Free Republic

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...

Much of the business of Presidents of the United States these days involves special, symbolic support and caring for causes, the injured, and the grieving. On September 11, 2006, the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, President Bush traveled from “Ground Zero” in New York City, to an empty field near Shanksville, Pa., and onward to the pentagon. At each site of loss and suffering, the president served largely a symbolic yet very meaningful role. Three days after the terror and destruction of 9/11, on September 14, 2001, the President of the United States traveled to New York City to...

When President Bush draped an arm across the shoulder of a retired firefighter at Ground Zero after the terror attacks, it was the defining moment of his presidency - and the moment that made Bob Beckwith famous. Five years later, Beckwith still gets asked to speak about his moment in the spotlight. But he steers clear of politics and donates the proceeds from his speeches to the New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation. "It's a blame game today," Beckwith said of politics. Beckwith had served New York City honorably but in relative obscurity for three decades as a firefighter at...