Louis oral history interview conducted by Christine Collins, July 26, 2010

About

Louis was a NYPD Homicide detective on 9/11/2001. He arrived on the evening of 9/11 at Ground Zero. He said it seemed worse the next day when he saw it in the daylight and that the ash was "ankle deep." He spent most of his time working at the morgue, opening body bags to identify victims and check for identification such as a license, etc. If a body was intact, he sent it for fingerprints and x-rays. Louis was happy when he could identify a body for a family and was glad to help in order to get the job done. Since Louis was a homicide detective for 32 years in Brooklyn, he saw many murders and was accustomed to seeing dead bodies. He would do it again if he was able. He saw half of a face locked in a frozen scream and compared it with the painting of Edward Munch. He saw a fireman that was baked in his suit, whose skin was "cooked." He saw a man with his arms through his stomach and said he was like a "pretzel." He lost a close friend named Brian at Ground Zero and spent time looking for his remains. He was never found. He said in the beginning of the clean up, the body bags were large and became smaller as time went on, and smaller pieces of bodies were found. After his work at the morgue, he worked at the landfill, which he said was eerie because of the stacks of burnt fire and police vehicles. The ground at the landfill bubbled and smoked, and he sifted through the debris with a rake to find body parts and bones. He said the sunsets at the landfill were beautiful. Louis…

Archive

Library of Congress, in Library of Congress

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

Credit

Library of Congress

Language

English

Country

United States

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