As a newly trained firefighter, Minogue was taking his first vacation day when he saw Flight 11 crash into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. He grabbed his uniform and told his wife, “I’m going to work. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.” 

Minogue watched the towers fall as he drove along Grand Central Parkway. After arriving at the firehouse in Corona, Queens, Minogue was dispatched to Ground Zero. When his company got to the Twin Towers, “Everything just stopped in time. We walked through the glass and we saw the pit. We saw the World Trade Center.” 

Minogue said it was like a scene from a movie, with so much ash falling that it was almost black. He noticed how bizarre the rest of his company looked, 

“They were just covered, like somebody opened a bag of flour and dropped it on them,” he said.“Their eyelids were caked with it.” 

Three days later, Minogue’s role with the fire department changed. With 343 firefighters lost on September 11th, they needed someone to play taps, the 35 second song played by a single trumpet at the end of service member’s funerals. 

 “So, I would still go to work, then I would go to a funeral to play taps. Sometimes two, sometimes three funerals a day. In the end, it got so busy I was pretty much offline,” Minogue said. 

With only one other bugler in the NYFD, Minogue played taps at around 170 9/11 memorial services. Yet, each song was never the same.

“I played it different for everybody, because everybody is unique,” he said.“I think everybody needed a different song. Ya know, for me, it’s a gift that I could give back.”

Minogue kept playing taps as a fire department lieutenant, but in 2006 he developed a cough. At age 46, Minogue developed stage four throat cancer and high-grade bladder cancer from exposure to the 9/11 ash and debris.

 “Everything I had done with the ceremonial unit was over, they had to run without me,” he said. The illnesses forced Minogue to retire and leave the fire department. 

As of September 2021, over 200 active and retired NYC firefighters have died of illnesses linked to 9/11 according to the Scientific American. Even more have developed cancer and survived, including Minogue, who said it was because of his strong attitude.

“Two doctors, separately, would call me the poster boy,” he said. “My friend Mark and I had radiation burns and our faces were all red, but we were always smiling and laughing.” 

Many of Minogue’s friends and colleagues also deal with the lasting health effects of being at Ground Zero. The destruction of the Twin Towers created an ash of computers, concrete, and pipes that first responders inhaled. In 2019, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published a study finding that 9/11 first responders are 25% more likely to develop prostate cancer, 41% more likely to develop Leukemia, and two times more likely to develop thyroid cancer compared to other people. 

On this 20th anniversary of 9/11, Minogue is still playing taps on his trumpet, but said he doesn’t have enough breath to hold the last note. Despite all of his health problems, he said he would still go back and do the same thing again. 

“When you’re on this earth, you have to do the best you can for others, without asking anything in return,” he said. “That’s it.”

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Thomas E. Franklin was a photographer at the Bergen Record when his editor told him a plane had crashed into The World Trade Center. 

“ I quickly ran, grabbed my camera, ran to my car and started driving.”

Franklin, 53,  got on a boat which took him to Lower Manhattan and he rushed to Ground Zero. There he captured the iconic image of the flag being raised by firefighters.  In 2002, the celebrated photograph was highlighted in a postal stamp. It raised over $10 million which went towards victims and their families. 

“It represents thousands of people who died. That’s what the photograph is, it could never be forgotten,” Franklin, now a freelance multimedia journalist and professor at  Montclair State University, said. 

 He said after the second plane crashed into the tower, he knew this was a news story unlike any other and that his job was really important. 

 “I was aware of how important it was to take photos that day because of the magnitude of what was happening,” he said.

Thomas E. Franklin

On the 18th anniversary of 9/11, the photographs of Franklin and other photojournalists’ work to bear witness to the memories of the day when nearly 3,000 people were killed in terrorist attacks in the U.S.

 After receiving a call from the director of Contact Press Images, freelance photographer, Frank Forunier got on his bicycle and left his home on Roosevelt Island. He pedaled as fast as he could across the Queensborough Bridge.

