 101 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:27,520 and I was an office guy . And as 102 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:29,576 everybody else we were following the 103 00:04:29,576 --> 00:04:32,660 news on the radio and the tv . I 104 00:04:32,660 --> 00:04:34,827 believe there was a T . V . In H . R . 105 00:04:34,827 --> 00:04:36,827 Then . Human resources I guess it's 106 00:04:36,827 --> 00:04:38,938 still called human resources . And we 107 00:04:38,938 --> 00:04:41,049 were astonished at the first plane in 108 00:04:41,049 --> 00:04:43,270 the second plane and it was this total 109 00:04:43,270 --> 00:04:45,381 devastation . Everybody's mind to try 110 00:04:45,381 --> 00:04:47,492 to figure out what's going on . I was 111 00:04:47,492 --> 00:04:49,437 on my way to a meeting at the port 112 00:04:49,437 --> 00:04:52,200 authority of new york and New Jersey On 113 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:54,480 the 72nd floor of one World Trade 114 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:58,460 Center . It's amazing . As I look back 115 00:04:58,460 --> 00:05:02,340 on it that the night before That early 116 00:05:02,340 --> 00:05:04,850 morning meeting on Tuesday September 11 117 00:05:04,860 --> 00:05:07,340 I received a phone call that asked me 118 00:05:07,340 --> 00:05:09,340 if we could push the meeting back a 119 00:05:09,340 --> 00:05:13,130 half hour from 9 to 9 30 and I agreed 120 00:05:13,130 --> 00:05:15,530 to that and then decided to come 121 00:05:15,530 --> 00:05:17,530 straight to the World Trade for the 122 00:05:17,530 --> 00:05:21,340 meeting in the morning . I was I was on 123 00:05:21,340 --> 00:05:25,050 my way up to that meeting when the 124 00:05:25,740 --> 00:05:28,970 when the planes hit and I was fortunate 125 00:05:28,980 --> 00:05:31,550 that I was in a location where I could 126 00:05:31,550 --> 00:05:34,600 escape the building on the northern 127 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,450 side and that's what I did . I ran 128 00:05:38,450 --> 00:05:40,228 out after the plane had hit the 129 00:05:40,228 --> 00:05:42,900 building and was fortunate they had 130 00:05:42,900 --> 00:05:45,067 moved the meeting from the World Trade 131 00:05:45,067 --> 00:05:47,310 Center to another location and Union 132 00:05:47,310 --> 00:05:50,830 Square because the Port Authority 133 00:05:50,830 --> 00:05:53,052 didn't have a room large enough for all 134 00:05:53,052 --> 00:05:56,860 of us at that day . Um however 135 00:05:56,860 --> 00:05:59,870 many people didn't really know that 136 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:02,270 nuance and thought we were all in the 137 00:06:02,270 --> 00:06:04,580 World Trade Center . So um my 138 00:06:04,580 --> 00:06:08,560 supervisors um my husband , 139 00:06:08,570 --> 00:06:10,710 they all thought we were in the tower 140 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:14,300 when the the tragedy occurred . I 141 00:06:14,300 --> 00:06:16,580 myself was on the street , Church 142 00:06:16,580 --> 00:06:20,060 Street . Um and I saw the first 143 00:06:20,060 --> 00:06:23,370 plane go right by in front of my eyes . 144 00:06:23,380 --> 00:06:26,800 I rounded the corner and saw it impact 145 00:06:26,810 --> 00:06:29,950 the first tower . I was 146 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:35,010 very , very upset . Um thinking 147 00:06:35,010 --> 00:06:37,520 about not only my colleagues in the 148 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:40,380 World Trade Center um but also my 149 00:06:40,380 --> 00:06:43,840 husband . So we got on on all the boats 150 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:46,007 that were there , you know , there was 151 00:06:46,940 --> 00:06:50,590 uh huh there was , you know , all the 152 00:06:50,590 --> 00:06:53,000 boats that they had a case in point 153 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:55,610 debris boats and things like that . And 154 00:06:55,620 --> 00:06:58,930 we , we started to head over towards 155 00:06:58,940 --> 00:07:02,840 Manhattan and this part gets 156 00:07:02,840 --> 00:07:05,860 angry emotions that you know everybody 157 00:07:07,140 --> 00:07:10,350 like they left their egos on the dock 158 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:13,800 and everybody said like , okay , what 159 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:15,800 are we going to do ? So nobody said 160 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:17,856 like , well I I run the biggest ship 161 00:07:17,856 --> 00:07:19,800 than you , I should be in charge . 