‘A privilege and honor’ to help
City lauds first responders who combed through the wreckage in New York
Twenty years ago, first responders from San Antonio scoured the rubble of the World Trade Center for survivors. The team forged a bond based on one thought: Never forget the lives taken on 9/11.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg began Thursday’s City Council meeting with a ceremony in their honor.
“Firefighters from San Antonio are an excellent example of the courageous public servants who put their lives on hold to do their part for our nation and fellow Americans,” Nirenberg said.
There to receive the gratitude of city leaders were Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd, retired San Antonio fire Capt. Dennis Meier, fire Engineer Shane George, René M. Garcia Jr. and retired fire Capt. Frank Willborn.
Jerry Whitley, head chaplain at the Fire Department, prayed for peace as the ringing bells of San Fernando Cathedral echoed through
the chamber. He prayed for the 2,977 people killed in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. He prayed for the 343 firefighters and 60 police officers who died.
A 250-pound piece of rusted steel from ground zero, donated to the Fire Department in 2011, was propped on a lectern. All in the sunlit hall bowed their heads in silence. On the bagpipes, police Bike Patrol Officer Michael Gonzalez played “Amazing Grace,” a solemn melody that 20 years ago joined the church bells and sirens on the streets of New York.
Kidd, 52, served the Alamo City for many years. He rose from firefighter to district fire chief, then
served as city emergency manager from 2004 to 2010. Applause rang out when he called on fellow team members to stand and be recognized for their service 1,800 miles away in New York.
“As we remember 9/11, I hope we will always remember and never forget those families and individuals who put themselves in harm’s way,” Kidd said.
Forgetting isn’t on the table, Police Chief William Mcmanus said.
“You try to put this thing out of your mind, but it’s almost impossible,” he said. “I am humbled and honored to be a first responder and be in the room today with brother and sister firefighters.”
After the ceremony, Kidd, Garcia and Meier reunited with George at his workplace near downtown. At Fire Station No. 11 on Frio, the team recalled watching two airplanes, hijacked by alqaida terrorists, strike the twin towers and alter the Manhattan skyline forever. A third plane struck the Pentagon. Passengers rushed the hijackers of a fourth, causing it to crash in rural Pennsylvania before they could steer it toward their target.
“It was a privilege and honor to be able to go” to Ground Zero, said George, 49. “Every firefighter in the United States wanted to be there. Without the support of the city and state, we wouldn’t have been able to go.”
A solemn sight
They grabbed their bags and drove to College Station to join a task force of 72 men and women and four dogs. Six days after the attack, they boarded a military flight to Mcguire AFB in New Jersey. Kidd woke at 3 a.m. as a bus took them across the George Washington Bridge, revealing a sight that brought a long silence: dark columns of smoke rising from smoldering ruins.
A pile of concrete slabs and twisted steel rose several stories above the ground. The team worked 12-hour shifts with sophisticated equipment that included a device sensitive enough to hear the ticking of a wristwatch.
Asked whether he heard anything, Kidd’s eyes filled with tears. “No.”
Garcia, then a USAA computer technician, recorded handwritten reports in a central database he said is still in use.
“I was happy to help,” said Garcia, 56. “There are people who lost their lives that day and people who lived through it, and in my opinion they are the heroes.”
Meier, 71, recalled that they watched where they stepped for fear of treading on remains.
“Most of what we were doing was supporting search dogs,” the retired captain said. “It was a whole different ballgame.”
On Sept. 26, 2001, the team returned to Austin and cheers from family, friends and co-workers. Unseen were the sights, sounds and smells from Ground Zero the team members will carry with them always.
“It’s easy for us to say never forget,” Kidd said. “I wonder how we get that message to those who weren’t even born. I would ask that we find a way to take better care of our families and communities in memory of those we never met, who lost their lives that day.”