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Crime & Safety

A Retired NYC Firefighter Remembers

Meet Bill Gleeson, who served as a New York City firefighter on 9/11 and now is retired in Northeast Cobb.

Northeast Cobb resident Bill Gleeson will never forget 9/11.

A New York City firefighter 10 years ago, he wasn't scheduled to work that day, but the Fire Department of New York had a "total recall," demanding every firefighter come on scene.

"I arrived at 10 a.m., and both towers were down," Gleeson said.

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He, alongside other emergency personnel, sifted through the wreckage with 5-gallon buckets. The lives of New York City firefighters were forever changed when the Twin Towers came down.

"You either worked or went to a funeral—sometimes two or three funerals a day. The first couple of days were just organized confusion," he said.

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But the heroic if tragic response of New York firefighters, charging into the towers to be caught in the collapse, is something no one could change, Gleeson said. "If it happened again tomorrow, we would all be running into those buildings again."

The changes in society since the terrorist attacks are obvious, Gleeson said. Look at today's airports and you can see the difference for yourself.

"We have become hardened to the fact that there are good guys and bad guys—real bad guys," he said.

Glesson retired from the Fire Department on June 2003 and moved to Georgia. He meets with 25 other 9/11 firefighters from around the state every month with the group Retired New York City Shields of Georgia.

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