WEBVTT - Not Today, Not Like This with Danny Manning 0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:11.360 Welcome to the Good Stuff. I'm Jacob Shick and I'm 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:13.480 joined by my co host and wife, Ashley Shick. 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:16.560 Jake is a third generation combat Marine and I'm a 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:20.360 gold Star granddaughter. And we work together to serve military veterans, 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:23.720 first responders, frontline healthcare workers, and their families with mental 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:27.440 and emotional wellness through traditional and non traditional therapy. At 0:00:27.480 --> 0:00:30.040 One Tribe Foundation, we. 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:32.880 Believe everyone has a story to tell, not only about 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:35.120 the peaks, but also the valleys they've been through to 0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:36.680 get them to where they are today. 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:39.320 Each week, we invite a guest to tell us their story, 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:41.640 to share with us the lessons they've learned that shaped 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:43.680 who they are and what they're doing to pay it 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:44.960 forward and give back. 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:47.320 Our mission with this show is to dig deep into 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:50.200 our guest's journey so that we can celebrate the hope 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:52.400 and inspiration their story has to offer. 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:54.720 We're thrilled you're joining us again. 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:59.240 Welcome to the Good Stuff. We are so honored to 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:02.520 share today's story with you, even though it's not an 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:05.240 easy one to share. Today's guest is Danny Manning, a 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:07.240 retired FDNY firefighter. 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:10.640 I originally met Danny years ago in Kinsale, Ireland for 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:13.199 the dedication of a plaque in honor of Lieutenant Michael 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:16.880 Murphy for an organization called Irish Veterans, and he's become 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:19.920 a very dear friend, more like family over the years. 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:22.360 He is an incredible man who served the New York 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:24.880 Fire Department for over twenty years and even saved his 0:01:24.920 --> 0:01:27.280 mother's life on Christmas Day in two thousand and seven 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:30.440 after she suffered cardiac arrest and what has been coined 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:36.080 the Miracle of Christmas. This episode with Danny recording in 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:39.040 New York City was a spiritual experience. 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:41.760 Absolutely. He was living in New York serving as a 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:44.759 firefighter on September eleventh, two thousand and one. He's here 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:47.240 to tell us about his experience that day and the 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:56.480 days that followed at ground zero. How many years did 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:57.720 you serve in the fire department? 0:01:58.120 --> 0:01:58.960 Twenty three years? 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:02.760 Twenty three years. That's incredible. And you met your beautiful wife, 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:05.840 a New York City girl, Mary Ellen from the Bronx, 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:08.200 and we've been so blessed to know you and the 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:11.640 entire Manning family, and today you're gracious enough to share 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:13.800 with us a story that changed your life and the 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:17.440 lives of countless other people forever on September eleventh, two 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:20.840 thousand and one, when terrorists hijacked airplanes and flew them 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:24.200 into New York City's Twin Towers. As a New York firefighter, 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:26.600 you and your fellow first responders were on the front 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:29.560 lines of this horrific day in history. And it would 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:31.200 just be an honor for Jake and I to hear 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:34.920 you tell your story of September eleventh, two thousand and one. 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:36.680 So beautiful morning. 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:40.920 I was off duty that day and Mary Ellen was 0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:44.560 watching TV and I was in the back bedroom and 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:47.359 I heard a screech from her and a scream, and 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:49.480 so I came running out and I said, what's the matter, 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:53.440 And she said, a plane just hit the World Trade Center. Now, 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:56.359 Mary Alln worked for United Airlines. One of her offices 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:59.320 when she worked was in that one of those towers. 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:01.519 She knows it well. So I looked at it and 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:04.040 I said, Gee, this doesn't make sense. I'm looking out 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:08.720 the window. It's a beautiful sunnay morning. And I said 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:11.480 to Marianna about this must be a small plane that 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:15.079 must have just lost its way. Because there's been incidents 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:17.040 in Manhattan. I think I might have told you it 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:20.160 was an incident years later. But it was New York 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:23.079 Yankee who was flying a plane and he made a 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:26.560 turn blown up in that East River, and he didn't 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:28.800 turn sharp enough and he crashed into one of the 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:33.160 high rise residential buildings. A small plane, you could understand 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:36.760 something could go wrong, never expecting this to be a 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:37.840 big jetliner. 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:39.520 So watching on a TV. 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:43.440 And then a short while after that, the news stories 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:46.480 are all breaking. It's live, and we see the second 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:49.880 plane hit the tower. And that's when I jumped up. 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:52.920 She goeshe are going I says, we're under attack. This 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:55.520 is no accident. I ran to the back bedroom. She goes, 0:03:55.560 --> 0:03:57.680 what are you doing. I said, I'm going to get 0:03:57.760 --> 0:03:59.960 dressed because they're going to need every hand they can 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:00.600 down there. 