For the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, this podcast tells 20 stories of heroism that will make sure our country doesn't forget that fateful day and its meaning. Our host Niels Jorgensen served as an FDNY firefighter for almost 22 years until a forced medical retirement because of the leukemia he contracted from cleaning up Ground Zero. Niels also drove the truck in the Emmy-nominated Rescue Me with Denis Leary.
Latest episodes
Showing 20 · updated from the feed
The First-Ever Group Conversation About Responding On 9/11
FDNY Ladder Company 114, nicknamed Tally Ho, heroically served on 9/11. We hear from four of the six on-duty members who responded to the attacks in a unique group conver
Jan 6 2022 1 h 41 min
Alison Crowther: My Son Saved 12 Lives
Alison’s son Welles was 24 years old on 9/11 and saved at least 12 people in the South Tower before it collapsed on him. She didn’t know about his heroic actions that day
Dec 30 2021 49 min
Ken Kendrick: How The President's First Pitch And Baseball Helped With Healing
After 911, Major League Baseball temporarily postponed its season. With several iconic moments, its return helped America to heal. Arizona Diamondbacks’ principal owner a
Dec 23 2021 28 min
Joe LaPointe: Organizing 9/11's Funerals
FDNY firefighter Joe LaPointe was off-duty on 9/11 and raced down to Ground Zero. After the attacks, so many funerals needed more leaders to coordinate them, and Joe was
Dec 16 2021 45 min
Nancy Carbone: The Friend of Firefighters
Nancy Carbone felt compelled to do something after 9/11 and started by collecting items that firefighters needed. They later told her what was most needed is a counseling
Dec 9 2021 55 min
Michael Daly: The FDNY Chaplain, My Friend, Who Died With His Firefighters
Michael Daly is the author of “The Book of Mychal”, the biography of the most loved FDNY Chaplain, Father Mychal Judge. Father bravely entered the World Trade Center with
Dec 2 2021 1 h 49 min
A Thanksgiving Message
Today we give thanks for your loyal listenership, for the opportunity to preserve these tragic and beautiful stories, and for every American whose served this great count
Nov 25 2021 2 min
Michael Benfante: The Reluctant Hero
After the World Trade Center's North Tower was hit, Michael and his colleague John Cerqueira physically carried wheelchair-bound Tina Hansen down 68 floors to safety. The
Nov 18 2021 50 min
Sonia and Joe Agron: The Relentless Volunteers
Sonia is a former EMS technician, and Joe is a police officer who responded on 9/11 (his birthday). She didn't see him until 9/12 and thought he had died. They both helpe
Nov 11 2021 34 min
Tim Brown: I Lost 93 Friends on 9/11
Tim Brown is an elite first responder who served in the FDNY for 20 years and was a founding member of the Department of Homeland Security. He said a final goodbye to sev
Nov 4 2021 1 h 19 min
Robert John Burke: The Actor Who Became A Firefighter
Robert John Burke, who goes by Bobby, has been in programs like Tombstone, RoboCop 3, Law and Order: SVU, Gossip Girl, and Rescue Me. Even more important to him are his f
Oct 28 2021 1 h 34 min
Niels Jorgensen: My Own Story w/Bill Courtney
Niels Jorgensen, host of “20 for 20”, was reticent to share his own story as part of this series on heroes. However, the team thought it’s important context for why he’s
Oct 21 2021 2 h 03 min
Brian Clark: I Was One of Only 18 Survivors Where The South Tower Was Struck
The terrorists crashed United Airlines Flight 175 into floors 77 to 85, right where Brian Clark worked. Miraculously, he’s alive to tell his story and also that of a stra
Oct 14 2021 49 min
Caryn Pfeifer: My Husband Was A Gentle Giant
FDNY firefighter Ray Pfeifer was off duty on 9/11 and felt tremendous survivor's guilt about the entirety of his on-duty crew dying. Ultimately, he wouldn't be spared fro
Oct 7 2021 36 min
Shirley Brooks-Jones: I Was Midflight During 9/11… And It Changed My Life
Shirley Brooks-Jones was on one of the 38 planes in the sky during the terrorist attacks and forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland. This small Canadian community of arou
Sep 30 2021 46 min
Mariah Jacobsen: Discovering My Connection to a 9/11 Hero
Mariah was 16 years old on the morning of 9/11 and had a strange feeling one of her birth parents died in the attack. At 19 she could legally discover who they were, and
Sep 23 2021 36 min
Ted Anderson: “You Never Leave A Fallen Comrade Behind, Ever”
Lieutenant Colonel Paul “Ted” Anderson was inside of the Pentagon when it was struck by a plane during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Ted not only helped people escape, but
Sep 15 2021 37 min
John Feal: The Bulldog Who Forced Congress
John Feal was a demolition supervisor at Ground Zero. During the cleanup 8,000 pounds of steel dropped on Feal’s foot, leading to partial amputation. After he was denied
Sep 9 2021 39 min
David Braca: My Dad Led His Coworkers Praying into Their Deaths
Many had made fun of Al Braca for his faith, but in their final moments he brought light to the darkness that surrounded them. The story of a bond broker at Cantor Fitzge
Aug 31 2021 20 min
Mak Hanna: Our Team of 5 Civilians Saved Over 50 Lives
And only Mak is alive to honor their stories. With his best friends Frank De Martini and Pablo Ortiz, he worked for the World Trade Center’s construction division on the
Aug 31 2021 21 min
What listeners say
A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.
