Kevin B. McCormick oral history interview conducted by Julie Broihier, November 15, 2010

About

Kevin has worked as a police officer for NYC for the past 17 years. On the morning of 9/11, he was listening to the radio at home and heard of the plane crashes. He called work and was told to come in. He recalls that traffic on the Meadowbrook was closed to all traffic except for first responders. He raced to his work site in Jamaica in the warrant unit. He was told to "suit up" along with co-workers and head to Chambers Street to begin search and rescue. He recalls going into Building Five, walking into the darkness, over debris and smoldering piles, feeling around for anything. He stated that shortly after leaving this building, it collapsed. He remembers always waiting for instructions on where to go next and being anxious about not doing enough. His main motivation to keep going was to find someone alive, but he never did. He said his frustration was shared with a group of search and rescue German Shepherds that were brought in. The dogs would get frustrated and suffer from depression because they too, could not find anyone. After a while, responders would be deliberately placed under debris so the dogs would be able to find them and get rejuvenated by their efforts. Kevin stated that he was always moving closer to Ground Zero in the hopes of finding someone, but he never did. In the beginning he worked 16 hour shifts and eventually went to 12 hour shifts. He worked on the bucket brigade a few times and remembers that one of the buildings was nicknamed "Pringles"…

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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