“Cars were being stopped from getting across,” said Fournier, 70. “I managed to pass in between cops and I kept going.” 

Fournier said that he was near 7 World Trade Center when the fire chief approached him. He was told the building was on the verge of collapse and he would be killed if he stayed.

“So I slowly walked back, really slowly, trying to take pictures of firemen,” he said. “The building collapsed. We were covered with an enormous amount of dust, very heavy. You couldn’t see your hands, anything. It was extremely dense fog, you could barely breathe.”

Franklin said the journalists who worked on 9/11 were very brave.

“Oftentimes they are running towards danger while people are running away from danger,” said Franklin.

Today, at the Sept. 11 memorial in New York City, journalists and photographers gathered to document the anniversary of the attack. They reminded their audiences of the lives lost on this day. Interviewing visitors, residents, and victims loved ones to give a voice.

 “They documented the worst of humanity, at a very hard time,” said Ryan Girdusky, 32, a writer and a New York Political Correspondent for One America News Network.  “They become ingrained in our memory.”

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Held inside the museum’s 9/11 permanent memorial room, the service contained the presentation of the colors, singing of the national anthem, invocation, remarks and laying of the wreath. 

“I encourage all of you to spend some time and think about the choices they had to make,” First Deputy Commissioner of FDNY Laura Kavanagh said in her speech. “Not only did they make the ultimate sacrifice, but they really left behind the foundation and legacy to save people’s lives.”

Housed in two adjoining rooms, the 9/11 memorial room serves as the first permanent memorial for the firefighters lost during the attacks. In the center of the exhibition stands a black marble and tile memorial with the names and images of each firefighter.

The exhibit also includes used tools and items recovered from the Ground Zero, a timeline and media coverage of 9/11 events, an interactive computer station and images of national tributes to the FDNY.

Within the 9/11 memorial at NYC Fire Museum, a timeline of September 11, 2001, is displayed chronicling the tragic events happened during that day, along with the responding rescue and recovery efforts. Photo by Shiyu Xu

Gary Urbanowicz, director of the NYC Fire Museum, gave his condolences to the past and welcomed the visitors who came to the museum to pay their respect. 

“This memorial is a very special place for all of us,” Urbanowicz said. “Those heroes turned words into actions and that inspired me to make our commitment to never forget.”

For those who share the haunting experience, visiting the memorial has become their annual routine. 

Merill Resnick, 72, who used to work a few blocks away from the Twin Towers, recalled his memory of this day 18 years ago. 

“I was working, watching the news and constantly going back to the window to see what was going on,” Resnick said. “I remember when the second tower collapsed, I looked out of the window, and there was nothing there. It took around 10 minutes for the smoke to reappear again. For me, it was a haunting experience.” 

Resnick witnessed the firefighters as first responders going into the unknown. He said that he has been in this room many times, and “each time it becomes more and more heartening.”

“I just noticed today that this room is actually an addition to the museum,” Resnick said. “It’s beautiful, but it’s the addition I’d rather not see.” 

Former director of the museum, Judith Jamison, 78, also pays a visit to the memorial every year. For her, the character of the firefighters is something she finds “absolutely amazing.”

Former Director of the museum Judith Jamison, center, pays her condolences during the invocation for the 9/11 memorial service at the NYC Fire Museum on September 11, 2019. Photo by Shiyu Xu.

“The best thing about the museum is to talk to the firefighters who have volunteered to work here and get their stories,” Jamison said. “It’s inspiring to work with people like this, and it’s inspiring to the country to know what happened down 9/11.”

Jamison also said that after retiring from FDNY, many volunteered as docents in the museum to help educate the public.

A new addition to the museum, a survivor tree recovered from the 9/11 attack, was planted back in June to serve as a tribute to the lives of 343 firefighters and the 200 that lost their lives from 9/11 related disease and illness.