I have been truly blessed to have found this podcast. I was in an inservice class for work and we were told by the instructor to check the podcast out. I can not find the appropriate word to describe how I have enjoyed this podcast. I know enjoyed is a very bad word to describe what I have been listening too, but… I don’t know how to say it was very well done, heartbreaking, inspiring, and interesting all at the same time. I have suggested this podcast to so many people and re-told stories that I have listened too. I was in high school when 9/11 happened and I agree when folks were saying that anyone not born or very young don’t understand the magnitude of what happened that day and the weeks, months and years to follow. I am finding this podcast after the survey has concluded, so I am not able to put my input that way, so I will leave it here in case someone still reads this. If, you plan on doing this again, a person to interview would be the 911 dispatchers. That insight would be very interesting to hear. Has a 911 dispatcher myself, I can hope to never have to experience the devastation that they must have felt that day. I pray to everyone and anyone who was affected by 9/11. 🇺🇸
DL173 · May 2024
I listened to the 4 of 6 firefighters of Engine Co 114 share of their experiences on the ground of 9-11, riveted to my phone. I felt like I sat at the table with them. They spoke as a unit listening including each other. The stories made me cry. My neighbor Ron a firefighter in Antioch joined and drove across country the following days in a brigade of engines to help in the devastation. I live in Northern California. Now I know why Ron went. These stories are of the most unusual family - a brotherhood that spans the country, determined to help each other when duty calls. They’re selfless, willing to die to protect the lives of citizens they do not know. They need to tell their stories of what really happened on 9-11. A way to grieve and remember and to love one another. Today I heard, “God had a reason why we lived that day” I am struck by the transparency and loyalty of these men in their stories. I pray for your suffering through cancer from that day. May God’s angels surround and comfort you. God bless you for your testimonies. Our children need to know your stories.
Brenda Davis
Antioch CA
davisbren · Jan 2022
This is an amazing podcast series. It reveals many different angles and viewpoints of what happened that day and everyday since. You feel a closeness with the firefighters after hearing their stories and them talk about some of the same people over and over. They are heroes to whom I am forever grateful for. Thank you for making this series.
sunshine 121212 · Dec 2021
I was 11 years old living just outside of New York in New Jersey when the Twin Towers were attacked. I vividly recall seeing the smoke rise from the towers from my middle school classroom. When I went home I’ll never forget being glued to the television watching heroic first responders running towards the choas, and seeing selfless acts of ordinary people helping complete strangers. This podcast humanizing these previously nameless individuals, putting a story to the pictures and videos of heroism, courage, and resilience is the very least that we can do to honor the memory of those that can no longer twll their story. Each episode leaves me awestruck at the true magnitude of that faithful day, they motivate me to do good each day, to give of myself without seeking any reward or recognition. These heroes remind us of the best in all of us. We owe it to each one of them to live life like it was 9/12/01; do good for another person, check on an elderly neighbor, call your friends and family and tell them you love them, thank a first responder, thank a veteran. Thank you Niels Jorgensen and Iron Light Labs, these stories, as well as so many others, need to be told, and need to be remembered.
Steve Cassiello · Dec 2021
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