Firemen across the Coast remember September 11th
For many first responders, 9/11 is more than just a regular day to them. The tragedy changed their career and lives forever.
People can still remember exactly what they were doing and where they were on September 11th, 2001 when the Twin Towers in New York were struck. Stephen Dunaway, captain at fire station seven in Biloxi, has served for the fire department for over 23 years and says he will never forget that day. “When the first plane hit the building, we were all going ‘what, what a terrible day to be working there,’ you know. Then when the second one hit, it was everybody immediately knew something bigger was going on.”
D’Iberville Fire Chief Gerald Smith was on duty twenty years ago when he turned on the TV and was shaken to his core. “It was just something that hit you. Like, how can this happen? This is in America. This is something that is not supposed to happen, but it happened.”
After seeing the amount of smoke and flames coming from the buildings, they knew this was going to be an unforgettable moment in history. “We saw the amount of fire and we were all pretty deeply concerned for them, for what was happening in those buildings.”
While Chief Smith and Captain Dunaway were active firefighters when this attack happened, Duon Lander, training officer for the D’Iberville Fire Department, was a junior in high school. “I remember going to school that day and everything shutdown. Literally, the country stopped everything it was doing.”
Over 343 firefighters lost their lives on September 11th and to commemorate those lives lost, the D’Iberville Fire Department placed 343 flags outside their station shaped as the Twin Towers. “2,977 people total lost their lives, the day of the attacks, and that’s not counting the lives that have been lost since than because of that event.”
All the firemen say each day they put their lives on the line, not knowing if they will return home. “We show up every day and every time we get on those trucks, our lives are actually on the line. We don’t know what we are coming into. We don’t know what could happen, but we do it because it is in us. It’s part of us.”
