Pablo Ortiz

Pablo Ortiz

On the morning of Sept. 11 2001, office workers on the 89th floor of the North Tower were starting their day when an explosion shook the building. Not knowing that the blast was part of terror attack, everyone gathered as the smell of jet fuel and smoke filled the...
‘Get on my back. I’ll carry you’

‘Get on my back. I’ll carry you’

Sitting at the conference table for her morning meeting, Lt. Col. Marilyn Wills suddenly found herself being thrown across the room to the floor. “I was sitting there complaining to myself that, ‘This meeting sure is long,’ ” she later said....
Police Officer Ramon Suarez

Police Officer Ramon Suarez

Known throughout his community as a mentor and leader, Ramon Suarez volunteered as a track coach at St. Matthias Middle School, where his daughter, nine-year-old Jillian Suarez was a student. Officer Suarez and his partner were stationed at the Delancey Street F-train...
Moira Smith

Moira Smith

Officer Moira Smith’s first assignment with the NYPD was to patrol the subways. Early one morning in August, 1991, she was just getting off an 8 hour shift when she heard the crash and groan of twisting metal  in the subway below. She ran through Union Square...
The Quiet Hero of 9/11

The Quiet Hero of 9/11

27-year-old Jason Thomas was dropping off his daughter to his mother in Long Island when he heard that planes had hit the twin towers. “Someone needed help. It didn’t matter who. I didn’t even have a plan. But I have all this training as a Marine, and all I could...
Lincoln Leibner

Lincoln Leibner

Army Major Lincoln Leibner was probably the first person to rush in and help the victims of the 911 attack on the Pentagon. Major Leibner was not scheduled to come in to work at his office in the Pentagon until later that day, but when he saw the second plane hit the...