162 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:22,160 Everybody just said like what can you 163 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:25,290 do ? And we said , well what if we find 164 00:07:25,290 --> 00:07:27,512 somebody who's hurt , what are we going 165 00:07:27,512 --> 00:07:29,512 to do ? And one guy said , look , I 166 00:07:29,512 --> 00:07:31,623 just took a two week medical course , 167 00:07:31,623 --> 00:07:33,846 okay , if you get anybody that's hurt , 168 00:07:33,846 --> 00:07:36,068 you bring them to this guy , what do we 169 00:07:36,068 --> 00:07:38,179 do if there's some body of water ? We 170 00:07:38,179 --> 00:07:40,346 said if a person is alive in the water 171 00:07:40,540 --> 00:07:42,596 we'll pick them up . And the one guy 172 00:07:42,596 --> 00:07:44,818 said , I have no problem jumping in the 173 00:07:44,818 --> 00:07:46,929 world , okay , you'll be the guy that 174 00:07:46,929 --> 00:07:49,151 goes in the water . If there was a body 175 00:07:49,151 --> 00:07:51,207 that was dead , we wouldn't take the 176 00:07:51,207 --> 00:07:53,207 time to pick them up , but we would 177 00:07:53,207 --> 00:07:55,318 definitely try to avoid them with the 178 00:07:55,318 --> 00:07:57,429 vessel . One day , we broke down here 179 00:07:57,429 --> 00:07:59,596 and uh initial forward deployment site 180 00:07:59,596 --> 00:08:01,929 was Kilmer and New Brunswick New Jersey . 181 00:08:02,340 --> 00:08:04,396 So we broke everything down here the 182 00:08:04,396 --> 00:08:06,507 next day , packed up in a band , went 183 00:08:06,507 --> 00:08:10,020 to Kilmer , stood up there and within a 184 00:08:10,030 --> 00:08:12,150 day or so of being there . 185 00:08:12,540 --> 00:08:16,340 They , because fema made its forward 186 00:08:16,350 --> 00:08:19,230 location , Pier 90 up in New York 187 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,350 Manhattan . So we broke everything down 188 00:08:22,350 --> 00:08:26,060 and then things were crazy . Then uh 189 00:08:26,070 --> 00:08:28,292 everybody's still exiting New york city 190 00:08:28,292 --> 00:08:30,640 on the ground transportation was almost 191 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:32,696 impossible to get in and out of city 192 00:08:32,696 --> 00:08:35,550 easily . So the easiest way to go was 193 00:08:35,560 --> 00:08:38,890 by a boat , get up the Pier 90 . So 194 00:08:38,900 --> 00:08:42,220 what we did is myself and uh I teach 195 00:08:42,220 --> 00:08:44,360 you for the time we drove up , I 196 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:46,530 believe was on the 15th was the first 197 00:08:46,540 --> 00:08:50,250 day we went to Manhattan and we drove 198 00:08:50,250 --> 00:08:52,361 up to New york district field site in 199 00:08:52,361 --> 00:08:55,190 cave in point in New Jersey and got on 200 00:08:55,190 --> 00:08:58,600 a tugboat and we went up the Hudson , 201 00:08:58,750 --> 00:09:02,520 get up to 90 . And to me , this is what 202 00:09:02,530 --> 00:09:05,430 my The strongest recollection I have 203 00:09:05,430 --> 00:09:09,210 from the whole response to 9-11 was the 204 00:09:09,210 --> 00:09:11,450 sun still is another beautiful clear 205 00:09:11,450 --> 00:09:13,620 day and the sun was coming up on the 206 00:09:13,620 --> 00:09:16,220 Hudson , run the tugboat , pulling up 207 00:09:16,230 --> 00:09:20,130 the Hudson and we pass the twin 208 00:09:20,130 --> 00:09:22,530 towers and they're still to see the 209 00:09:22,530 --> 00:09:25,010 skeleton and the wreckage of it still 210 00:09:25,010 --> 00:09:27,350 smoldering coming up and the sun come 211 00:09:27,350 --> 00:09:29,517 up in the river , It was so surreal at 212 00:09:29,517 --> 00:09:31,572 the time , I still will never forget 213 00:09:31,572 --> 00:09:35,370 that I deployed to ground zero myself 214 00:09:35,370 --> 00:09:37,370 and three other surveyors . We were 215 00:09:37,370 --> 00:09:39,537 actually deployed On the south side of 216 00:09:39,537 --> 00:09:41,703 the South Tower , right at ground zero 217 00:09:41,703 --> 00:09:44,250 for the duration of our stay . We were 218 00:09:44,940 --> 00:09:46,996 we were deployed from Fort Mifflin , 219 00:09:46,996 --> 00:09:49,550 took our survey gear , drove to cave in 220 00:09:49,550 --> 00:09:51,810 point at the new york district on the 221 00:09:51,810 --> 00:09:54,400 Jersey side in Bayonne took a boat over 222 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:58,200 to the island and Manhattan And then 223 00:09:58,210 --> 00:10:01,510 walk to ground zero . Within a mere 224 00:10:01,510 --> 00:10:05,280 24 hours , I was able to get back to 225 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:07,920 the site of the World Trade Center as a 226 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:09,864 representative of the U . S . Army 227 00:10:09,864 --> 00:10:11,810 Corps of Engineers and to start 228 00:10:11,810 --> 00:10:15,430 assisting with the response and rescue 229 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,520 and recovery operations . Uh Within a 230 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:20,980 