“The tree is a tribute and reminder for all of us to never forget,” Urbanowicz said.

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On the 17th anniversary of 9/11, a day for families to pay their respects, a group of “truth seekers” handed out pamphlets to mourners, tourists and onlookers to convince them of the “truth” behind the attacks.

“Don’t be fooled, sheep-people! Don’t be fooled sheep-people!”  they chanted yesterday. Anyone who stopped to read their placards was given a lecture on their beliefs of what really happened.

The group wants people to mourn and remember their loved ones, but to also consider that there may be scientific facts behind the collapse of the towers. They also believe the government is behind the attack because it wanted the U.S. to go to war with Afghanistan and Iraq.

“So many people have died, and the government had their own motives behind the destruction of these towers,” Dieu Khuu, 40, a “truther” said. “Yes, it was a tragic day for all of America, but every year more names are being added to the list of victims. The failed wars are a testament to a failed governmental agenda.”

“Truther” Dieu Khuu  believes the “truth” comforts survivors and families. He took his message to  passersby on the 17th anniversary of 9/11 yesterday. Photo by Levar Alonzo.

Khuu said that he was 23 when 9/11 happened and at first he believed what everyone thought, that “radical Muslims attacked American freedom.”

“As I got older I paid attention to every anniversary, then the architecturally and scientific facts started to play over in my head,” he said. “Gravity simply does not collapse a building. It had to be more, so I question everything that was told to me about 9/11.”

Another “truther,” Eileen Colas, 56, who wore an “arrest President Bush” t-shirt, said that she worked as a software engineer in Tower 2 of the World Trade Center. On the day of the attack, she came out of the train 15 minutes after the first plane hit. She was then ushered away by police to Foley Square, where she spent the day watching the devastation.

“It was terrible to see such mammoth buildings be taken down and then wonder, what about my friends, what about my coworkers,” she said.

She started to doubt what was being reported when she recalled unexplainable events at her job before the attacks.

“The days leading up to 9/11, my offices powered down our complex with all our data,” she said. “No one explained why this was done. It was never done before. I believe it was so bombs could be placed in our offices.”

Eileen Colas, shows her ID from Sun Microsystems that was located in Tower 2 of the World Trade Center. Photo by Levar Alonzo.

Colas believes that the American public is misinformed.

“The people that know the truth are hiding it from us, ” she said. “They know that the truth could start riots and civil unrest. I’m not going to be afraid to use my voice. It might be one voice but I’ll try to let it be heard.”

As Colas spoke, another believer, Mike Arnold, who has attended the anniversary for the past 11 years, said he wants Americans to question everything they are told about 9/11.

“The official story is a lie,” he said. “I am not against the flag or anti-American as some might think. Learn the truth and you will see that I a true patriot.”

They believe the “truth” is the only real comfort for the attacks.

“Honor the victims by telling the truth,” Khuu said. “The remains of victims were placed in the dump. Families don’t have that closure to even bury their loved ones. Give them closure with the truth.”

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Just before 9 a.m. on the 16th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, George Gagnon and Joseph A. Rodriguez stood close on the corner of West Broadway and Vesey Street, heads together, talking like old friends.

Rodriguez adjusted his black Desert Storm Veteran cap. This morning was his first time visiting the site of the attacks on the anniversary. It was Gagnon’s 16th. He had gone every year without fail, through emphysema, a triple bypass, 18 artery stints and most recently, a heart surgery just two weeks before this year’s visit to Ground Zero.

But the pair weren’t old friends. They had met just minutes before.

“It was the day, the moment,” Rodriguez said about what brought them together. The two found common ground instantly. Both are war veterans — Rodriguez from the Persian Gulf, and Gagnon from Vietnam — and both showed up 16 years ago in the wake of the attacks’ devastation to help in any way they could.