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:02.960 What did you say to her before you left? 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:06.680 It's going to be a terrible day. We'll do our best. 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:09.800 Because where we lived, you could see the smoke plume 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:12.440 going over the water there. I knew I was going 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:14.640 to something that was bigger than I have but been 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:15.320 at before. 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:18.200 When you're getting dressed, when you're taking your quick shower, 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:19.599 what was going through your mind? 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:23.400 Get down there quick? Like I said to Mary Ellen, 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:26.000 that they're going to need every hand they can. You 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:28.360 were hugging and kiss and out the door. 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:31.479 What do you remember the very last thing you said 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:31.760 to her? 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:34.799 Honestly, it was a hug and embrace, and I said, 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:36.479 I'll see you later. 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:37.880 I'm not going to see you again. 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:40.880 So I remember hugging my family before we left to 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:43.400 go to Iraq and telling them you'll see you later, 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:46.719 God willing, I'll see you later, might not see you later. 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:49.400 It's one of those things that we almost take you 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:51.320 for granted because it's just second nature. 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:53.920 I could see what you were thinking in your head. 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:56.800 You were going into a different type of situation than me. 0:04:57.240 --> 0:05:00.120 Your work would be a little bit more dangerous, and 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:04.920 to ours was more structured routining. There's a mythology, if 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:08.560 you might say, going into fires and fighting fires, but 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:12.640 there's always the danger, and sure enough, that danger started 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:15.479 early on in my career. Over the course of your career, 0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:18.440 depending on what neighborhood you're assigned to, you learn how 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:22.400 to fight the fires. That the buildings are predominant your neighborhood, 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:25.360 say right, so that the old timers would tell you 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:27.200 when you come into the house, all right, everything you 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:30.000 learned in school is fine, but we're going to teach 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:30.760 you how we do it here. 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:31.040 Now. 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:33.800 One of the guys was the old time, but he 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:36.279 was an old, salty, old Irish guy. He took me 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:37.640 out of his wing a little bit. He said, let 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:39.640 me tell you, Danny, me boy, you got to be 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:41.880 a little bit crazy to be doing this job. You 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:45.479 understand that, right, I said, why is that? Jack He goes, 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:48.320 you got to think about this. Everybody's running out and 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:51.479 we're running in. I said, there you go, Jackson, I 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:53.080 get it. Yeah, I'm a little crazy. 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:54.760 I guess you hit the bill. 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:58.000 So basically at that point we are is on the 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.200 FDR drive down there, and I had seen that the 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:03.719 emergency vehicles we soarting to roll down the highway. I 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:05.760 could look out the window and see that they had 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:10.279 shut it down full public transportation, and so I was 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:12.800 able to run down there and get myself up to 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:15.920 the highway. I flagged down some cars that were going by, 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:18.479 and one fellow pulled over and picked me up. He 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:21.880 was working with the Department of Homeland Security and they 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:25.400 pulled over. He grabbed me and I said thanks, and 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:28.920 we went down after I drive. Just after we got 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:31.599 by the seaport a little. He was on the radio 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:35.080 with his guys one of the towers. He lost communications 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:37.840 with them, and that's when I looked to the right 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:40.720 and I saw the first tower go down. He lost 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:43.800 communications with his guys. They were in one of those towers. 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:47.920 Even with all my life experiences, I can't imagine being 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:52.760 in communications with your brothers and watching the tower that 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:55.520 they're in crumble to the ground. 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:57.359 What was the atmosphere like? 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:00.799 Dark plume of smoke. You didn't hear much. 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:03.120 There's a part down at the end of the FDR 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:05.800 drive where you have to go under a tunnel. He 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:08.279 tried to go down into the tunnel with the car, 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:11.480 and the smoke was coming at us. So we got 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:14.320 a little ways into the tunnel and people were trying 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:16.200 to run through it. Some cars were on the other 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:18.280 side of the tunnel, and we could see the people 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:20.440 running towards us, covered in ash and things. 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:23.600 And he went down and we couldn't go anymore. 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:27.080 So brilliantly he did a three point turn in the tunnel, 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:30.440 banged off the walls, and came back out again. We 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:32.440 were there for a little while, and then some fire 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:36.360 trucks started coming by, and I said to him, good luck. 