Michael oral history interview conducted by Janet Lavelle, July 9, 2010

About

Mike, a union ironworker, received a phone call at home about 9:30 pm on 9/11 from a friend who was at Ground Zero who told him, "We need you down here. Get down here!" In little more than an hour, Mike was at the site. It was dark and smoky. Ironworkers were needed to burn the steel with a torch. His eyes were burning and the nurses and paramedics would clean his eyes every hour, which was "the best feeling." Mike helped snake infrared cameras through the rubble to find survivors. The first victim they found was a man "just sitting there with his eyes, closed, like sleeping . . . untouched . . . around all that disaster . . ." Mike saw he had a wedding ring, and wished that he could have found some identification on the body so that he could inform the family. It was a sight he can never forget. As dawn broke on 9/12, Mike was able to see the full extent of the devastation. He took a brief nap and returned to work on the bucket brigade. He was there when they pulled the last survivor from the wreckage that day. He went home Wednesday night and returned Thursday morning to work on the bucket brigade. The smell of decay and smoke permeated the area. Ordinary people and companies provided food, drink, gloves, machinery supplies, etc. within less than a day. Mike, another ironworker and several people from FEMA climbed through a small opening into the parking garage to search for survivors. He saw a steel beam cutting through concrete like "a knife going through butter." A…

Archive

Library of Congress, in Library of Congress

Licence or status

Rights statement at the Library of Congress, as the Library of Congress states it.

Credit

Library of Congress

Language

English

Country

United States

Who can watch

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