Friday, September 15, 2006

Fireman Bob Beckwith




Flora,
I found the photo that appeared on the front page of the N.Y. Post and is now framed and on the wall of my office. I also found a good description of this incredible moment and included it here also. Somebody asked a good question about these photos and incident. Knowing what you know now, with all the debates, and with 5 years of history since then. Can you picture Al Gore, Bill Clinton, or John Kerry standing on that pile with Fireman Beckwith? I can't...


On 9/11, he was 69, retired seven years. His family told him he was too old to report for duty. But he knew the father of a missing fireman, and three days after the attacks, he grabbed his old helmet and gear, drove into the city and talked his way into Ground Zero.
Then he heard the president was coming. For a look, he stood up on a fire engine that had been pulled from the wreckage. A man (Bush political adviser Karl Rove, Beckwith later learned) came over and asked him to jump up and down to see whether the firetruck was stable. Satisfied, he dusted off a spot next to Beckwith and told him a VIP was going to stand there; when he got up, Beckwith should get down. The VIP was Bush.
The fireman helped the president up and began to step down as instructed. But Bush said, "Where you goin'? ... Stay here."

Beckwith continues to support Bush and the president's pursuit of the war on terrorism: "I like the guy - he's a real man. ... I think he's doing a good job."

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/911-put-anonymous-faces-on-front-page-of/20060908074909990009?cid=1976

1 comment:

Lynn R. Mitchell said...

Wow. That's a story I hadn't heard before. Thanks for sharing.