Gagnon was an iron worker at the time, though he’s retired now. He recounted a story he had just told Rodriguez about cutting through steel to help pull people, living and deceased, from the rubble. One body, he said, was pinned down by a beam, her wedding band still on her finger.

“We spent three hours just getting that steel off so not to disturb the body,” Gannon said. “It was just doing what you had to do.”

Rodriguez nodded. The two stood close. An onlooker would not have known that, even an hour before, neither had known the other existed.

Rodriguez remembers the day vividly. He had planned on attending a job interview in one of the towers that day, realizing only while he was getting dressed, after seeing what his father was watching on TV, that he’d be heading downtown for a different reason.

“I’m watching the TV, saying, ‘Dad, what movie are you watching?’ He goes, ‘Son, that’s not a movie. Look at the TV clearly. At the left corner it says, ‘live.’’”

Rodriguez lent his help for days, stopping only after he rushed to the Veterans’ Affairs hospital and discovered he had double pneumonia. He never followed up on his job lead, deciding it wasn’t meant to be. It was for a government job, he said.

“The CIA!” Gagnon joked.

Rodriguez would discover another personal connection to the attacks, months later. He was having breakfast at a diner near his home in the Bronx when he opened a newspaper and saw a memorial for a good friend from high school — Officer Jerome Dominguez, one of the 60 police officers who lost their lives that day.

“I just broke down like a baby,” he said. “That’s the reason why I’m here today, to honor him.”

Gagnon identified with Rodriguez’s feeling of loss, having lost friends in Vietnam, and with Rodriguez’s reasons for visiting the site of the attacks.

“I think it’s our duty as Americans to come down here,” he said. There are only two places Gagnon makes it a point to go to every year: Washington D.C. over Memorial Day weekend, and Ground Zero on September 11.

The somber mood broke when Gagnon pulled out a black flip phone. Rodriguez, over a decade younger but a head taller, began dictating his phone number.

“We gotta go drinking one day,” Rodriguez said. Gagnon agreed. But first, Rodriguez wants to reflect — to honor the dead, the living, and the life he’s spent the last decade and a half making for himself.

“I guess that’s the sweetest revenge you can give to anybody who brings terror to us, is to live your American dream, live your American rights and just live.”

As for their new friendship, Rodriguez said, it’s “to be continued.”

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In the midst of crowds gathered at Ground Zero to pay their respects to the victims of 9/11, the news outlets trying to get a good coverage, and tourists wandering around with cameras, Kenneth Lane, an African American Trump supporter, stood in a “9/11 Was An Inside Job” T-shirt.

Lane, 55, from Amityville, New York, who called himself “a truth seeker and an America first type of person,” is sure that 9/11 was nothing more than a false attack to evoke fear in the general population. Lane is not the type of person to keep quiet. He has about 3,000 followers on his Twitter account and shares his opinions with anyone willing to listen.

And there are quite a few at today’s 9/11 anniversary. Lane stood next to two other Trump supporters who held American flags and wore patriotic badges all over their jackets, which definitely attracted attention.

When the attacks took place, Lane said, he was a waiter at Red Lobster in Long Island, New York.

“I always remember this day,” he said. “Everyone was looking up at the TV, and then, when I saw a plane actually go into the World Trade Center, that’s when it struck. I said, “Wait, this is something big happening!”

Lane said that seeing the buildings implode led him to think that those buildings were brought down on purpose.

“The point I am trying to make is that 9/11 was an inside job,” he said. “It was an inside job done by the powerful elite both in the United States and in other countries.”

In Lane’s opinion, the entire event was orchestrated in order to use fear as a mechanism to pressure people into allowing the government to take more control over their lives. He believes that all the wars that followed were preplanned long before 9/11 took place.

“They want to keep us in these wars because we always need a boogeyman and it’s all about control,” he said.

Although Peter Santoro of the Upper East Side of Manhattan listened to Lane, he didn’t agree.

