A first responder who worked at the September 11 site has opened up about what he saw during his time there. He shared his thoughts in an online forum where people could ask him questions about the experience.
When asked about the best and worst things he witnessed, he said: “The best? The City, the country and the world coming together. There was no division in our country like it is today. The worst was people taking pictures with cameras (very rare to have cellphones back then) with Ground Zero in the background smiling. Over 3,000 people died in a public and horrific manner and people wanted to take group pictures. Simply hated seeing that.”
Someone else asked him what human remains meant in that situation. He explained: “Remains primarily means body parts for identification for the family so they can properly grieve. If body parts can’t be found, personal property is next and hopefully identified for the family.
“I saw so many [World Trade Center] ID tags with names and pictures of people while at the landfill. I remember when I was first at the landfill it was so hard to look for remains that I was wondering to myself why are we even here? Then one day we were at the cafeteria tent, taking a break, and then a whole bunch of family members of the victims came and thanked us for being there. And then I knew why we had to be there.”
Another memory was from a man who had been on the 72nd floor when the plane hit. He spoke to a news crew, covered in dust, while his tower crumbled in the background. One person online wrote: “Incredible, to see your workplace, a place where you spent thousands of hours just turn to dust.”
Another comment said: “I’m sure he thought about all the people he passed on his way down that had stopped to rest, the people from his floor that he worked with, the rescuers who were going up as he was coming down. Just awful.”
