Philip J. Bruno oral history interview conducted by Brittain Mahaffey, October 31, 2014

About

On 9/11, Philip was a retired police officer who was working in the plumbing business. He was at a job on the 13th floor of the unfinished Ritz Carlton, not far from the World Trade Center. He saw the fire and the second plane from his window and left to go to the site. A triage center was set up at the Winter Garden Atrium for those who made it down the stairs of the towers. A firefighter mentioned they were running low on oxygen. Philip knew there were some tanks back at the Ritz Carlton used for cutting metal. He ran back to grab the oxygen tanks just as the South Tower fell. Philip escaped the dust cloud from each tower, as he ran back and forth from the Ritz Carlton grabbing tanks, hard hats, cutting tools, and masks. He squeezed in a phone call to his wife, who told him their neighbor was in one of the towers and had not been heard from. Fortunately, Philip missed the dust clouds, but there were odd smells and fires everywhere. "We knew it was dangerous. Dust is not good for you." The amount of dust at the site was colossal. As a former police officer, Philp had experience approaching a scene and making quick decisions to help others. He spent three days working with firefighters on the South Bridge with a torch in his hand ready to respond to requests for help. When he got home, he learned his neighbor was still missing. All the neighbor's relatives were at the house waiting, like a big wake. He immediately grabbed some red, white, and blue Christmas lights and hung…

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Library of Congress

Language

English

Country

United States

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