Loose Transcript of Speech for the 9-11 Memorial

Below is a loose transcript of the speech I gave at the dedication of the 9-11 Memorial in Buena Vista this past Saturday 9/11/2021. Several people had asked for the transcript so I thought I would post it here. It will not be word-for-word what I said, but it should be pretty close:

Loose Transcript

They say the true measure of a man is often hidden, to be revealed only in the direst of circumstances – such as those that occurred this day 20 years ago.

I woke up that morning in a hotel room just outside Fort Lewis, Washington. It was about 5:45 local time but the sun was already shining thru the cracks of the curtain promising a great day for training.

I was in Ft. Lewis to conduct USAR training with some of the top FEMA k9 certified search teams in the country.

It was nearly 0900 in DC and time for me to check in and prepare for the days work

Part of my job as FEMA coordinator was giving the daily briefing where I detailed the training and provided an update on world news.

So, while I dressed, I turned on the news

What I saw was unbelievable. The news reporter was saying that an aircraft had struck one of the twin towers in New York City. I cannot believe it. Having been a pilot for almost 30 years at the time I couldn’t see how anybody could be stupid enough to run an airplane into a high rise building in the middle of New York City. Then, the reporter’s voice got shrill as he declared, “Here comes another one.” I then watched live as the second aircraft hit the second tower. At that point I knew it had been no accident, that we were under attack, and that my life and mission had changed in that moment.

About this same time, back on the east coast, NYFD Battalion Chief Ray Downey was driving to his office

Chief Downing was the commanding officer of the special operations command. At 63 years old, Downey was a 39-year veteran with the New York City fire department and probably the most decorated fireman in its history. He was also the commander of task Force One the New York City fire departments FEMA urban search and rescue team.

That’s how I knew him. Though not an especially large man, his presence filled a room. He was one of the founding founders of the Federal USAR system. Often referred to by those who knew him as the master of disaster or even God (but not to his face) Downey knew more than perhaps any man on the earth about what made buildings fall down. He was a living legend even before 911.

He could have retired years before but his vibrant physical nature, his sharp mind and his passion for rescue kept him on the job. He turned his car away from his office and headed towards downtown Manhattan where he knew the command center would be set up.

Also, about this same time, Port Authority Police Department’s Lt. David Lim was in the basement below the World Trade Center’s South Tower with his K-9 partner Sirius when he felt the building violently tremble. Thinking that a bomb may have gone off in the floors above he decided leave Sirius in his kennel and go to where he knew people would need to be rescued and cleared out of the building. But as he turned to leave something didn’t seem right. Sirius serious seemed more upset than usual at being left in the kennel. So, officer Lim turned and comforted his dog saying, “I’ll be back to get you.”

What he didn’t know is that he shortly would be trapped in the rubble of the north tower for five hours after it collapsed. When he was rescued, even though he protested that he had to go back to get his dog, he was rushed to the hospital where he would spend the next few weeks in and out of recovery.

Collapsed buildings are extremely dangerous – collapsed high rises exponentially so. So, the men and women willing to crawl over, under and through a still burning, smoking and unstable pile of rubble to rescue trapped victims must be extraordinarily brave.

These were the type of men and women that sat before me in Fort Lewis chomping at the bit to leave for their team locations to first protect their hometowns, and then prepare for an almost certain deployment to NYC.

            Communications were down so we depended on the latest technology – my text pager. And the message from FEMA HQ? Stay put and train, we are working on transportation.

So, we did, at least that day. But these are not the type of people who are good at sitting around and waiting for others help. Using rental/borrowed cars and trucks, within three days most of the teams had found their way home – one team even borrowed an unused ambulance from a local rescue company and drove it home.

After the airlines began to open back up, I was booked on the second flight out of Seattle back to BWI where I immediately deployed to the Pentagon to help monitor and supply the USAR teams already arriving to relieve the local teams that had been working for days without a break.

But there was little to do at the Pentagon, I had arrived too late. So, I was re-deployed to NYC where I would spend much of the next month working with the USAR rescue teams and hoping for survivors – with little success.

I worked mostly during the day, returning to my hotel on Times Square late at night. From there I could see out (as I remember) the 63^rd floor window of this beautiful hotel room (donated to the rescue workers) the glow coming from lower Manhattan. The glow was from the rising smoke and dust of ground zero, lit by still burning fires and disaster lights.

But Back to the morning of 9-11. Chief Downey had reached the command center and ordered it moved, and when the master of disaster says buildings are about to fall … people listen. Mayor Giuliani (who was at the command center at the time of Downey’s arrival) today credits Chief Downey with saving his life.

But there was a problem …

the command center was unable to communicate with the firefighters and policemen in the buildings. Part of the problem was that the radios in the command center were having trouble reaching inside the tall metal buildings. The second problem was that with so many agencies responding to help, that the command center did not have all the frequencies for the different units.

So chief Downey did with he had always done and ran into the buildings to save as many as he could by personally telling them that the buildings were about to fall.

The body of Chief Downey was never recovered. However, it always seemed appropriate to me that Ray would end his career riding off into the sunset – his physical essence becoming part of the city he had loved and spent his life protecting. It seemed right that our last view of him was of his craggy features, streaked with dirt and grime, in a well-worn fire helmet and turnout coat, charging into the fray with a determined scowl, his measure being taken again – and again he was meeting the challenge.

The stories of the bravery that day run into the hundreds

• Pete Ganci, a department fire Chief, was buried when the first tower collapsed. He dug himself out and re-established the command post. when the second tower fell, he did not survive.
• When the First Aircraft struck the North Tower Peter Biefeld was at a medical office in Brooklyn being treated for an injury he had sustained during a recue a few nights prior. He did not have to go to the WTC – but he jumped in his car and went anyway – he was a firefighter. Pete left a note for his family in a locker at firehouse 10, near Ground Zero. The note was not found for days after he disappeared into the WTC.
• Ray Murphy a lieutenant in Ladder 16 survived the first collapse, got up and dusted himself off and went to the second tower with his men. He did not survive when that building also collapsed.
• Chaplain Mychal Judge was one of the first responders killed on 9-11 after he followed his firefighter colleagues to the burning World Trade Center where he was crushed by debris from the South tower as he prayed in the mezzanine of the North tower for the victims and rescuers rushing by.

Each story, in its own way, is both heartbreaking and inspiring.

pause

It was three weeks before the body of Officer Lim’s dog Sirius was found – crushed in his kennel – still waiting for his handler’s return. But true to his word, Lim, although still recovering from his own injuries, returned to the site to fulfill his promise “I will be back to get you.” And although barely able to walk himself, he carried the body of Sirius from the wreckage, draped in an American flag – with a full honor escort.

I knew many of these heroes personally. They were human just like you and me. They wanted to live, to be with their families and grow old in peace. Yet when duty called, they answered.

Their true measure was revealed, and they were not found wanting.

Today, there are still those that would divide us and steal our freedom. Perhaps they believe Americans will no longer measure up.

Are they wrong?

You bet they are!