few days , the chief of Engineers asked 231 00:10:20,980 --> 00:10:23,300 if I'd serve as the liaison to the city 232 00:10:23,300 --> 00:10:26,690 of new york for the response to which I 233 00:10:26,700 --> 00:10:30,130 absolutely agreed immediately and I set 234 00:10:30,130 --> 00:10:33,540 off working with all of our local state 235 00:10:33,550 --> 00:10:36,910 and federal partners to effectuate as 236 00:10:36,910 --> 00:10:40,250 best we could the rescue and recovery 237 00:10:40,250 --> 00:10:42,810 operations . And quite frankly it was 238 00:10:42,810 --> 00:10:45,050 an incredible effort by many , many 239 00:10:45,050 --> 00:10:48,140 individuals , many agencies and I was 240 00:10:48,140 --> 00:10:50,084 proud to be a part of it because I 241 00:10:50,084 --> 00:10:53,050 think in the end the human spirit was 242 00:10:53,060 --> 00:10:56,160 significant and we did great work um 243 00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:59,770 on behalf of all involved , including 244 00:10:59,770 --> 00:11:03,420 being very respectful and dutiful in 245 00:11:03,420 --> 00:11:07,100 our methods and our operations to those 246 00:11:07,100 --> 00:11:10,020 who perished that day . We ended up 247 00:11:10,030 --> 00:11:12,790 supporting fema for debris monitoring 248 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:16,110 on site at the time . New york city had 249 00:11:16,110 --> 00:11:18,221 determined that they were going to do 250 00:11:18,221 --> 00:11:20,388 the recovery the debris and everything 251 00:11:20,388 --> 00:11:22,721 else via their contractors and what not . 252 00:11:22,721 --> 00:11:24,888 It was a very personal matter for them 253 00:11:24,888 --> 00:11:26,832 and that's okay . Um so we provide 254 00:11:26,832 --> 00:11:28,999 support to fema directly in the debris 255 00:11:28,999 --> 00:11:31,370 monitoring just on site , uh equipment 256 00:11:31,370 --> 00:11:33,950 checks , what's working , what's not um 257 00:11:33,950 --> 00:11:36,200 safety . We had no authority per se , 258 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:38,470 but just take notes , kind of the eyes 259 00:11:38,470 --> 00:11:41,860 and ears on the ground for fema and um 260 00:11:42,340 --> 00:11:45,060 uh just overall , just walking around 261 00:11:45,060 --> 00:11:48,040 the areas how debris operations were 262 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:50,840 going in general , making notes and 263 00:11:50,850 --> 00:11:54,320 reporting back to female . So I 264 00:11:54,330 --> 00:11:57,000 remember a couple of things when we 265 00:11:57,000 --> 00:11:59,960 were pushed in there taking on people 266 00:12:00,340 --> 00:12:02,690 remember a little boy getting on board 267 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:05,327 and I said , how are you doing buddy ? 268 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:09,760 And he said , I'm really scared . Yeah , 269 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:14,110 so I said to him , that's all right . 270 00:12:14,110 --> 00:12:15,750 I'm really scared to 271 00:12:20,740 --> 00:12:24,380 to some kid , one of the baseball hat 272 00:12:24,380 --> 00:12:26,547 with his parents probably going to the 273 00:12:26,547 --> 00:12:28,150 statue of liberty . Mhm . 274 00:12:30,340 --> 00:12:32,451 You know , it was interesting because 275 00:12:32,451 --> 00:12:34,507 the first day when I went down there 276 00:12:34,507 --> 00:12:36,562 and I got my badges and everything , 277 00:12:36,562 --> 00:12:38,451 they had set up a temporary field 278 00:12:38,451 --> 00:12:42,450 office over on the uh on the west side , 279 00:12:42,460 --> 00:12:45,060 over on the piers , the old passenger 280 00:12:45,060 --> 00:12:47,060 ship terminal , they set up a field 281 00:12:47,060 --> 00:12:49,227 office in there and I show up in there 282 00:12:49,227 --> 00:12:51,393 and it's just like a hub of activity . 283 00:12:51,393 --> 00:12:53,393 There's thousands of people running 284 00:12:53,393 --> 00:12:55,560 around as fema people , City people is 285 00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:57,616 just cops and firemen . It it's just 286 00:12:57,616 --> 00:13:01,510 pure chaos and um so I get in there , I 287 00:13:01,510 --> 00:13:03,677 get all , you know , all the different 288 00:13:03,677 --> 00:13:05,788 necessary badges , You have different 289 00:13:05,788 --> 00:13:07,954 badges every day . They were changed . 