Thomas Erickson oral history interview conducted by Julie Broihier, September 27, 2010

About

Thomas was a Port Authority Police Officer on 9/11. He is now an NYPD officer with the K-9 Unit and lives in Lindenhurst, NY. His wife was walking into the South Tower when it was hit-- vertebrae in her neck were crushed, and her neck was broken. While he was in the car approximately 5-6 blocks away, the second plane flew over his car. He saw the second plane hit the tower and explode. He said it sounded like a firecracker and a giant fireball shot out of the building. Thomas was initially assigned to the temporary morgue at the Staten Island Ferry terminal for a few days where he felt "useless" until it was realized there were no survivors of the attack. He then spent two weeks on the bucket brigade and did not leave Manhattan for two weeks. He compared the surface of the pile to walking on the moon. There were giant holes and it was hard to dig because of the amount of all the steel. He said he was in awe of the whole magnitude of the event. He spoke of the 2-3 inches of dust on the sidewalk and how his first impression was that "it looked like a Terminator movie." He said the mall at the Trade Center was empty and seemed like a horror movie. He recalled the heat from the pile and felt he was unprepared for this kind of work. He found postcards from the observation deck in the pile but said steel was the most recognizable thing. He was then assigned to secure the subways from looters, and worked in the surrounding area until 2006.

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

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