Recounting his experiences as a firefighter searching for victims among the 1.8 million tons of debris in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Jim Murphy held up artifact after artifact for eighth graders at St. Joan of Arc School in Hershey on Wednesday.
Each piece was a testimony to the terror, uncertainty and loss Americans experienced on September 11, 2001; each item a witness to the service and sacrifice of first responders who placed themselves in harm’s way to help their fellow man.
Among the fireman’s helmet, half-face respirator and laminated newspaper pages, one item in Murphy’s collection brought him to tears: the worship aid from the funeral of one of his closest friends, Battalion Chief Dennis Lawrence Devlin with the 9th Battalion in Manhattan. They had served together on Engine 45/Ladder 58 in the South Bronx.
Murphy held up the worship aid from Chief Devlin’s funeral. “He was a close, close friend, the greatest ever, a chief who worked his way up the ranks.”
“He was in the headquarters at the time of the attacks. He didn’t have to go, but he went, and he died. I miss him,” Murphy said through tears.
Murphy’s personal testimony underscored the human experience of 9/11 and its aftermath for the eighth-grade students, who have learned about the largest and deadliest attack on American soil through classroom lessons, history books and reading assignments.
“Hearing him say ‘I miss him’ and becoming so emotional about the loss of his friend really struck me,” said Brooke Simon. “His presentation showed us the personal cost of 9/11. We’ve read about it in textbooks but hearing from someone who actually lived it made a big impact for me.”
Classmate Kyle Swallow added, “It gives us a personal perspective to hear Mr. Murphy talk about where he was, what he saw and how the first responders gave their lives, especially those that he knew.”
A member of Mary, Mother of the Church Parish in Mount Joy, Murphy has offered his presentation for the past couple of years to eighth graders at St. Joan of Arc, where his wife is the librarian.
Wearing his firefighter dress uniform, he spoke with pride about his county and his family, who have given a combined 130 years of service to New York City; his mother, a brother and a nephew with the fire department, a brother as a police officer, and himself in the Navy before starting a career as a firefighter in the South Bronx and later in Rockaway Beach in Queens.
Murphy was on vacation on September 11, 2001. When he arrived at his firehouse after being recalled to duty, there were so many questions and fears: who carried out the attacks? Were more attacks to follow? How many lives were lost?
He and fellow first responders were ready to serve.
“My head was spinning out of control from what I saw on the news, seeing people trying to leave the city, dust everywhere, people frantically searching for the missing,” Murphy said. “I never had a feeling like that, ever. In my opinion, it was the worst day in American history.”
The worst days would continue, as Murphy learned of fallen comrades. “September 12, I started receiving calls from the wives from the department: ‘Murph, my husband didn’t come home.’ What do you tell your friend’s wife, knowing he isn’t coming home? What could I possibly tell them?”
He reported to Manhattan’s west side, where he and countless others were assigned to search, rescue and recover. Around the clock, he dug through rubble and operated a camera to look deep into mounds of debris for anyone alive or dead.
In the middle of a 20-hour shift, he took a few minutes to eat at a restaurant serving free meals for firefighters, police officers, EMTs and religious chaplains. Then he stepped inside Trinity Church, just two blocks from the World Trade Center towers.
“I took a break there. I needed to say my prayers,” Murphy said.
“Ground Zero looked like a bomb scene from World War II. But for me, this was worse. It was my city, it was people I knew and loved,” he said.
As weeks and months of funerals followed, so did people’s expressions of support and love for one another – donating blood, collecting food and water, leaving cards and flowers at local departments.
“The neighborhood of my firehouse was a mixture of people – Catholic, Jewish, Muslim. In our response area, there were 87 deaths, 17 of which were firefighters,” he said.
An estimated 14,000-15,000 people escaped the World Trade Center. Twenty survivors were pulled from the rubble through the efforts of first responders. The attacks took the lives of 2,753 people in New York, 343 of them firefighters. 184 perished at the Pentagon and 40 on the airliner that crashed in Shanksville.
For Murphy, those numbers aren’t statistics.
“I do these presentations every year to remember those who died and to share my story that we never forget what happened,” he said.
“Thank our military veterans, those who fight against terrorism and keep our country safe. Thank our police departments, fire departments, EMTs, who protect and serve us every day. And listen to the stories about this horrific day in history,” Murphy told the students.
The eighth graders took in every word of his hour-long presentation.
“It’s so unbelievable to me to see how much destruction and death was caused,” said student Devan Barnes. “It’s crazy to think that something like that could happen.”
“In the middle of it all, I was inspired to hear about how many people rushed in and gave their lives trying to save other people,” said Julia Angelo. “There were so many who ran into it and were ready to help. That touches my heart.”
(Photos by Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness.)
By Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness
