9/11: ‘A Day to Give Back’

By Alessandro Gisotti

Certain days stand out as turning points in human history. For the 21st century, September 11, 2001, is undoubtedly one of those defining dates that shaped our understanding of the world we live in today.

Over the past 25 years, numerous analyses and reflections have explored global geopolitics, shifts in U.S. foreign policy, and how that tragic day reshaped relations between the West and the Islamic world. Yet, alongside these broader narratives, there are quieter and deeply personal stories — stories that are woven into the daily lives of thousands of people.

They are the stories of the survivors, of the victims’ families and friends, and of those who fell ill in the aftermath. Above all, they are the stories of the true heroes who risked, and all too often lost, their lives to save others, performing acts of courage and selflessness that continue to touch our hearts today.

Among them are New York City’s firefighters. Three hundred forty-three of them perished on that day, becoming an enduring symbol of strength and resilience — men and women who refused to yield to evil, giving everything, even their lives, to help others.

Ground Zero

Twenty-five years later, Daniel Nigro, New York City Fire Department Chief of Operations at the time of the attacks, shares his reflections on this anniversary, as well as his hopes for the future of New York, America, and his fellow firefighters.

Q: Commander Daniel Nigro, you took command of the New York Firefighters on 9/11 after your friend, Chief Peter Ganci, was killed when the North Tower came down. You lost 343 fellow companions that day. Twenty-five years later, what does it mean to you personally to reach this anniversary?

Well, it never gets old; the feeling of sadness 25 years later is the same. Sometimes I’m amazed that I’m still here. I’m not a young man, and many died that day. And many have died since from diseases from the World Trade Center. I think about every member we lost and the poor civilians who were killed and everything they missed in 25 years. I’ve been fortunate enough to see my daughters’ weddings, my grandchildren’s births…. My friends and other folks never got to experience that, and I can’t help but be sad this year and every year.

Q: You mentioned something that is probably not very well known outside the U.S. Thousands of people, including many firefighters, developed cancer and other illnesses in the years after 9/11, and many of them, unfortunately, died. What would you like the public to understand about that so-called “second wave” of 9/11 deaths?

It’s something we knew: the situation there, the air we were breathing and the potential toxic nature of it. But for the firefighters, it’s kind of what we do for a living and the members, myself included, spent months down there trying to recover the remains of every victim we could. For our work there, we’ve become sick. I think we’ve lost nearly 500 members of the Fire Department. The Police Department has lost many members, and many of us are battling various forms of cancer, myself included. Thank goodness I’m fine right now, but it seems to be the story of post-9/11. When will they get sick, and what will they be sick with? It’s just a sad footnote to a terrible day. If the day could be made any worse, it was by that. We all recognize those who passed and died in the past years from illness, and we do that every year.

Q: In your opinion, what changed in the Fire Department and in New York’s culture and spirit in the weeks after 9/11 — I am referring to a change that continues to this day, something that perhaps changed the job of New York City firefighters forever?

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Well, we had to come to grips with the loss of many experienced members of the Department, the leadership of the department and rebuild, which we did. The mission of the Fire Department remains the same, and we’re here to serve the public and to save lives and to save property, and that hasn’t changed. Maybe we’ll do it a little differently. We have better tools, we have better technology, but the members remain committed and devoted to serving the public and actually risking their lives for the sake of others, and that’s what the Fire Department has done here in New York since 1865.

FDNY Fire Engine

Q: There is a figure that really struck me: more than 100 million Americans were born after September 11, 2001. They never experienced 9/11 firsthand. How important is memory here, and how can these new generations of Americans, and New Yorkers, be helped to understand what happened on that day?

Well, I understand that so much of the population was not around then. I myself was born a few years after Pearl Harbor. I knew what it was, but I’m sure my experience was not the same as my parents’ generation who experienced it firsthand. So, I understand that people don’t have the same grasp of the situation, but we do try to get the message out — what kind of a day it was, the impact it had on the city, on the country, on the world. Some people get it, some people don’t, and I understand that as long as we do our job of telling the story, which I’m trying to do today of course, we’re fulfilling a pledge that we made then to never forget. We meant never forget those who died, never forget those who sacrificed their lives or who lost their lives needlessly. They just went to work that day and were suddenly attacked and killed.

Q: And what would you like younger firefighters, the ones who weren’t alive on 9/11 or were too young to remember it, to understand about the terrible day and about  the sacrifices of their colleagues?

Well, they all know the story. We make sure we teach it at our Fire Academy when we hire new people. Before they graduate from the Academy, they’re all brought down to Ground Zero, which we call the World Trade Center site, to see the memorial, to hear the story firsthand there and to tour the museum and learn about it and learn that these members who came before them sacrificed their lives for those who were attacked in the Towers. And that’s what this department is about: sadly, when you put the lives of others before yours, you could lose your life. And they understand that, and they understand what happened that day. So we’re doing our job in that regard. And I just hope that most of the learning is about the innocents who lost their lives, either just working in the Towers, working in the Pentagon or the first responders who came to help them who lost their lives. That’s the important thing to remember.

Q: On anniversaries, we remember the victims, the survivors and the acts of heroism. And that’s especially true on a day like September 11th. But then, and it is physiological, life goes back to normal. How would you like to see that sacrifice honored, not just on this day, but throughout the year?

Many people use the anniversary of September 11th as a day to give back, which is really a wonderful gesture, whether it’s providing meals to people or doing other acts of giving. I would hope sometimes we have to step back and say, we can’t change what happened that day. It happened. It was an awful day. But how can we use our lives in a better way to honour those who passed? And the way we can do that is by being generous, being kind, being thoughtful, and not being hateful and vindictive. And I would hope that that could be the message from post-9/11: let’s remember those who passed while we can. And as one foundation, “Tunnel to Towers”, they say, while we’re able to, let’s do good. And that’s a great message.

Ground Zero