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:39.520 I hope I see you again, and I'm going to 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:41.480 jump on the back of one of these fire trucks. 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:44.160 I did that, and if I went with the men, 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:45.720 I jumped on the backstep to guys. 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:48.280 I didn't know who they were. They just jumped on 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:49.840 with them. And if we went. 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:53.080 So you come out of the tunnel, you get out 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:55.680 of the car because you see the fire trucks, you 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:59.440 go hop on with your brothers. What's the atmosphere at 0:07:59.440 --> 0:08:00.240 this point. 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:02.360 Complete chaos. I've never seen the witness before. 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:07.480 And because of the magnitude of the amount of people, 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:12.040 the fire, the smoke, all right, that's many times magnified 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:17.240 as well, but because the magnitude of people rushing towards us, 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:21.520 with the looks on their faces covered in dust, and 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:26.440 the horror on their face, and the screaming and you know. 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:27.960 Wailing and stuff like that. 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:32.200 At that time, there was still bad things going on 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:34.240 in the other tower, so we're trying to get through 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:36.480 all that to just start helping it. There was nobody 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:39.240 in charge but the command center, I believe at that 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:41.960 time might have been wiped out, so the communication was 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:44.520 difficult at that time, and so everybody was just trying 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:47.480 to team up and try and help somewhere. 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:49.480 The breathing was difficult. 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.040 I didn't have a mask because I came obviously keep 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:53.960 them home, so I had know Scott Packer, right, so 0:08:54.000 --> 0:08:56.199 that mattered. None of the women and children and men 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:58.440 running had it either, so they're going the other way. 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:02.160 And then I counted the one woman who was in 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:07.520 complete distress, and she was carrying a young baby, and 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:08.520 I said, oh, let. 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:09.240 Me help her. 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:13.200 She was hysterical because she lost her mother and her 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:15.680 other daughter. I said, They asked what he looked like, 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:20.800 you know, give me a description. I'll try and see 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:22.880 if I me and so many guys keep try and 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:25.760 find them. But I said, in the meantime, I said, 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:28.800 we have to protect this baby here. Got her and 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:31.839 the baby into one of the fire department cars. I said, no, 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:34.280 you just sit here. I said, I'll go look for 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:38.439 your mother and your child. Never did find them. The 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:41.440 don't know to this day whatever happened with that. But 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:43.920 at least I know that woman and baby made it, 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:48.920 and hopefully so did her mother and her other child. 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:52.400 But then there's no way of knowing, right, that's the uncertainty. 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:55.520 Of that day, so many people, so much chaos, and 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:56.880 what did you do next? 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:00.320 People that were injured, we were trying to help them 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:02.760 to like they were trying to set up triarge areas 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:06.800 and just get people comfort them, some of them, you know, 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:14.800 me and many other guys, police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians. 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:16.400 Everybody was just doing the same thing. 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:21.200 Like I said earlier, there was no real structure to 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:21.760 any of it. 0:10:23.160 --> 0:10:25.840 So after you help this lady and you turn back 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:28.760 to go even further into the scene, what are you. 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:31.439 Seeing As a dust stars to settle, and you look 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:35.760 up and you can see pokes of sunshine that used 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:38.360 to be filling the whole sky earlier with blue sky, 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:41.600 and so there's a dust was settling, you could see, 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:44.760 and things started to clear up, but it was still 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:46.240 so dusty. 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:47.959 Everybody's eyes were practically shut. 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:50.400 It's like almost being a little bit of a vacuum 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:53.320 where you see it going on in slow motion, but 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:56.480 it's not sol emotion going on for a long time, 0:10:57.000 --> 0:11:00.440 people running and screaming, and the rubble was everywhere from 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:04.679 the first tower coming down. Eventually there was people teaming 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:08.400 up and you'd see police officers and other people are 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:10.920 squating people, trying to get them into other buildings to 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:13.720 shelter them because we didn't know what was coming next. 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:14.000 You know. 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:18.199 So at this point, after you've dived right into this 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:20.520 whole scenario and you're there, and like you said, it's 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:22.680 almost surreal. It sounds like it's going in slow motion, 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:25.280 but it's not. It just keeps going on and on, 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:30.200 and it's dusty. Breathing was difficult. Everything was difficult. And 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:32.240 do you have time to let any of the emotion 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:32.880 hit you. 