John Bombace oral history interview conducted by Janet Lavelle, August 3, 2010

About

John worked as a crane operating engineer on 9/11/2001. He was on a coffee break on the morning of 9/11 when he heard news over the radio that a plane hit the World Trade Center. When he turned on the T.V. he saw the second plane hit the tower. John recalls that, "Immediately everybody stopped work," and he reported to his local union office hall. He worked on one of three mobile cranes that were conveyed to the WTC site. He arrived at the site around 11 am on 9/11 and he recalls, "(I) saw a dust cloud, papers all over the ground." John recalls, "(I) saw the wheels from the airplane on the ground," and that, "They put cones wherever they found a body part (so you wouldn't step on them)." He mentions, "When running a crane, you're only supposed to get directions from the signal man, but (that day) everyone was giving directions." John remembers that, "Whoever needed you, you went to work for." He particularly recalls the heroic efforts of ironworkers, stating, "Those ironworkers were fantastic, they would work their way under the steel looking for bodies and show up some 50 feet away." He worked at the site from 11 am on 9/11 to 8 pm on 9/12/2001. He remembers sleeping on makeshift cots that he and his co-workers took turns sharing. John remembers, "[We got] peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to eat...we had to eat them fast, or they would be covered with dust." He also remembers seeing "a line right where that building [WTC Towers] stood, it was very eerie." When he left…

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Library of Congress, in Library of Congress

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Credit

Library of Congress

Language

English

Country

United States

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