John James McHale oral history interview conducted by Dr. Benjamin Luft, November 30, 2010

About

John was a police officer in Rochester, New York on 9/11/2001. He was driving alone in his patrol car when he heard on the radio that the World Trade Center Tower was hit by a plane. He went to his headquarters and asked to sign up on a waitlist to see if they needed responders at the site. He previously worked in the NYPD for six years and called up his former partner, John, in Brooklyn to see if they needed help. He took vacation time and traveled 5 ½ hours down to Manhattan to assist in any way he could. As he approached the Westside Highway, he recalled smelling burning flesh. John went to the Javits Center and was bussed to the site with a group of NYPD officers from the Manhattan area. He says he was odd in his Rochester Police uniform. He came into the site through Vesey Street and recalled seeing just rubble, smoke, and dust-and had only a painter's mask on. He felt it was unorganized that first day, and relied mostly on Lieutenant Ortiz, who took roll call and delegated tasks to other responders. John worked on the bucket brigade and was told to tag body parts or "anything of substantial value" he found. He had never done anything like that before, but still felt it was part of his job. He stayed at the site for 15-16 hours, and by the end of the day, he drove back to Long Island with his former NYPD partner to get some rest. He slept for 3-4 hours, then drove back to the Brooklyn precinct and was taken again to the Vesey Street area.

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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