290 00:13:07,954 --> 00:13:10,177 They have different color codes on them 291 00:13:10,177 --> 00:13:09,320 that allowed you to go to different , 292 00:13:09,330 --> 00:13:12,180 different parts of the site because of 293 00:13:12,180 --> 00:13:15,090 the job that I was yet to find out 294 00:13:15,090 --> 00:13:17,201 about . I got this badge that allowed 295 00:13:17,201 --> 00:13:19,312 me to go right down to the very heart 296 00:13:19,312 --> 00:13:21,534 of , of ground zero . And I was looking 297 00:13:21,534 --> 00:13:23,479 at it because I was looking at the 298 00:13:23,479 --> 00:13:23,350 color codes and that again , I still 299 00:13:23,350 --> 00:13:25,517 don't really even know what my role is 300 00:13:25,517 --> 00:13:27,910 going to be . So I got pulled aside by 301 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:30,280 uh , some leadership from the core who 302 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:32,870 actually had flown in and um , they 303 00:13:32,870 --> 00:13:35,250 said , you know , we understand you , 304 00:13:35,260 --> 00:13:37,482 you know , you have a good relationship 305 00:13:37,482 --> 00:13:39,538 again with a lot of the members we'd 306 00:13:39,538 --> 00:13:41,482 like you to help with facilitating 307 00:13:41,482 --> 00:13:43,730 congressional visits and dignitary 308 00:13:43,730 --> 00:13:45,897 visits down to ground zero . Hence the 309 00:13:45,897 --> 00:13:48,470 reason for the badge that I had . Um , 310 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:50,591 you know , at that point , I think of 311 00:13:50,591 --> 00:13:52,702 myself , well what am I gonna do be a 312 00:13:52,702 --> 00:13:54,758 tour guide ? I was like a little bit 313 00:13:54,758 --> 00:13:54,230 sort of miffed about it . I thought , 314 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:56,462 you know , I would want to get in there 315 00:13:56,462 --> 00:13:58,573 and start doing some of the work that 316 00:13:58,573 --> 00:13:58,490 we've been trained for debris removal 317 00:13:58,490 --> 00:14:00,490 etcetera . And then all of a sudden 318 00:14:00,490 --> 00:14:02,434 something clicked in my head and I 319 00:14:02,434 --> 00:14:04,490 realized I'm a native new yorker . I 320 00:14:04,490 --> 00:14:06,601 grew up in the Bronx and I said , you 321 00:14:06,601 --> 00:14:08,768 know what , this is a story that needs 322 00:14:08,768 --> 00:14:10,879 to be told and it needs to be told to 323 00:14:10,879 --> 00:14:12,823 the people who have the ability to 324 00:14:12,823 --> 00:14:12,810 influence in particular outcome . And 325 00:14:12,810 --> 00:14:15,110 those people are those very dignitary , 326 00:14:15,110 --> 00:14:16,888 those members of Congress , the 327 00:14:16,888 --> 00:14:18,900 Secretary of Defense , the deputy 328 00:14:18,900 --> 00:14:21,122 Assistant Secretary of defense . And so 329 00:14:21,122 --> 00:14:24,200 for the next uh well many months , 330 00:14:24,210 --> 00:14:26,390 that's basically what I did . I took 331 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:28,560 high level dignitaries all the way up 332 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:31,280 Up to the White House , down to ground 333 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:33,058 zero . I walked them around . I 334 00:14:33,058 --> 00:14:35,169 explained to him about what was going 335 00:14:35,169 --> 00:14:37,391 on and sort of the operations that were 336 00:14:37,391 --> 00:14:39,391 taking place , the role of the core 337 00:14:39,391 --> 00:14:41,613 fema and others that were in there . So 338 00:14:41,613 --> 00:14:43,669 on the following day on September 12 339 00:14:43,669 --> 00:14:46,070 were preparing to get ready to receive 340 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:48,670 any uses responders because at the time 341 00:14:48,670 --> 00:14:51,003 we have structure engineers , surveyors , 342 00:14:51,003 --> 00:14:53,003 other support staff that we need to 343 00:14:53,003 --> 00:14:54,948 come in . So basically will be the 344 00:14:54,948 --> 00:14:57,030 logistic support to , to making sure 345 00:14:57,030 --> 00:14:59,630 that people already coming in from army 346 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:01,780 engineers to go down to support to 347 00:15:01,780 --> 00:15:05,060 ground zero . Later that day , General 348 00:15:05,060 --> 00:15:07,580 Flowers who was the chief engineers at 349 00:15:07,580 --> 00:15:10,350 the time made me the senior civilian 350 00:15:10,350 --> 00:15:12,128 for the response . So I was the 351 00:15:12,128 --> 00:15:14,461 incident of civilian incident commander . 352 00:15:14,461 --> 00:15:16,628 So it was a project manager working on 353 00:15:16,628 --> 00:15:18,794 the harbor deepening . And I wanted to 354 00:15:18,794 --> 00:15:20,628 help in any way . And I remember 355 00:15:20,628 --> 00:15:22,628 calling the colonel at the time was 356 00:15:22,628 --> 00:15:25,670 kernel of doubt And I was sent to work 357 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:28,650 at as an action officer at Pier 84 on 358 00:15:28,650 --> 00:15:31,640 the west side . And it was a basically , 359 00:15:31,650 --> 00:15:34,110 all sorts of federal agencies were 360 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:37,730 operating out of those areas , fema , 361 00:15:37,740 --> 00:15:41,170 whatever the Corps of Engineers and my 362 00:15:41,170 --> 00:15:43,450 responsibility at that time was to keep 363 00:15:43,460 --> 00:15:45,550 track of all the individuals that we 364 00:15:45,550 --> 00:15:47,717 were bringing in throughout the core . 