4 Wednesday
September 14, 2011
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Former NYPD captain revisits 9/11 experience
Capt. Jimmy Albrecht during his presentation Monday at MSU.
Hannah Hofmann
JOSH HAYTER STAFF WRITER Capt. Jimmy Albrecht of the New York Police Department remembers growing up in Queens and taking trips to Manhattan with his father, where they watched as the World Trade Center was being built. He never dreamed he would watch it fall. On that day ten years ago, Albrecht was a New York City Police officer in command of 300 policemen. On Monday, in the Dillard College of Business, he shared his eyewitness account with students, staff and faculty. Albrecht, now 50 years old, said he was sitting in his office reading crime reports when an officer knocked on his door. “Cap’, a plane just flew into the World Trade Center,” she said. Albrecht flipped on the TV. When he saw the second explosion, he thought it was caused by debris from the first building striking the second tower. Then he heard a reporter say that a second plane had hit. “Look at the sky – it’s blue,” he said. “There’s no way a second plane hit the tower.” But he was wrong. Then the police radio barked, “Mobilization level four!” It was the code for a city wide emergency deployment. He grabbed his helmet and
fired up the police bus. With ambulances in front of him and fire trucks behind him, he sped toward the World Trade Center. “You get to the top of the hill and you see the full Manhattan sky,” Albrecht said. “I got to that point and I saw the two towers burning. It was pretty distressful, amazing and surreal.” Then he heard something he would never forget – a police officer yelling out on the radio, “Watch out! The building’s coming down! Watch out! The building’s coming down!” What building is he talking about? Albrecht wondered. He jerked his head to the left and watched as the first tower crumbled to the ground. Albrecht was standing next to Building Number Seven when the second tower fell. He and other rescuers ran for cover as debris from the tower swept over the streets, swallowing everything in its path. “We ran into the subway. There was no visibility whatsoever,” he recalled. “It looked like a snowstorm.” Albrecht said that until that day there was nothing New York City First Responders couldn’t handle. On that day, 3,000 civilians were killed along with 343 firefighters and 66 police officers. For 40 percent of the victims, no remnants were ever found. “Even though it was a very tragic day, it was a very suc-
cessful day in terms of rescue workers,” Albrecht said. “We were able to accomplish a lot (and) rescue literally thousands of people.” He said 60,000 people worked in the two towers. But on 9/11, at 8:46 a.m., when the first plane hit, many hadn’t arrived to their jobs. Only 34,000 people were in the towers at that point. And despite communication complications, rescue workers were able to rescue 99 percent of the people below the points of impact. Within three hours, more than three million people were evacuated from Lower Manhattan, he said. But 10 years later, the future would be grim for more than 1,000 First Responders, Albrecht included. They have been diagnosed with cancer or a lifethreatening disease due to the toxins they breathed in during the days of rescue. Since 9/11, 400 New York police officers, firefighters and rescuers have died from complications related to their exposure to carcinogens at Ground Zero, he said. “Last week, two firefighters and a cop died,” he said. “On average, three people who worked at the World Trade Center site, either on Sept. 11 or after, die every week. And the number keeps increasing.” Both New York City and the Federal Government refuse to acknowledge that the cancer that rescue workers contracted is related to the events of Sept. 11, he said. “I’m a cancer survivor. I can tell you that my cancer is attributed to 9/11. I had skin cancer on everywhere that was exposed that day,” he said. “It ain’t from goin’ to the beach, I can tell you that.” “Since then, we’ve already lost more rescue workers through cancer and lung disease, due to the carcinogens, cement and dust that went into their lungs, than we lost on that day,” Albrecht continued. Albrecht retired in 2003 but said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder due to the traumatic events on 9/11. “I started watching some of the memorials yesterday and turned them off after five minutes,” he said. “It’s a little too overwhelming.” Asked by an audience member about how he deals with what he experienced that day, Albrecht said that he prays and has become more of a family man. “I pray a lot,” he said. “I make time for myself and my family now. You have to make time to unwind.”
A PowerPoint slide shown during the presentation Monday evening. The NYPD received many letters from children and adults all around the nation showing appreciation for its work during the 9/11 attacks.
Hannah Hofmann
Above left: Wichita County Judge, Woodrow W. “Woody” Gossum, Jr., served as keynote speaker at the candlelight vigil. Above right: Dr. Ruth Morrow, Renee Dubois and SGA president Kyle Christian were among the seven speakers at the 9/11 ceremony. Above: The crowd of more than 100 people recites the Pledge of Allegence on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Hannah Hofmann
Vigil recalls 9/11 JOSH HAYTER STAFF WRITER Over one hundred MSU students, faculty and staff gathered at a candlelight vigil in Sunwatcher Plaza on Sunday evening in remembrance of the events of Sept. 11, 2001. The ceremony began with the presentation of the colors by Sheppard Air Force Base Honor Guard. The pledge of allegiance was then recited. Michael Mills, SGA vice president during the events of 9/11 and current director of housing, recalled his experience that day as an MSU student how he saw America respond. “As awful as that tragedy was, it brought out the true character of the citizens of the United States,” Mills said. “Everyone put aside their differences and came together to show that we would get through the crisis.” Mills said that it is important to remember not only the victims of the attack but also the heroes of the New York Police and Fire Departments who put their lives on the line in order to save the lives of others. Also, Americans should never forget the troops that have fought and those who continue to fight to keep our country free. “9/11 was a day that forever changed our country and it’s a day we will always remember,” Mills said. Ruth Morrow, professor of music, said she was saddened for the actions that made the day necessary but emboldened by the embrace of the world as it stood fast against terror. To express her thoughts and feelings, she read an email as well as “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep,” a poem by Mary Frye.
“Do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there; I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow, I am the sun on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning’s hush I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there; I did not die.” “9/11 was no mistake and there was nothing
humane about it,” Morrow read. “Shameful evil acts of others must teach us, no longer can we take things at face value, but we can research and educate ourselves and celebrate those who are good, honest and well intentioned. Let us not dwell on the past but remember, honor, run and walk toward a brighter future.” “We tend to use momentous occasions for reflection and growth (and) this is among the most momentous in US history,” she said. “May we walk gently during the time that we have, do good works, and draw strength from those who have gone before us.” Woodrow W. “Woody” Gossom, Jr., Wichita County judge, was the keynote speaker of the evening. “God bless America!” he said as he began his speech. Since Sept. 11, America has changed in many ways but in others, it has stayed the same, Gossom said. “We’re a more cautious group of people, either by choice or by circumstance. We are more suspicious. We don’t know where we are economically or politically and we question where we are power wise. We’re pessimistic. We remain skeptical,” he said. “(But) we are a proud nation and we deserve to be. We are undaunted. We have faced the worst dilemma that we’ve ever faced on our continent. And we have survived. We are optimistic. We believe that things will be better and that we will overcome enemies both foreign and domestic.” Gossom closed with a prayer. David Farabee, former state representative, challenged those in attendance to tell service men and women and loved ones how much they are appreciated. “I think that’s the one thing, as we reflect on the past, that we might look back and say ‘I wish I had done that more. I wish I had told people who were closest to me ‘I appreciate you. You mean a lot to me,’’ Farabee said. Renee Dubois, MSU student, provided thoughts on the future. “We as the next generation must begin to stand united for the progression of our nation and the global society,” she said. “We must begin to address the social issues in our society and acknowledge that we are all Americans and equally entitled to the pursuit of happiness.” The service ended with the singing of “America the Beautiful” by the University Singers followed by a brief moment of silence.