Retired firefighters Steve and Ray met Marc Ira Hooks from Ground Level Reports in New York on Sept. 10.
“We’ve been coming down here for 25 years,” said Steve, who lost six men from his firehouse on 9/11. The house lost its captain a couple of years later to cancer. “We place a wreath, say a few prayers, mention their names.”
Follow the full coverage of the 25th anniversary of 9/11 with Ground Level Reports
The guys brought flowers to place at the 9/11 Memorial.
Ray mentioned that it’s mostly forgotten how many were rescued that day: 10,000. A former chief of Ray’s called it the “greatest rescue in one day. That’s the way we look at it.”
Intense pain
Steve mentioned the intense pain of that day. It wasn’t survivor’s guilt, it was pain in the presence of intense loss.
“You know, every day we go to work 365 days a year,” Steve said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen.”
When asked what role he had that day, Steve said “we were just looking for people” in the midst of two big piles of steel.
“Our role was to get everybody out that survived,” he said.
Finding survivors
While Steve was off duty, he responded with his brother that day with the goal of finding his sister who worked in the South Tower. She escaped safely. “We had our hands full,” he said.
Ray and Steve agreed it’s important for them to be there for other firefighters, to listen, to encourage.
“We’re never going to forget,” Ray said. “We’re still going to be hurting, but the brothers will be there. They still come back and support one another. No shrink could ever make a difference unless you actually do this job.”
Steve was raised Roman Catholic. He said that day didn’t change his belief in God. He still attends church and believes he’ll see his firefighter brothers in heaven.
“I trust my Lord,” Ray said. “I’m a Christian.”
Ray asked for prayers for family members who lost loved ones that day. But not just on 9/11 but every holiday and birthday. “It’s hard times for them,” he said.
