20 YEARS ON FROM 9/11 RELATIVES OF WE’LL NEVER FORGET SCOTS HERO OF TWIN TOWERS
Walter Weaver’s cousin in Ayrshire tells how his young grandchildren are keeping alive the memory of the brave relative they never met
STANDING with his head bowed, Allan Weaver and his grandchildren silently honour their hero cousin Walter, who was killed as he tried to rescue people trapped inside the doomed World Trade Centre.
It’s 20 years since the New York cop lost his life in the 9/11 terrorist attacks but to his Scots family it seems like only yesterday and the pain lingers on.
Laying flowers at a memorial in Walter’s dad’s hometown of Stevenston, Ayrshire, Allan and his grandkids A-Jay, 11, Brooke, 10, Neve, eight, and Zach, two, remember the family member who made the ultimate sacrifice.
The Weaver family, who make regular visits to the plaque outside the town’s Beattie Library, are determined that the NYPD police officer – who wasn’t supposed to be working on that fateful day – will never be forgotten.
Allan, 60, said: “As time goes on, memories fade and we don’t want Walter or any of the other men and women who lost their lives that day to not be remembered.
“The younger generation who didn’t live through that horrific day need to learn about what happened and keep the memory of the civilians and emergency service heroes who gave their lives trying to save others.
“I’ve always spoken about Walter, who was my full cousin, to my grandchildren. The older ones are beginning to understand the sacrifices that were made and the enormity of the attacks.
“Walter and his brothers used to visit Scotland when they were wee laddies with their dad Billy, who was born in bred in Stevenston.
“I can’t believe the little boy whose sweeties I used to nick has been gone for 20 years.”
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Walter Edward Weaver, 30, who served with the NYPD’s emergency service unit in the Bronx, was scheduled to be off work. Instead, he filled in for another officer stationed in Lower Manhattan.
After the 9/11 terrorists crashed the passenger planes into the World Trade Centre towers, Walter, who had just moved into a house with his fiancée, rushed into the burning North Tower. Reports indicate he was trying to free victims trapped in an elevator on the 11th floor when it collapsed.
Retired social worker Allan said: “I was in work when the news came through that planes had been flown into the towers. I can still remember the sick feeling I got in the pit of my stomach.
“Because he wasn’t supposed to be working that day and all of the confusion related to the tower collapses, my Uncle Billy didn’t learn for three days that Walter was, in fact, lost in the tower collapse. He was identified by the people he helped escape who had survived.
“It was my mum who got the call to say he was missing and a part of my uncle died that day.”
Retired airline worker Bill Weaver became an enduring image in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.
A drummer with a New York pipe band, he wore his Gordon Highlanders regalia every day as he waited at Ground Zero for news of his boy. But no trace of Walter’s body was ever found.
Allan said: “Billy travelled from his home in Long Island every day to watch the recovery effort, in the hope they would find his son’s remains. It was heartbreaking.
“Due to the impact of the towers collapsing, traces of many of the victims were never found. But he refused to give up his vigil until the last of the excavators had left Ground Zero. He was consumed with a grief so strong it took away his identity and he could think of nothing else.
“He wore a T-shirt every day with Walter’s
face on it and a slogan which read, ‘My Hero, My Son.’ Billy passed away in 2008. He was suffering from Alzheimer’s but losing his son took such a massive toll on him that part of me believes he died of a broken heart.” Dad-of-two Allan, who lives in Ardrossan, Ayrshire, added: “Nearly 3000 people lost their lives in 9/11 and another 6000 were injured. Memories may fade but the trauma for the families goes on. How do you ever come back from something like that? My Uncle
Billy didn’t and there are thousands of people out there still suffering. In a way I’m glad he’s not here to see what’s going on in Afghanistan.
“Two decades and now US and British forces have pulled out and what has changed?
“To think of all the people who lost their lives in 9/11 and in Afghanistan ... I think my Uncle Billy would have been very bitter and wonder, ‘What was the point in it all?’”
Although none of Walter’s remains were recovered, his gun was found and donated by his family to the National Firearms Museum. It has become known as “The 9/11 Revolver” and rests beside a photo of Walter with an inscription recognising his sacrifice and that of the other emergency responders who helped get 25,000 people to safety before both towers collapsed.
In 2002, Bill came to Scotland for the unveiling of a plaque in Stevenston and in 2003, a road in Walter’s hometown of Hicksville, New York, was named Walter Weaver Way.
Allan said: “Uncle Billy made sure Walter will be remembered in New York and Scotland. Now he’s gone it’s up to us to keep his legacy going.
“Memories of 9/11 may be more distant but having Walter’s name on the side of the library will have people asking questions about who he was for years to come.” Of the people who perished during the initial attacks and the subsequent collapses of the towers, 343 were firefighters, 23 were police officers, 37 were from the port authority and the rest were civilians. Victims ranged in age from two to 85.
The attacks, which were carried out by the militant Islamist group al-Qaeda, are the most lethal terrorist attacks in history.
Allan said: “We can’t begin to imagine what the victims went through. History needs to remember every one of them.
“We’ll do our part by helping to keep Walter’s memory alive.”