“At first blush, I was angry at him for having such a loud voice in this somber moment,” Santoro said. “But the truth is, this is what freedom is all about. There are countries where, if a person like this was adamantly opposed to the general opinion and what the government and people feel, he would be shunned away and jailed immediately. Yet in this country, we’re able to have someone like that come to a somber ceremony like this, perhaps in some ways maybe even be a bit disruptive, but still have his voice heard.”

Santoro said that 9/11 is personal to every American, whether affected by the tragedy directly or not, especially to those who were in the city during those devastating events.

“If you lived in the city and remember the smell of death, you can never forget that,” he said. “There could be nothing more personal than that.”

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On the morning of the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks the mourners and tourists made their way to ground zero to remember the nearly 3,000 lives lost.

Many wore shirts to commemorate their loved ones that were killed. Dominic Branda and his family, of Ringwood, New Jersey, wore matching navy blue shirts with the FDNY seal on the front right pocket. On the back of the shirts was a red fire truck and the name Peter Bielfeld, and FDNY Ladder 42 in white.

“My wife’s brother was killed as a fireman in the South Tower,” Branda said referring to the name on his shirt.

Peter Bielfeld, 44, was part of Ladder 42 in the Bronx. At the time the first tower was hit, Bielfeld was at a follow-up doctor’s visit taking care of injuries he sustained in a fire. But no injury was going to hold him back from going to the World Trade Center to help.

“He was in Metro Tech Brooklyn, he was injured and he jumped in a captain’s car and came over the Brooklyn Bridge. Fate put him in Brooklyn at that time,” Branda said of his brother in-law.

And that was the last time anyone saw him.

John Hudnall, from Austin, Texas, came to visit the memorial with a friend. They can remember exactly where and what they were doing 15 years ago. They wanted to visit the memorial to pay tribute to the victims. Although our country has made strides against terrorism, Hudnall still believes another attack is imminent.

“I travel weekly for work, and I fly, and it terrifies my wife everyday, every time I’m on a plane or waiting to get on a plane”, said Hudnall.

He said he has the same fears as his wife.

David Sears, from upstate New York, was standing near the corner of Broadway and Vesey waving a small American flag. He wore an American flag on his t-shirt and a bright red hat with the letters USA written across the front. He watched as the friends and family of the victims of 9/11 entered the memorial at 8:30am. He came to the memorial first thing in the morning because as a patriotic man and a New Yorker, he felt it was his duty.

He remembered he prayed on 9/11.

David Sears standing outside the 9/11 memorial waving his American flag. Photo by Jennifer Cohen

“I got with my family and prayed that we would get through the day ok and all of our fellow Americans would get through the day ok.”

Sears believes today is completely different from what it was like in 2001.
Anybody who has the slightest thought of being a terrorist is thrown in jail,” he said. “Back then everything was just so free and open.”

Sears worries about the possibility of an attack happening again.

“Unfortunately, history dictates that we do get complacent after a while you know but, hopefully in my lifetime we will never see anything like this again,” said Sears.

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Today is the 15th anniversary of 9/11 and at the northern edge of the World Trade Center complex, colorful signs elicit ugly stares or thoughtful solidarity – depending on who you ask.

This is where you’ll find ‘9/11 Truthers,’ people who dispute the mainstream account of what happened on September 11, 2001. Their main allegation is that the Twin Towers and Tower 7 collapsed from a controlled demolition, and the plane crashes were just a diversion. Truthers come to this spot every Saturday with signs, t-shirts, pamphlets and of course, talking points. Today, on the 15th anniversary of the attacks, they are especially vocal.

“I was devastated when I learned the truth,” said Michael Arnold,50, who works as a counselor for special needs students in Atlanta, Georgia. He traveled to New York City to spread his message at the World Trade Center . “I was non-functional and almost got divorced. Then I spent way too much money on billboards and fliers. My goal is ju–“

He abruptly stopped talking, cocked his head towards a passing group of men in formal military attire and shouted, “Building 7 came down in less than 7 seconds! Controlled demolition!” Then he picked right up where he left off. “Sorry, I had to tell them. Anyways, my goal is justice – spreading the message as far and wide as possible.”