365 00:15:47,717 --> 00:15:50,050 Okay . Whether it was search and rescue , 366 00:15:50,050 --> 00:15:52,217 whether it was thermal imaging folks , 367 00:15:52,217 --> 00:15:54,640 because if you may recall it was a 368 00:15:54,650 --> 00:15:57,720 tremendous fire going on , okay . I 369 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:00,600 mean , really hot fire and what we had 370 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:02,544 wanted to do , at least one of the 371 00:16:02,544 --> 00:16:04,711 things that the core was attempting to 372 00:16:04,711 --> 00:16:07,070 do was to map to see where potential we 373 00:16:07,070 --> 00:16:09,380 may have a possibility of some 374 00:16:09,380 --> 00:16:12,700 survivors and where the hotspots were . 375 00:16:13,140 --> 00:16:15,710 We also had uh , you know , search and 376 00:16:15,710 --> 00:16:17,932 rescue folks go in to see the stability 377 00:16:17,932 --> 00:16:20,099 of the structure , see where there may 378 00:16:20,099 --> 00:16:22,266 be a potential signs of life for , for 379 00:16:22,266 --> 00:16:24,377 rescue versus you know what it turned 380 00:16:24,377 --> 00:16:26,540 out to be later recovery . So I was 381 00:16:26,540 --> 00:16:29,110 tracking all those individuals also 382 00:16:29,110 --> 00:16:32,130 going down to the pit itself and 383 00:16:32,130 --> 00:16:34,408 ensuring that the construction workers , 384 00:16:34,408 --> 00:16:36,463 whoever was there was wearing proper 385 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:39,260 gear because that became a big deal as 386 00:16:39,260 --> 00:16:41,371 far as trying to force people to keep 387 00:16:41,371 --> 00:16:43,482 those masks on because we didn't know 388 00:16:43,482 --> 00:16:46,780 what was emanating from that site . Our 389 00:16:46,780 --> 00:16:49,350 role was to monitor the remains of the 390 00:16:49,350 --> 00:16:51,700 high steel that was left from the 391 00:16:51,700 --> 00:16:54,360 towers and the steel that was embedded 392 00:16:54,740 --> 00:16:57,160 and the adjacent structures and to 393 00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:58,771 monitor those with surveying 394 00:16:58,771 --> 00:17:01,049 instruments . While the rescue workers , 395 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:04,580 we pretty much arrived there five days 396 00:17:04,590 --> 00:17:06,701 after the Tuesday that had happened . 397 00:17:06,701 --> 00:17:08,757 So we were pretty much at the rescue 398 00:17:08,757 --> 00:17:11,310 that rick and recovery stages . So our 399 00:17:11,310 --> 00:17:13,477 job was to make sure the steel was not 400 00:17:13,477 --> 00:17:15,588 moving above the rescue workers . And 401 00:17:15,588 --> 00:17:18,590 if it was 22 give the information to 402 00:17:18,590 --> 00:17:20,610 the rescue workers , that piece of 403 00:17:20,610 --> 00:17:23,090 steel over x location was moving so 404 00:17:23,090 --> 00:17:25,800 they could be aware of it . So we were 405 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:28,670 there to support region three 406 00:17:29,340 --> 00:17:31,820 uh and to assume any missions that the 407 00:17:31,820 --> 00:17:34,320 Corps of Engineers might have . Um I 408 00:17:34,330 --> 00:17:37,210 believe I was there maybe four or five 409 00:17:37,220 --> 00:17:39,053 days and then I came back to the 410 00:17:39,053 --> 00:17:40,998 philadelphia district , serving as 411 00:17:40,998 --> 00:17:44,210 chief and overseeing the um logistical 412 00:17:44,220 --> 00:17:47,370 operations and what eventually morphed 413 00:17:47,380 --> 00:17:51,040 to Pure 90 in New York to support our 414 00:17:51,150 --> 00:17:55,030 incoming responders . We initially 415 00:17:55,030 --> 00:17:58,580 set up a i disposal 416 00:17:58,580 --> 00:18:00,370 transfer station right in lower 417 00:18:00,370 --> 00:18:04,300 Manhattan to receive barges as they 418 00:18:04,300 --> 00:18:07,860 took material off of the debris pile . 419 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,660 That was actually the initial effort 420 00:18:11,670 --> 00:18:14,720 that we participated in and we were 421 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:18,520 subsequently requested through 422 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:21,630 fema . Through the emergency response 423 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:24,550 sF protocols . 