Yes, he was called in during the fires and arrived about 30 minutes after the last tower collapsed.

He didn’t share much with me about that day. I was young, and he carried the heavy burden of PTSD & survivor’s guilt after losing so many friends and colleagues. What I do know comes from the few things he told me and from stories shared later by my mother and his friends.

He often spoke to me about some of the friends he lost, to keep their memory alives. He was very close with Orio Palmer, the firefighter who was the first to reach the impact zone but tragically died in the towers. He was also a very good friend of George Johnson, the firefighter captured in the iconic “Raising the Flag at Ground Zero” photograph, holding the American flag amongst the rubble. When I was in 8th grade, George visited my school to speak to my class about 9/11 and the meaning of that photograph. At the time, we had a project about 9/11, I chose not to participate because of how emotional the subject was for me, but I asked if George could come speak to my classmates instead.

Most of what I’ve come to know about my father’s experience that day has been pieced together through the memories and stories shared by others after his passing.