Ordinary Heroes

I cried a lot while reading this one. For the last twenty years, I really haven't watched or read anything about 9/11. I think all of us who were old enough to remember that day will never forget the sheer horror of what we were watching on TV. For me it was the people leaping to their deaths, clinging to the side of the buildings. It was surreal and awful and enraging and terrifying. I was working at B&N at the time, and a few days later a couple of us were discussing it, and one of my colleagues said he thought America deserved it because of how we interfered with other countries. I've never come so close to attacking anyone in all my life. I went off on him verbally (ironically enough, he was arrested for stealing money from the bookstore not long afterwards, so that tells you what kind of fine, upstanding citizen he was). I have never, and will never, understand that sort of hatred and disdain for this country. It is the greatest in the world. Are we perfect? No. But we are full of ordinary heroes, like Joseph Pfeifer, the first FDNY Chief at the disaster that morning. 

By happenstance, two brothers, Jules and Gedeon Nauder were filming a new recruit, Tony, who was assigned to Pfeifer's firehouse. The summer of '01 was quiet, fire wise, and everyone felt bad for Tony and the documentary filmmakers, who really wanted to capture what it was like for the first responders. On Tuesday, September 11, Chief Pfeifer, with Jules in tow, responded to a call about a possible gas leak. They heard the first plane and Jules instinctively turned to look, capturing the only footage of the first plane hitting the North Tower. As the closest chief to the scene, Pfeifer and his crew hurried over to the World Trade Center and took command. I watched Jules' footage for the first time a few weekends ago during the 20th anniversary and it was horrifying to realize they were in the North Tower, just minutes before it collapsed, barely escaping with their lives. The looks on the firefighters faces as they heard the bodies hitting the ground outside the lobby where they were stationed, helpless to stop the jumpers (the first firefighter who died that day was hit by a someone who jumped as he was trying to run into the building). They went up while everyone working in the building hurried down. Joseph sent his younger brother, Kevin, to the South Tower and never saw him again. Kevin's body was eventually recovered in February of 2002. 

It was a heartbreaking account of what happened on that day our world changed, told by one of the extraordinary heroes. He was hopeful, though, and talked about the good that had come out of the tragedy, the things they learned and how to handle disasters like this in the future.  About the importance of not focusing on our differences, but rather coming together and realizing that first and foremost, we are Americans.