424 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:28,860 Two set up the 425 00:18:29,740 --> 00:18:32,820 what I call the recovery 426 00:18:32,820 --> 00:18:35,480 operation up at Staten Island . Our 427 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:38,770 mission varied for example . Um 428 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:42,062 We were runners , whatever needed to be 429 00:18:42,062 --> 00:18:44,370 done , john we need air horns for this 430 00:18:44,380 --> 00:18:46,491 urban search and rescue crews because 431 00:18:46,491 --> 00:18:48,547 they needed to say all stop , listen 432 00:18:48,547 --> 00:18:52,130 for noise , listen or binoculars 433 00:18:52,140 --> 00:18:54,251 because they needed to look up at the 434 00:18:54,251 --> 00:18:56,473 buildings around us . For example , the 435 00:18:56,650 --> 00:18:58,980 Verizon building had this huge beams 436 00:18:58,980 --> 00:19:01,410 skewered through it . We didn't know 437 00:19:01,410 --> 00:19:03,577 whether these things are going to come 438 00:19:03,577 --> 00:19:05,521 down on people . So you needed the 439 00:19:05,521 --> 00:19:07,632 combination of the vision and the air 440 00:19:07,632 --> 00:19:09,760 horns to announce all stop or seek 441 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:13,540 shelter . What I did was a lot of sit 442 00:19:13,540 --> 00:19:17,240 wraps uh for the management team . 443 00:19:17,250 --> 00:19:19,830 When the team did arrive in new york 444 00:19:19,830 --> 00:19:21,719 city they cannot communicate with 445 00:19:21,719 --> 00:19:23,830 headquarters . So I did for the first 446 00:19:23,830 --> 00:19:26,820 two weeks a lot of relaying information 447 00:19:26,820 --> 00:19:30,480 from on site at ground zero to 448 00:19:30,490 --> 00:19:33,560 um headquarters . You O . C . And then 449 00:19:33,740 --> 00:19:35,970 return the information back to the 450 00:19:35,970 --> 00:19:39,750 detox units . But otherwise I was 451 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:41,982 keeping an eye on the rest of the units 452 00:19:41,982 --> 00:19:44,150 keeping the program running while are 453 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:46,271 met . The rest of the management team 454 00:19:46,271 --> 00:19:49,000 was up in new york handling the the 455 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,380 response there . I went home it was my 456 00:19:52,380 --> 00:19:56,130 birthday that weekend and uh then I 457 00:19:56,130 --> 00:19:59,350 came back a couple of days later and I 458 00:19:59,350 --> 00:20:02,360 came into cave in point and they had uh 459 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:05,080 You know they needed help . Uh they 460 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:07,390 wanted to run their boats 24 hours a 461 00:20:07,390 --> 00:20:09,501 day so we filled in the gaps for them 462 00:20:09,501 --> 00:20:11,723 so that they can run the boats 24 hours 463 00:20:11,723 --> 00:20:13,668 a day . And you know we were doing 464 00:20:13,668 --> 00:20:15,890 different jobs and moving people across 465 00:20:15,890 --> 00:20:18,310 the river and uh you know equipment and 466 00:20:18,310 --> 00:20:20,366 stuff like that . And I stayed there 467 00:20:20,366 --> 00:20:23,390 for about a week . Um I worked on some 468 00:20:23,390 --> 00:20:26,880 of the environmental um um 469 00:20:26,890 --> 00:20:29,320 clearance is needed for dredging to 470 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:33,260 allow barges to come in closer to the 471 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:36,310 towers to remove the debris and take it 472 00:20:36,310 --> 00:20:39,480 to fresh kills in Staten Island where 473 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:41,950 it was sorted and processed . And 474 00:20:42,340 --> 00:20:44,284 apparently now they've turned that 475 00:20:44,284 --> 00:20:47,420 debris into a navy battleship . I just 476 00:20:47,420 --> 00:20:50,770 saw yesterday in the news . So 477 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,210 that's , that's really my involvement 478 00:20:54,220 --> 00:20:56,810 with 9 11 and I worked with many 479 00:20:56,810 --> 00:20:59,780 colleagues who were much more involved 480 00:20:59,780 --> 00:21:02,720 with the actual site and , and the 481 00:21:02,730 --> 00:21:04,841 recovery and , and the work that went 482 00:21:04,841 --> 00:21:06,840 on there and we all supported each 483 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:08,896 other as a team , which is something 484 00:21:08,896 --> 00:21:11,007 the Corps of Engineers does very well 485 00:21:11,007 --> 00:21:13,240 because it took a toll on all of us . 