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:35.000 No, it wasn't a time to sit and reflected. You 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:37.520 just you couldn't. 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:39.800 You were in work mode. Yeah, you had to go 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:43.640 full speed ahead. Time wise, I don't. It's all documented, 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.520 but to me, it just there's no time frame to 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:47.040 the whole thing. 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:49.599 What happened. When the second tower fell. 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:54.400 Everybody knew it was time to start moving and stop running. Well, 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:57.320 the experiencing world didn't do much good that day. Does 0:11:57.360 --> 0:11:59.520 this matter how lucky you were which way you ran? 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:02.760 I ran one way and I made it, and another 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:05.599 guys ran another way and didn't make it. 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:06.720 Dove under a truck. 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:10.719 The debris came down on there, and I was down 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:13.920 there and I didn't have an air pack, and i 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:17.400 have my nose to the ground and I'm saying, no, 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:20.520 this isn't going to end like this. And people started 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:23.560 just moving some debris and one of his got us 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:24.959 out of there, dragged this out. 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:28.160 I remember looking up and you will see was like. 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:31.960 Papers floating through the sky, like feathers. I said, well, 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:36.040 it's eerily quiet. I'm looking around. I'm saying, we have 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:38.440 all the people, we has, all the equipment. Just towers 0:12:38.440 --> 0:12:44.160 were filled with sinks, computers, things in the restaurant desks, 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:47.440 everything that would fill a building like we're sitting in now. 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:50.920 None of it was there. It was all pulverized. That's 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:53.960 one memory I'll never forget. Me and another guy I 0:12:54.000 --> 0:12:56.280 teamed up with, a dear friend of mine, name was 0:12:56.360 --> 0:13:00.160 Ray Phillips. He was in rescue three and we had 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:03.320 teamed up together and we heard a pass along going off. 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:06.920 Now that's what we's attached to our airpacks, and it's 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:10.360 the activates of a man's down, whether you get down 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:12.480 in a fire or whatever, the incident is a guy 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:15.560 if he stayed motionless for a while, it activates. So 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:17.560 what happened was we could hear it off in the 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:20.720 distance and very distinct piercing sound. So I said, it 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:23.080 must be a brother down somewhere or over here. So 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:26.000 we went looking from and I went around the building 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:29.280 expecting going to be there. He wasn't there, but the 0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:31.839 airpack was, or he had dropped it and obviously ran 0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:35.120 or whatever and made his way. So I grabbed and 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:36.880 I said, well, say, I'm going to use it now. 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:39.880 So I put it on because all this time you've 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:41.160 been breathing in the dust. 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:43.640 Yeah, I didn't have any airpack. It was good to 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:45.240 have that. I sat there for hot and. 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:47.960 Took a lot of ye got some fresh oxyge. 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:49.480 So he left it there for me. 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:52.240 That's like we say in the Marine Corps gear drift 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:52.800 as a gift. 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:56.360 There you go. And it was one part of the 0:13:56.440 --> 0:13:58.680 story there was that the guys from ma Fi House 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:02.480 from Barrios Bravers fifty three and forty three were involved 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:05.760 in a rescue where there was guys from another company 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:08.520 who had gotten this woman and they were able to 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:09.600 get her down. 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.640 She was a trap to herself and up on the stairway. 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:14.559 There and they were able to get her down and 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:18.240 when the collapse happened the way they were with the 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:21.840 core collapsing around them. They were in this little void, 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:25.880 and so there was transmission. They were able to locate 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:28.800 where they were, and I think it was called the 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:33.200 Miracle Latter six and the guys from my company formed 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:36.360 a chain line and were able to make it today 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:40.360 and get them out. I was part of that, and 0:14:40.440 --> 0:14:44.960 that was that was a great survival story that these 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:48.200 guys heroically did to witness. 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:50.440 That was something absolutely. 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:53.760 There was an area where we had made our way 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:57.720 into a void and we were getting radio transmissions that 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:01.120 we were in a dangerous spot, and they kept saying, 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:02.640 you got to pull out, you got to pull out. 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:04.320 I was a little bit further back than some of 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:07.800 the other guys from the company were up ahead of me, 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:10.800 and they spotted a guy that was they could. 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:13.920 See the helmet. It was a chief. He was pinned 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:16.000 in there. I couldn't tell whether he was alive or not. 