My City September 2021

MYSTORY

“There is no question it was life changing. It was the last time I saw our country truly united.” JOE LUDWIG

VIEWOF THE ATTACK FROM ACROSS NEWYORK HARBOR

F or the 15th anni eled back to NYC. While there, they stayed at Station 288 HazMat 1. In addition to Kevin Smith, the station lost ten other firefighters. “We had unique access to places the general public did not,” Ludwig remembers, “because of our status as fam ily members.The repository where the remains of 1,000 unidentified people was one of those places. I still have the blue and white ribbon on my truck that denotes that.” According to Ludwig, the Sunset Ceremony of the FDNY Emerald Society Pipes and Drums band was awe-inspiring. The band versary of the 9/11 attack, Ludwig and Smith’s family trav

LUDWIG INNYC ON THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11

JOE LUDWIG AT GROUND ZERO

is composed entirely of retired and active NYC firefighters. “They play ‘Amazing Grace’ every year, and of course there is the reading of the 9/11 victims’ names. The museum and reflection pool are breath taking.” Ludwig says people were lined up on bridges and the alley waving “thank you” flags as they walked into

Ground Zero. “Flags were everywhere!” he exclaimed. For Ludwig, the expe rience was transformative. “I think about it daily,” he states. “There is no ques tion it was life-changing. It was the last time I saw our country truly united.” It has now been two decades since the 9/11 attack. “My 22-year-old

daughter was two years old at the time. High school seniors have no knowledge about this turning point in our country’s history. I wish we could find that unity we experienced 20 years ago.” Ludwig does not con sider himself heroic. “The 343 firefighters who perished are heroes. I just did what my country asked of me.” x

We Remember

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