Posted on 09/05/2011 7:11:42 AM PDT by nuconvert
Bob Beckwith, a retired New York City firefighter, is one of the best-known faces of the rescue efforts in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001.
The photo of him wearing his old fire helmet, standing alongside then President George W. Bush atop the ash-covered remains of a fire truck, became legendary. It graced the cover of the next day's New York Post and, later, Time magazine.
It also catapulted the retiree into the nation's spotlight.
Beckwith, 79, still lives in the same house in Baldwin, Long Island, that he has shared with his wife, Barbara, 77, since 1958.
"I was just an old man, just getting older and enjoying my retirement. Then 9/11 came," he says.
On that grave morning 10 years ago, he had already encountered one terrifying shock: His 14-year-old grandson was hit by a car while he was biking to school. Beckwith rushed to the scene, fought his way through a crowd, and waited at the boy's side for the ambulance to arrive. A short time later, he stopped home on his way to the hospital, heard the news on the radio about what was happening at the World Trade Center, and turned on the television.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I love this guy...so unassuming...
“”You do what you’re told when the Secret Service talks,” he says.”
Here’s another story behind a photo from 9/11. Ashley Faulkner:
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110904/NEWS0201/110902027
Thank you for posting such a wonderful story, nuconvert. It is truly inspirational.
I didn’t know she went on to work as a WH intern.
Thanks
“I can’t hear you!”
“I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people — and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!”
No teleprompter, no script.
Thanks nuconvert.
One of the greatest Presidential moments ever in U.S. History. That quote will be remembered hundreds years from now.
An unforgettable moment...
And... they did.
And still are.
Toby Keith, Courtesy Of The Red, White, And Blue. Love it.
Words cannot describe my feelings toward the parasites and traitors that inflicted him on me.
There’s something about knowing they’re standing on a fire truck...just brings it right back how horrible that attack was.
For Battalion Chief John Moran, a FReeper who was last seen in the South Tower!
Yes. Bump
You can post a link to articles from USA Today/ Gannett. We can’t post excerpts from them.
Amen to that. Rest in peace John.
Good to know. Thanks.
Yes..RIP.
I wonder if “W” still carries the policeman’s badge that was given to him by a 9/11 widow? I remember him being asked about it a couple of years later, while he was still president and he pulled it out of his pocket.
BOZ would never be able to speak like that. Period.
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