Remembering 911 through the eyes of Miramar Police Captain Mike Yepez.

On September 11, 2001, Miramar Police Captain Mike Yepez was wearing a different uniform. He was working as a New York City Police Department (NYPD) patrol officer. Below is his personal story of that fateful day:

I worked the night shift and would arrive home at around 6:30-7AM, always unplugging my home phone to sleep. For some unknown reason I didn’t that day. At around 8 a.m. I received a call from my lieutenant and was told to come in for court.

As I was driving on the Verranzano Bridge, listening to the radio, I heard about a plane crashing into the Twin Towers. I thought it was a bad joke until I looked up and saw the smoke and the second plane strike the other tower. I knew then it was no accident.

My fiancé at the time, Jenny, was working at the World Trade Center building 7. Along with the towers, that building collapsed as well. I was concerned and unable to get a hold of her.

Walking into the 66 Precinct, everyone was crying. There was an utter silence in the locker room though that was unusual. Fifteen of us squeezed into a transport van and headed toward the towers. Vehicles in the Battery Tunnel were not moving, and we decided to walk through the tunnel into Manhattan. The site looked like a scene from a movie… a cloud of dust; people running, screaming, crying; chaos. It seemed unreal and I kept thinking about how to get into contact with Jenny. Our assignment was to help with rescue efforts. Exhausted from the previous shift and with no sleep, I worked for another 38 hours. We all wanted to save someone. That’s what pushed us to continue working, while breathing in soot. At that point we had no masks, and we didn’t care.

After I was relieved of duty and was able to go home, I found out Jenny had survived. She had walked out of her building and walked for hours and hours to her parents’ home in New Jersey.

For the next three months many of us worked twelve hour shifts with no days off. I was on autopilot and didn’t have the leisure to feel anything. It took six months for what occurred to really sink in.

Jenny didn’t have a job anymore and decided to stay with her parents in their second home in Miramar. Nine months later I decided to give

South Florida a try. I love New York, but 9/11 had forever changed the course of my life and career.

The Miramar Police Department became my home in 2002. When asked to write about my 9/11 experience, I pulled an old picture of me in my NYPD uniform. The kid in that picture had no idea what he was getting himself into. However, every time he put that uniform on, he enjoyed every minute of it and did it with pride and honor.

We often hear the term “Never Forget.” On this 20th anniversary of 9/11, I will never forget the pride we felt to be an American at that time. It didn’t matter what your background was or what uniform you were wearing that day. We all came together and showed the world the compassion we had for each other.