Joined: 13 Sep 2006 Posts: 312 Location: County Durham, North-East
Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 9:10 pm Post subject: 9/11 Firefighter Sets the Historical Record Straight
9/11 Firefighter Sets the Historical Record Straight
By Manny Badillo, Victim’s Family Member, August 7th, 2007
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Firefighter John Schroeder, assigned to Engine Company 10 directly across the street from the World Trade Center complex, holds back tears and describes his first-hand experience on Sept. 11th. His story directly contradicts many aspects of the National Commission on Terrorist attacks any corroborates many other eyewitnesses testimony.
“Standing outside the firehouse with my buddies, we were talking about how beautiful the day was. Then just like that, our lives changed forever. Some of those guys I would never see again.”
In this exclusive interview, Firefighter Schroeder recollects in great detail how he was one of the first firefighters to rush to the complex. “We first assembled on West Street, where we saw someone burnt beyond recognition. We were like ‘What is going on here?’ and then went straight into the Marriot building” From there, Firefighter Schroeder made his way to the lobby of the North Tower. “It looked like a bomb went off, and we started making our way up the stairs to rescue as many people as we could.”
As they were making there way up the floors, Firefighter Schroeder heard a huge explosion. “The elevators just blew right out. We couldn’t believe it. The plane hits 80 floors up but the elevators explode at least five minutes later? It was unreal.”
Firefighter Schroeder made it all the way up to the 23rd floor before barely hearing on the failing radios that another plane was coming in. That plane would hit the South Tower, though for some reason, “We were tossed like a rag doll by another explosion in our building. People were making there way down the stairwells burnt like you couldn’t believe. We were all shocked because it seemed as if there was fire everywhere, on so many floors. It just didn’t make sense”.
The stairwells were black, and at that point, firefighters were making the decision to head back down stairs. In making there way down to the third floor, they were not able to find an exit. “The lobby was like a war zone. We could not find our way out. Then, all of a sudden, one of the maintenance workers had a key that opened a back door that got us out of there. He saved my life.” That worker was Willie Rodriguez. “I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart."
Firefighter Schroeder today has lost 40% of his lung capacity. “We haven’t been treated properly at all. From the day of the attack, our physical and mental health has deteriorated and it seems as if no one cares. To lose friends, to have to recover their bodies in the days after, to be offered no protections against that horrific-smelling dust that was everywhere even though the government said the air was OK to breathe is just not right.” Some of Firefighter’s Schroeder’s best friends have gotten out of the FDNY altogether while others accepted money and trips to help. “I stayed right here and did the right thing and now it feels as if I’m suffering the most. Where is our government to help the one’s with the toughest jobs on that day and the days after?”
John Schroeder, we want to thank you for being as brave as your job requires in speaking out about your experiences on Sept/ 11th. You have set the historical record straight by explaining your story. This Nation is forever grateful to you as your account will help to save and protect many more lives.
Today, tens of thousands of such 9/11 first responders are in dire need of medical care due to the environmental conditions after the 3 towers imploded at Ground Zero. Diagnosed with cancers and debilitating respiratory illnesses, these true American heroes have been denied the financial benefits required to save their lives. While suffering and deteriorating, their health crisis has been ignored by state and federal policy. Many have already died.
Composed of family members, friends and fellow Americans of individuals who perished on that fateful day, We are Change will fight to raise awareness and consciousness to the first responders' illnesses and hardships. We are determined to put a face to the thousands of forgotten victims of the 9/11 attacks 6 years later.
Joined: 13 Sep 2006 Posts: 312 Location: County Durham, North-East
Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 9:59 pm Post subject:
blackcat wrote:
Just out of interest, since this seems to happen a lot, what was wrong with my post?
Oh, damn, I am very sorry....I should have checked the "Articles" section. I have a habit of checking the "News" and "General" before I post and I really should search for the headline....
Joined: 13 Sep 2006 Posts: 312 Location: County Durham, North-East
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 1:33 pm Post subject:
Yep, it really was something wasn't it.
I really felt it for that guy....I mean when he started talking about "everything is 9/11" and how he couldn't get away from it, I must admit that my blood was boiling. These people need help and are just being tossed on the scrap heap.
I don't know about you but the fact that some victims families who took government cash and who are now gagged from talking about 9/11, can not speak out is something which stinks so bad that I bet those families can't believe they were manipulated in such a way.