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:19.960 We had visual on him, and they kept trying to 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:22.280 pull us out and pull us out, and guys wouldn't leave, 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:26.720 and finally we had to go. We had to pull 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:29.440 out because of the imminent collapse and everything. And it 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:31.600 wasn't like he was laying there was screaming for help 0:15:31.720 --> 0:15:34.000 or anything. He was unconscious. We didn't know if he 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:35.960 was alive or dead, but we were trying to just 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:41.880 get to him. At one point, I got my shoulders 0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:44.840 this located. So they went up to the hospital and 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:48.600 all emergency people from around the city was just like 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:52.080 I did. We're volunteering going to the hospitals to help 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:54.480 Manhattan there because they figured they're. 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:55.640 Going to need all hands on deck. 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:59.680 And I remember getting taken to the hospital and they 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:02.200 were all standing outside with the stretches out on the 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:04.480 sidewalks and how many people coming? 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:09.520 Where's everybody? Well, there's not enough people to come. 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:12.040 A lot of them just didn't make it out anyway. 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:14.640 They got patched up and then went back down there, 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:17.040 went back to work, and at that point it was 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:20.720 total rescue mode. More and more reinforcements were showing up, 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:23.840 so we just went to work. I hooked up again 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:26.920 with forty three truck they were down there, so worked 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:29.960 with them. They were grabbing units them all over the 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:33.160 city at this point and relieving and rotating people that 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:37.240 were on duty active guys and shifting and people coming 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:39.560 in to help out. It was one night and they 0:16:39.560 --> 0:16:42.440 were being relieved on their shift and I hopped on 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:44.920 the back of the truck with the guys. At that point, 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:49.120 Lower Manhattan was all just encapsulated. They had the military 0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:52.400 out there, the National Guard, you had all the police 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:56.280 intelligence units. Everything was sealed off, so nobody was coming 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:59.800 into the as you would relate to into your perimeter. 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:03.040 This is a distinct memory that will always stay with me, 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:06.560 and I've often sold us to people. We leave and 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:09.280 we're just laying all over the top of the rig 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:11.879 on the hook and ladder, and guys are beat up 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:16.200 and exhausted. All along the West Side Highway there people 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:22.399 are lined up signs and they're cheering. We're just laying 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:24.720 around on the rig and taking it all in. And 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:28.600 it was just amazing the people that came out of 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:33.040 all the buildings to, you know, give us this boost 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:35.280 and we go down and we come down along that 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:36.959 and that went on for my olden and we come 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:40.639 down Union Square and there's a big almost rally going 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:47.000 on in Union Square. Hiabetes really emotional. And the way 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:51.480 equated to people when I tell the story is if 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:55.160 you watch the old movies of World War Two when 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:59.000 the tanks are rolling into the villages, in Italy and 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:02.480 France and all the women and coming out waving the 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:06.400 flags and handing battles of wine to the soldiers. And 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:09.800 that's how it felt to me, that crowd. It's like 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:13.879 you just liberated the city, but they knew we just 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:17.960 where we came from, just then, and they were giving that. 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:19.840 Back to us. 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:24.679 Significant trauma can either be a great divider or a 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:28.560 great uniter. And I remember nine to twelve very very well, 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:34.199 and I remember thinking, no one in the world, no 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:36.520 one in the world, would dare mess with us right now, 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:40.680 because we were all one. It didn't matter race, colored, creed, religion. 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:44.159 If you lived under that red, white, and blue, you 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:45.040 were untouchable. 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:48.119 It really was true. And you saw the whole city 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:49.080 put up like. 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:52.120 That, the whole country. Like I'm sitting here thinking, Jake 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:55.639 and I always talk about the America of nine to twelve. 0:18:56.840 --> 0:18:59.320 You were still at ground zero on nine to twelve, 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:04.720 entire day, praying, hoping, searching for any signs of life, 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:09.080 digging through the dust and the decimation. And meanwhile, yes, 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:11.720 the rest of the country was uniting. So that's exactly 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:13.760 what should have happened. When you came out of the 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:14.760 perimeter and. 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:17.640 You know it's beautiful, Danny, is that you described that, 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:20.800 and like, it chokes me up thinking about it, even 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:25.199 though you were leaving ground zero with your brothers and 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:28.479 you got all that love. We felt that down in 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:33.199 Texas during a time of unbelievable trauma and tragedy. It 0:19:33.320 --> 0:19:39.400 was one of the most beautiful, soul filling moments of 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:43.159 my life. And I remember thinking, this is why my 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:46.199 grandparents loved this country the way they do. And I 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:49.880 thought I had a pretty firm grip on love of country. 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:53.120 On nine to twelve, it was a big dose of 0:19:53.280 --> 0:19:56.160 you get it or you don't. It was all inspiring 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:56.919 the watch. 0:19:57.880 --> 0:20:00.879