Irish America
By Tom Deignan, Columnist
October / November 2002
Dennis Smith, former firefighter and author, talks to Tom Deignan. ℘℘℘ If retired firefighter and best-selling author Dennis Smith had his way, the Twin Towers that once dominated the New York City skyline would be built again. Not in downtown Manhattan, however. Smith believes the towers should have been rebuilt as part of the ongoing investigation into the tragic events of … [Read more...] about Why the Towers Fell
By Lynn Tierney, Contributor
June / July 2002
When the dust settled on September 11, one of the 343 firefighters listed as missing, later pronounced dead, was Chief Bill Feehan. A firefighter to his core, Feehan was loved by the men and women in the FDNY. Bill Feehan loved eggs over easy. Every day for the last 20 years at least he stopped at the Northern Cross Diner in Queens and read the Daily News as he had his usual … [Read more...] about The Heart of a Firefighter
By Georgina Brennan, Contributor
April / May 2002
September 12, 2001: After a 26-hour shift Brendan McCormack emerges exhausted out of the darkness and into another day. A Donegal man, who has lived in the U.S. for 17 years, McCormack is an ironworker. Minutes after the collapse of the Twin Towers, he and other ironworkers from all over the city dropped their tools and leapt into action, crusading down to the effort at Ground … [Read more...] about The Ironworkers
In a strange twist of fate, Ron Clifford escaped the WTC unaware that his sister and niece were on the plane that crashed into the North Tower. ℘℘℘ United Flight 175, a Boeing 767 non-stop from Boston's Logan Airport to Los Angeles with seven flight attendants and 56 passengers on board, rolled back from Gate 19 shortly after 7:45 a.m. on September 11th. The captain was … [Read more...] about Fire in the Morning
By Siobhan Tracey, Contributor
April / May 2002
Firefighter Bill Butler is very grateful to be alive. He and five colleagues from Ladder 6, Engine 9, were in the North Tower helping to rescue a Port Authority worker named Josephine Harris when the building collapsed around them. Miraculously, the part of the stairwell that they were in remained intact and they survived though others above and below them perished. When the … [Read more...] about Bill Butler
