Retired New Jersey fire chief Peter Cagnassola told Newsmax on Thursday that the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks is "a day to honor all the lives lost during 9/11 and to reflect."
Cagnassola, who helped with recovery efforts in the days after the collapse of the World Trade Center, told "Wake Up America" that the anniversary of the attacks is always "a tough day."
He said that his department went to Ground Zero two days after the towers fell "and spent a few days down there."
"Your hope was to … find somebody alive and we lent a helping hand any way we could," he said.
Cagnassola also reflected on the reaction to the attacks at the time.
"The country was united, everybody came out, it wasn't just the emergency services," he said. "You had heavy equipment operators. You had steel workers. Like I said, everybody was united.
"You couldn't buy a flag [or] a lapel pin back in those days. Everybody had one, and things were different than they are today."
Cagnassola noted that firefighters around the world showed sympathy and support for those in New York and New Jersey who helped in recovery efforts at Ground Zero, saying he received a pair of signed firefighters' helmets from firefighters in Australia that he brings to schools, police and fire academies to help raise money for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which helps the families of fallen 9/11 first responders.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.