Arnold discovered the 9/11 Truther movement because his wife told him to get a hobby, so he started routinely reading political filmmaker Michael Moore’s blog about social issues. People would discuss the Truther movement in the comments section of articles. It sucked Arnold in and he became one of the regular commenters, posting Truther literature and combing over what was provided by others.

“It blew my mental circuit boards,” he said. “I couldn’t believe what I was reading.”

To Arnold’s immediate left was Claudio Marty, 52, of Park Slope, Brooklyn.

“You’re talkin’ third generation Brooklyn construction worker right here,” Marty said, gesturing at himself.

He’s the salesman of the group. but when he talks about why he’s here Marty speaks from the heart.

“We don’t do this because we’re nuts,” he said. “We do this because we love humanity. We love the world. We just don’t like being lied to. I know we’re ridiculed, but we’ve got architects in our movement, we’ve got college professors, independent journalists, military guys, ground zero guys who were here and felt the explosion, and saw the buildings go down. We’re a microcosm of society. We dug a little deeper than most. “We’re speaking up!”

Claudio Marty displays a copy of the hundreds of pamphlets he gave out today. Photo by Eli Kurland

Marty said he watched the towers fall from his rooftop in Park Slope. His neighbors were on their rooftops too – steel workers, construction workers, cops, the inhabitants of a blue-collar neighborhood. Marty alleged the first thing these people said after collectively watching the towers crumble was that this was a controlled demolition.

“We know construction and we’re not stupid guys,” he said. “We watch the Science Channel and we’re mechanically inclined. We have common sense. We all said the same thing, but the television told us something else.”

Ten years later, Marty was watching a business television program and for the third time that month, people called in to ask the host’s opinion about the mainstream account of what happened on 9/11. Marty said architects and engineers were calling in to inquire too. The program had nothing to do with 9/11 or politics. Marty’s interest was piqued and there was no turning back.

Marty now runs his own advertising company, but has shrunk his client roster down to a quarter of its previous size so he can devote more energy to the Truther movement. Like Arnold, the movement is Marty’s lifestyle and he said he’ll never stop.

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For yearly travelers to the Sept. 11 memorial in New York City, the 14^th anniversary of the terrorist attacks was another opportunity not only to focus on remembering the tragedy, but also to celebrate America’s recovery.

Jose Colon, a New Yorker, visits the memorial every year on the anniversary and has put together a vest decorated with medals and insignia in memoriam of the victims. He lost a firefighter friend in the attack 14 years ago.

Although he visits the memorial every year, each anniversary brings with it new emotions, he said.

“Sometimes I just sit, and sometimes I get mad,” Colon said. “You know, we were attacked here, in our own country. [9/11] changed the country and the whole world.”

Colon added that in his 14 years experiencing the anniversary, he’s noticed a slight change in public attitude toward the event.

Jose Colon, who honors the 9/11 anniversary every year, wearing a vest he put together to honor and remember the event while downtown on Sept. 11, 2015. Photo by Karis Rogerson

“People today, it’s not like before,” he said. “Before, you would be more crowded here. Today people seem to be forgetting about it, but this is something you cannot forget, because at any given time, it could happen again, you know?”

Members of the public were not allowed into the memorial itself until early afternoon Friday, but that didn’t keep the very faithful from showing up downtown.

Conspiracy theorists on street corners urged passersby to look more closely into 9/11 and interested people stopped to write the names of loved ones on a mural Century 21 set up on Church Street, while others merely hustled from subway stops to work. Many stopped to remember the tragedy more than a decade after it shook the country, but many others appeared engrossed in the mundaneness of work on a Friday morning.