486 00:21:13,250 --> 00:21:15,390 Um , just knowing what we were doing 487 00:21:15,390 --> 00:21:17,660 and what had happened and I started 488 00:21:17,670 --> 00:21:20,250 assisting the commander from New 489 00:21:20,250 --> 00:21:23,060 England Districts as his operations 490 00:21:23,060 --> 00:21:26,070 officer . We basically established a 491 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:29,510 task force working out of the disaster 492 00:21:29,510 --> 00:21:32,290 field office . We literally went 493 00:21:32,290 --> 00:21:36,270 through every , every , I'm going 494 00:21:36,270 --> 00:21:39,750 to say , out of debris that come out of 495 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:43,390 ground zero and we set up 496 00:21:43,390 --> 00:21:45,501 searching fields , We set up conveyor 497 00:21:45,501 --> 00:21:49,460 belts and ultimately every , every 498 00:21:49,940 --> 00:21:53,940 piece of material ultimately went 499 00:21:53,940 --> 00:21:56,370 across the conveyor belt , looking 500 00:21:56,380 --> 00:22:00,320 again for bone fragments for uh , 501 00:22:00,330 --> 00:22:02,640 bring something that could bring 502 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:04,960 closure to families . Okay . At that 503 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:06,738 point , there were certainly no 504 00:22:06,738 --> 00:22:09,940 survivors . So it was a very difficult 505 00:22:09,950 --> 00:22:13,370 place to be working . But again , I saw 506 00:22:13,370 --> 00:22:16,270 the teamwork and I saw the partnerships 507 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:20,200 and I saw the great efforts of all 508 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:23,880 involved to work hard to try to 509 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:27,350 find uh individuals who were lost at 510 00:22:27,350 --> 00:22:31,070 the time and to uh , to start the long 511 00:22:31,070 --> 00:22:34,190 road to the recovery of the site at 512 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:36,640 that moment in time . At the start of 9 513 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:40,640 11 , we were kind of a little Divergent 514 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:42,862 from what I saw a country to be , but 9 515 00:22:42,862 --> 00:22:45,830 11 other than the horrific event that 516 00:22:45,830 --> 00:22:47,886 happened by a limited number of very 517 00:22:47,886 --> 00:22:49,997 bad people . I saw our country coming 518 00:22:49,997 --> 00:22:52,230 together , every aspect that I saw when 519 00:22:52,230 --> 00:22:54,470 I was in new york city . It was amazing 520 00:22:54,750 --> 00:22:56,750 that people were doing . Even as we 521 00:22:56,750 --> 00:22:58,806 drove down along the Hudson river to 522 00:22:58,806 --> 00:23:00,917 the work site , they were handing out 523 00:23:00,917 --> 00:23:02,694 Gatorade t shirts , underwear , 524 00:23:02,694 --> 00:23:04,917 cigarettes , candy , regular people and 525 00:23:04,917 --> 00:23:07,083 just thanking us for going there . And 526 00:23:07,083 --> 00:23:09,194 once you got there , what you saw the 527 00:23:09,194 --> 00:23:11,528 efforts of the people , they were there , 528 00:23:11,528 --> 00:23:13,806 the police , the firemen , ironworkers , 529 00:23:13,806 --> 00:23:15,806 you would see people in a line with 530 00:23:15,806 --> 00:23:18,028 buckets at nighttime removing debris by 531 00:23:18,028 --> 00:23:20,139 hand and it just impressed me so much 532 00:23:20,139 --> 00:23:23,050 how strong our country was at that 533 00:23:23,050 --> 00:23:25,106 moment time and how we weren't gonna 534 00:23:25,106 --> 00:23:27,328 let nobody kick our , but we were going 535 00:23:27,328 --> 00:23:30,310 to do the opposite and survive . And 536 00:23:30,310 --> 00:23:33,160 that's what We did because I had been a 537 00:23:33,170 --> 00:23:36,750 victim of the 93 attacks . I had 538 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:39,260 been working a half day that day and it 539 00:23:39,260 --> 00:23:41,482 was walking towards the garage at lunch 540 00:23:41,482 --> 00:23:43,482 time to go home when the truck bomb 541 00:23:43,482 --> 00:23:45,704 went off because my car had been parked 542 00:23:45,704 --> 00:23:48,360 there that morning because I had gone 543 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:51,050 through that trauma and the reality of 544 00:23:51,050 --> 00:23:53,310 the world had changed . It was easier 545 00:23:53,310 --> 00:23:55,421 for me to respond quickly those first 546 00:23:55,421 --> 00:23:59,120 few days and then over time as I saw 547 00:23:59,130 --> 00:24:02,030 Manhattan and I saw the devastation and 548 00:24:02,030 --> 00:24:04,086 the loss of the towers including the 549 00:24:04,086 --> 00:24:06,360 building tower to where I had started 550 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:09,090 my career as an engineer years before 551 00:24:09,100 --> 00:24:11,044 it started to settle in and how my 552 00:24:11,044 --> 00:24:13,110 Children's futures were completely 553 00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:15,176 changed . As was everyone's at the , 554 00:24:15,176 --> 00:24:17,860 from going forward over the trailers , 555 00:24:17,860 --> 00:24:20,410 over at the fresh kills landfill and 556 00:24:20,410 --> 00:24:22,577 there were buckets , you know , like a 557 00:24:22,577 --> 00:24:24,577 bait bucket , five gallon buckets , 558 00:24:24,577 --> 00:24:27,030 hundreds of buckets filled with id 559 00:24:27,030 --> 00:24:29,380 cards , credit cards . Now , mind you , 560 00:24:29,380 --> 00:24:31,491 they were looking for human remains . 