The First Responders - The Untold Story of the New York City Police Department & Sept 11, 2001

The First Responders - The Untold Story of the New York City Police Department & Sept 11, 2001

ABOUT Anthea Appel

Anthea Appel
Anthea Appel was born in Kentucky. She grew up in Ohio, Missouri, and New York City. She attended the High School of Art & Design in Manhattan, and majored in photography. She also attended Queens College in Flushing NY, and NYU, where she studied film. Anthea freelanced as a photograp More...

Description

On the morning of September 11th, 2001, two hijacked jetliners crashed into the Twin Towers. Within minutes of the attack, 36 Emergency Service Unit cops of the NYPD responded to the scene. They divided into six Teams. The first five Teams entered the Towers, and the sixth Team headed for the helicopters to attempt a daring air rescue.

14 of them would not survive.

For the first time, here are the details of what the Emergency Service Unit teams did and saw as they climbed the burning Towers. Burden down with heavy equipment they searched for terrorist sleepers," and survivors. Then the first Tower collapsed. Fearing that a second collapse was imminent, the firefighters and the police were ordered to evacuate. Now,the countdown began. In the harrowing final minutes, the police teams encountered everything from the absurd---including, the arrest of a mysterious man in the North Tower---to terrifying close calls. As the second Tower fell, tensions flared, bonds are formed, friends are lost, and tough and street-wise cops learn the true meaning of duty and heroism.

In this book, other stories from the NYPD include the rescue of two Port Authority cops, P.O. Will Jimeno and Sgt. John McLoughlin, who were buried under the collapse of the South Tower; the first flag raising, and the nine-month search and rescue---and then recovery---at Ground Zero.

These important and powerful stories have never been told ... until now.

Anthea Appel is a twenty-year veteran of the New York City Police Department. Ms. Appel retired in 2002, and continues to live in New York City.

 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars You know all about 9/11, now live it!, June 28, 2009
By Jerry Mastriano (Queens, NY)
(REAL NAME)   
On 9/11/01, I left work early because I was too stunned to function at my office job, knowing what was happening a couple of miles south in lower Manhattan. With the subways and busses not running, I spent hours zigzagging downtown, dazed and helpless, but mindlessly trying to get closer to the scene - hitting police barricades from the East River to the Hudson. Eventually, after many drinks, I fell asleep at a friend's apartment in Chelsea, and like millions of other New Yorkers, spent the next few months assimilating what had happened. 

That was a day I don't like to relive, and this book was not an easy read, emotionally. Still, I couldn't put it down. This well-researched and fast-paced account brings home the experiences of the NYPD emergency teams who were the first on the scene. Written by a New York police officer, from interviews with the officers who nearly perished saving lives, it's a fascinating and important perspective on a subject I thought had been squeezed dry. Only a police officer could have written this book, in this way, with this kind of impact - and while it's certainly not a book only for cops, any policeman or policewoman reading it will feel proud of what made them, and their comrades at the scene of 9/11, choose their profession. 


4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This Definitely a 5 Star book., April 23, 2009
Beautifully written first hand account from the men and women of the NYPD who where the first responders to 9/11.This one of the most enjoyable books I have read, with many insights into that fateful and terrible day that where previously untold.


 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Makes you feel their pain, September 11, 2009
By K. Vigiano (Medford, NY United States)
(REAL NAME)   
I was told about this book by a good friend of mine (a retired NYPD Sergeant) who lost his son on 9/11, His son Jason was VP for Cantor Fitzgerald.
This book really is a play by play of the events, feelings and thoughts of the ESU cops who worked that day. It really makes you feel the pain and courage of the officers who worked that day.
There is one section that talks about my husband and his Billy Bob teeth. I have that picture the author was taking about, actually my son has it in his room.
The book both made me smile and cry, I couldn't put it down.

If you haven't seen it yet and you like this book then watch "Twin Towers" By Rob Port and Bill Guttentag