Quiet Heroes
of 9/11
 |
| Captain
Squire found himself face to face with the second 757,
hideously angled, slashing directly toward him at nearly eye
height. Pole-axed, he watched – and felt – as it
thundered directly over the John F. Kennedy and into the
World Trade Center just 9 blocks behind him |
Staten Island Ferryboat John F. Kennedy and her
Crew
The massive double-ender ferry John F. Kennedy
carries 6,000 people, but guiding it into its slip at the tip of
Manhattan was nothing new for Captain Eddie Squire. He’d been at
the helm of a Staten Island ferry for more than twenty years. But
today was September 11th, and from his wheelhouse Captain Squire
could see smoke pouring from the World Trade Center.
Quite a dramatic sight, and Captain Squire and his passengers had a
front-row seat. Nevertheless, the crew and passengers of the John F.
Kennedy were prepared to continue about their business. The news
reports were that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center,
terrorism was suspected, but accidental causes had not been ruled
out. At any rate, the situation seemed under control so the
passengers disembarked as usual and Captain Squire made his way to
the other end of his ferryboat.
First Mate Frank Dedario joined Captain Squire, and the two men
prepared for the routine return trip to Staten Island from their
perch high above New York Harbor. The last stragglers were
disembarking into Manhattan and Captain Squire was set to give the
order to cast off lines when suddenly he and First Mate Dedario
heard what they both later described as an “unnatural” noise
coming from the water direction. Snapping his head that way, Captain
Squire found himself face to face with the second 757, hideously
angled, slashing directly toward him at nearly eye height.
Pole-axed, he watched – and felt – as it thundered directly over
the John F. Kennedy and into the World Trade Center just 9 blocks
behind him.
 |
| Captain
Squire knows a good read when he finds one. |
Emergency workers and supplies were already assembling in Staten
Island and orders were given to the John F. Kennedy to return at
once and bring them to the disaster scene. She was on her way back
to Manhattan within forty-five minutes, with hundreds of
firefighters and other rescuers aboard frantically changing into
their uniforms on the trip over. Abandoning their civilian clothes
where they lay, they rushed from the ferryboat the moment it touched
Manhattan, many to their deaths when the buildings collapsed soon
after.
It was the sad duty of the John F. Kennedy’s crew to collect the
personal effects of the fallen heroes. “We put hundreds of shoes
into plastic bags,” said Captain Squire, a crazed look in his eye.
“Every bit of equipment we had we sent ashore. Then we took back
the wounded, the refugees. All we had left to help them was one box
of gloves. One box of gloves!”