While Colon said he believes in remembering in order to prevent a reoccurrence, others simply wanted to remember and honor those lost.

Navy veteran Richard Fill of Easton, Pa., said he travels the 75 miles from his home to ground zero every year to keep from forgetting the event. He’s afraid others have lost interest.

“I never forget, but probably for a lot of people it’s just another day,” Fill said.
“But it’s not another day. To me, it should be considered like a national holiday, where nobody works on Sept. 11.”

Fill, who visits the site every year, worked for U.S. Airways and was on the crew trying to land hundreds of flights on Sept. 11, 2001, said the event really “touched home,” and that is another reason why he makes the yearly pilgrimage to ground zero. He is also proud of his country.

“The country’s a mess, but to me it’s the best country there is,” Fill said. “Every country has its problems, but there’s no other place I’d rather be than the U.S.”

A native New Yorker and Staten Island resident, Wanda Thompson, took a moment Friday to leave a message on the side of a wall that Century 21 had turned into a mural in honor of the day.

“God Bless America,” she wrote, saying she stops by the memorial every year and appreciates the country’s recovery.

“I’m always so encouraged, and it makes me feel so good to come down and see everybody,” Thompson said. “It makes me love being a New Yorker even more.

“Never mind Taylor Swift,” she added, laughing, “it should be Wanda Thompson the ambassador for New York.” (Swift was named New York City’s Global Welcome Ambassador for 2014-2015 last fall).

Thompson acknowledged that the anniversary is a solemn occasion memorializing a tragic event. Nonetheless, she said, she is able to see ways in which America has become stronger because of the Sept. 11 attacks.

“It makes me feel happy that, as sad as it is, it has brought a lot of people together that might not necessarily have come together,” Thompson said. “So I love that as ugly as it may be, but on today — and you know, this whole week and even other times — that we could talk about it and share stories and it’s bringing us together.”

The post 14 Years Later: Remembering and Celebrating appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

by Thom Friend

On the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center today, a group of first responders celebrated their 12th annual gathering at O’Hara’s Pub, steps from Ground Zero and the newly opened 9/11 Museum.

It seems strange to dub their meeting a celebration, but Sly Brown of the Jersey Shore and his fellow 9/11 first responders have found joy from the past 12 years of new friendship and shared remembrance. The group gathered shortly after the tradition of reading off the names of the nearly 3,000 victims of 9/11 attacks.

Brown, who worked for FEMA during 9/11, explained how their meetings have grown in size over the past 12 years through word-of-mouth and social media.

“This meeting is very special for us,” said Brown, pointing out firefighters, police officers, FEMA workers and other first responders hailing from around the U.S.

Their meeting place hasn’t changed over the years. Its appearance, like most of the neighborhood around Ground Zero, has. As Battalion Chief Don Labanca of the Hamden, Conn. Fire Department pointed out, “when we first started coming the street was still torn up” from the aftermath of the attacks, the pub being just a block away from where the South Tower collapsed.

9/11 first responders gather for a group photo at their yearly meeting spot, O’Hara’s Pub, NYC. Photo by Thom Friend.

Inside O’Hara’s, the walls were lined with patches from the uniforms of various first responders, more being added each year, and the bartenders were busy serving a full house.

President Obama’s speech on Wednesday about the rising threat of the group calling itself the Islamic State (ISIS), as well as the heightened security efforts of the NYPD have some wondering if the city is again at risk.

New York City is “still on the list,” said Brown, and that the recent events involving the Islamic State have “made us more observant.” But first responders inside O’Hara’s Thursday afternoon were mostly unperturbed.

The walls of O’Hara’s Pub, NYC, covered in patches from twelve years of first responder gatherings on 9/11. Photo by Thom Friend.

“It’s very disappointing that we’re not there,” he said.
For Brown and the others, though, it is clear that there will always be a place to come back to each year to honor and remember, but also to celebrate life after 9/11.

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