561 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:33,640 They were , they were searching for 562 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:35,529 everything through everything you 563 00:24:35,529 --> 00:24:37,751 couldn't find an office chair , but you 564 00:24:37,751 --> 00:24:40,070 could find thousands and thousands of 565 00:24:40,070 --> 00:24:42,280 these plastic cards that folks and 566 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:44,391 every one of those cards was attached 567 00:24:44,391 --> 00:24:46,980 to a person and , and a person who had 568 00:24:46,980 --> 00:24:49,590 a story and a family . And to me that 569 00:24:49,590 --> 00:24:52,640 was one of the more striking um , sort 570 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:56,380 of visual uh , you know , objects that 571 00:24:56,380 --> 00:24:58,658 I that I witnessed at that time , like , 572 00:24:58,658 --> 00:25:00,880 oh my God , just the sheer magnitude of 573 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:03,047 this one . You've got to that personal 574 00:25:03,047 --> 00:25:05,102 level . The other item was the walls 575 00:25:05,102 --> 00:25:07,158 that were created , these , these uh 576 00:25:07,158 --> 00:25:09,440 missing person walls that were created 577 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:12,170 on , on almost every structure that was 578 00:25:12,170 --> 00:25:14,281 down close to ground zero , missing , 579 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:16,710 you know , mother of three , that a 580 00:25:16,710 --> 00:25:18,932 little bit of a history of the family . 581 00:25:18,932 --> 00:25:21,099 Um , and then people would leave , you 582 00:25:21,099 --> 00:25:23,210 know , little teddy bears and dolls . 583 00:25:23,210 --> 00:25:25,321 And so it's like things you see today 584 00:25:25,321 --> 00:25:25,150 when it's usually tragedy , but the 585 00:25:25,150 --> 00:25:27,530 scale and the magnitude of this 586 00:25:27,530 --> 00:25:31,080 particular disaster in that very 587 00:25:31,090 --> 00:25:33,780 concentrated place and that's the key 588 00:25:33,780 --> 00:25:36,650 part to it . It was just in this little 589 00:25:36,660 --> 00:25:38,830 concentrated place . The sheer 590 00:25:38,830 --> 00:25:40,663 magnitude of the destruction and 591 00:25:40,663 --> 00:25:42,870 despair and anguish for all of those 592 00:25:42,870 --> 00:25:45,090 families . And that made me even more 593 00:25:45,090 --> 00:25:47,257 serious about the job that I was doing 594 00:25:47,257 --> 00:25:49,368 because I felt like again there was a 595 00:25:49,368 --> 00:25:51,550 story here , there was a dimension to 596 00:25:51,550 --> 00:25:53,661 this and it had to be taken just from 597 00:25:53,661 --> 00:25:55,717 the fact that they were terrorists , 598 00:25:55,717 --> 00:25:57,439 but take it back to that human 599 00:25:57,439 --> 00:25:59,550 dimension of the loss and the anguish 600 00:25:59,550 --> 00:26:01,661 for all of these families . I like to 601 00:26:01,661 --> 00:26:03,939 think I did a pretty good job about it . 602 00:26:03,939 --> 00:26:05,939 And convincing people really , what 603 00:26:05,939 --> 00:26:08,050 really happened here . Uh New york is 604 00:26:08,050 --> 00:26:10,272 uh is a tough place . I mean , let's be 605 00:26:10,272 --> 00:26:12,328 honest , it really is . But never in 606 00:26:12,328 --> 00:26:14,383 all my years being a city kid have I 607 00:26:14,383 --> 00:26:16,600 witnessed a city come together , like 608 00:26:16,610 --> 00:26:18,560 what happened here , the Corps of 609 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:22,040 Engineers role are supplying of 610 00:26:22,050 --> 00:26:25,040 materials and manpower and folks and 611 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:27,900 our ability to work across agencies . 612 00:26:27,900 --> 00:26:30,210 And then the commitment of the city of 613 00:26:30,210 --> 00:26:33,080 new york and you know , uh say what you 614 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:35,250 may . Um it was a really good 615 00:26:35,250 --> 00:26:37,417 collection of people at the right time 616 00:26:37,417 --> 00:26:39,361 for the right reasons doing really 617 00:26:39,361 --> 00:26:41,150 God's work . And I have to give 618 00:26:41,150 --> 00:26:42,206 everybody credit , 619 00:26:53,340 --> 00:26:55,670 mm . Yeah . 620 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:01,840 Yeah .