William Hammond oral history interview conducted by Ashlee McGlone, September 10, 2014

About

On September 11th, Bill was retired from the Nassau County Police Department and was working a seasonal position with the New York State Park Police at Sunken Meadow State Park. Bill and his colleagues went in on September 14th. In the mornings, when he drove in, he would pass people who would cheer as he drove by. It was a pleasant surprise that people were happy to see them, since "as a cop, no one is ever happy to see you... they had a show of support." Bill spent about fourteen days in the recovery efforts at the site. He worked as security personnel. One day he was working with a rookie cop and they got caught downwind by the dust from the pile blowing constantly in their direction. Bill suggested they move to a different location, to avoid all the dust and debris. Reluctantly, the rookie agreed, after Bill said he would take the blame if they got in trouble. On the way home, he told Bill, "You were right. This is the first time I ever left here that I didn't have a headache." Bill lost a friend named Wally Weaver. They found his gun, but never recovered his body. The gun is now in the National Firearms Museum, and Bill believes this would make Wally happy. Bill states that President George W. Bush had it right when he said we would be in a war like no other war. There is no real battleground. Bill believes, "They hate us, want to kill us -- the more the better."

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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