Joined: 10 Dec 2005 Posts: 2017 Location: Croydon, Surrey
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 9:06 pm Post subject:
It is great listening to this honest man speak plainly about 9/11.
Also, he's one of the people (along with his 11 colleagues) whose lives were saved by Willie Rodriguez. This firefighter is understandably beside himself with gratitude.
What a privilege it was to meet WR on his last tour of Britain.
does anyone know of anything that has been set up for the firemen of 9/11 in the u.k?
forget the politicans who sit around waiting for those who have the true storys to die off, surely there is something that can be done here to raise funds to donate to newyork firemen who were involved in 9/11 and suffer as a result to add to what is already being done by the people in the u.s.
these guys deserve better, if there is any links to firemen donations can they be linked to the front page of as many websites as possible?
i aint gonna pretend i have the ability to this, but i sure as hell would donate what i could afford, and it would be good publicity to expose how the new york fire fighters are treated to a wider audience including the u.k.
they may be americans so the u.s should look after them but i don't see it that way, i see people who have suffered the most and been left to deal with it. 9/11 changed everyones lives in some way some more than others and the hero's of that day deserve to be looked after as much as possible, its a disgrace they are not, but that dos'nt stop us trying to do what we can.
if there are any links anyone knows of please link them, even making posters with information of what is happening to NY firefighters and information of how to donate that can be posted around would be something, i dont have the resources myself for but would gladly help to do what i can.
(WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Friday that he misspoke when he said he spent as much time, if not more, at ground zero exposed to the same health risks as workers combing the site after the Sept. 11 attacks.
"I think I could have said it better," he told nationally syndicated radio host Mike Gallagher. "You know, what I was saying was, 'I'm there with you.'"
The former New York mayor upset some firefighters and police officers when he said Thursday in Cincinnati that he was at ground zero "as often, if not more, than most of the workers."
"I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I'm one of them," he told reporters at a Los Angeles Dodgers-Cincinnati Reds baseball game.
Fire and police officials responded angrily, saying Giuliani did not do the same work as those involved in the rescue, recovery and cleanup from the 2001 terrorist attacks, which left many workers sick and injured.
On Friday, Giuliani said he was trying to show his concern for the workers' health.
"What I was trying to say yesterday is that I empathize with them, because I feel like I have that same risk," he said.
"There were people there less than me, people on my staff, who already have had serious health consequences, and they weren't there as often as I was," Giuliani said, "but I wasn't trying to suggest a competition of any kind, which is the way it come across."
Giuliani's explanation further angered his ground zero critics, prompting several to issue a statement demanding an apology.
"He is such a liar, because the only time he was down there was for photo ops with celebrities, with politicians, with diplomats," said deputy fire chief Jimmy Riches, who spent months digging for his firefighter son.
"On 9/11 all he did was run. He got that soot on him, and I don't think he's taken a shower since."
Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, a union that fiercely opposes Giuliani, said he doubted Giuliani misspoke.
"I think he was simply showing what his true character is - a self-absorbed, self-deluded promoter who got caught and is now just simply trying to backtrack," Schaitberger said.
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards offered his own criticism of the former mayor. "That's all we need is another person trying to exploit the tragedy of 9/11," Edwards said while campaigning in Las Vegas. "What he ought to be talking about instead is trying to explain why the firefighters and the first responders didn't have the equipment ... to get the job done."
(AP) Republican presidential hopeful and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani signs autographs after...
Full Image
A former deputy mayor, Joe Lhota, said the critics are politically motivated and wrong.
"They're taking their anger out in the wrong direction," Lhota said. "He was literally there four and five times a day; he did anything but run away.
"They're losing sight of the fact that this country, and this city, was attacked on that day by terrorists; it's their fault. Rudy Giuliani coordinated efforts in this city like no one had ever seen before."
Also Friday, Giuliani named another former deputy mayor, Rudy Washington, chairman of his campaign in New York City. Washington played a role in ground zero operations for weeks after Sept. 11 and received medical coverage for debilitating asthma and other health complications.
---
Associated Press writer Devlin Barrett contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Friday that he misspoke when he said he spent as much time, if not more, at ground zero exposed to the same health risks as workers combing the site after the Sept. 11 attacks.
"I think I could have said it better," he told nationally syndicated radio host Mike Gallagher. "You know, what I was saying was, 'I'm there with you.'"
The former New York mayor upset some firefighters and police officers when he said Thursday in Cincinnati that he was at ground zero "as often, if not more, than most of the workers."
"I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I'm one of them," he told reporters at a Los Angeles Dodgers-Cincinnati Reds baseball game.
Fire and police officials responded angrily, saying Giuliani did not do the same work as those involved in the rescue, recovery and cleanup from the 2001 terrorist attacks, which left many workers sick and injured.
On Friday, Giuliani said he was trying to show his concern for the workers' health.
"What I was trying to say yesterday is that I empathize with them, because I feel like I have that same risk," he said.
"There were people there less than me, people on my staff, who already have had serious health consequences, and they weren't there as often as I was," Giuliani said, "but I wasn't trying to suggest a competition of any kind, which is the way it come across."
Giuliani's explanation further angered his ground zero critics, prompting several to issue a statement demanding an apology.
"He is such a liar, because the only time he was down there was for photo ops with celebrities, with politicians, with diplomats," said deputy fire chief Jimmy Riches, who spent months digging for his firefighter son.
"On 9/11 all he did was run. He got that soot on him, and I don't think he's taken a shower since."
Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, a union that fiercely opposes Giuliani, said he doubted Giuliani misspoke.
"I think he was simply showing what his true character is - a self-absorbed, self-deluded promoter who got caught and is now just simply trying to backtrack," Schaitberger said.
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards offered his own criticism of the former mayor. "That's all we need is another person trying to exploit the tragedy of 9/11," Edwards said while campaigning in Las Vegas. "What he ought to be talking about instead is trying to explain why the firefighters and the first responders didn't have the equipment ... to get the job done."
A former deputy mayor, Joe Lhota, said the critics are politically motivated and wrong.
"They're taking their anger out in the wrong direction," Lhota said. "He was literally there four and five times a day; he did anything but run away.
"They're losing sight of the fact that this country, and this city, was attacked on that day by terrorists; it's their fault. Rudy Giuliani coordinated efforts in this city like no one had ever seen before."
Also Friday, Giuliani named another former deputy mayor, Rudy Washington, chairman of his campaign in New York City. Washington played a role in ground zero operations for weeks after Sept. 11 and received medical coverage for debilitating asthma and other health complications.
---
Associated Press writer Devlin Barrett contributed to this report.
My conclusion is that you should be kicked into the sewer. Then I can ignore your drivel more easily.
My conclusion is that the plane wing could not have passed through the building (a real planes wing would have sheared off on impact) and therefore THE FIREMAN IS A LIAR
Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 7:31 am Post subject: is this about planes or personalities?
i have seen some extraordinary displays of venom where no-planes is concerned, mostly premised on the idea that anyone who disputes the supposed self evidence of big boeings hitting the towers is called a piece of cointelpro scum - which is actually a revealingly irrational level of objection.
Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 7:51 am Post subject: Re: is this about planes or personalities?
Rowan Berkeley wrote:
i have seen some extraordinary displays of venom where no-planes is concerned, mostly premised on the idea that anyone who disputes the supposed self evidence of big boeings hitting the towers is called a piece of cointelpro scum - which is actually a revealingly irrational level of objection.
Hi Rowan
A straight question for you
Do you believe the fireman was telling a lie when he said he saw the plane wing go right through the building?
Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 10:00 am Post subject: Doesn't seem to have been intended to be precise
I found the quote you mention, and in the context it doesn't even seem to have been intended as anything more than a colloquial figure of speech.
It's interesting that before that he went out of his way to say that for the first time ever his Muslim fruit seller wasn't on the street that morning.
Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 9:11 pm Post subject: Re: Doesn't seem to have been intended to be precise
Rowan Berkeley wrote:
I found the quote you mention, and in the context it doesn't even seem to have been intended as anything more than a colloquial figure of speech.
It's interesting that before that he went out of his way to say that for the first time ever his Muslim fruit seller wasn't on the street that morning.
I think the term for that is 'coat-trailing'.
Well observed Rowan. Everyone go back over the first 5 minutes of this video. Then report back.... _________________ Belief is the Enemy of Truth www.dissential.com
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