Project Rebirth by Dr. Robin Stern

Author:Dr. Robin Stern [Stern, Dr. Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published: 2011-07-24T21:00:00+00:00

A Life Built on Brotherhood

Tim Brown

Tim Brown scanned the chaos in the lobby of Tower 1, the North Tower, assessing the situation—the abandoned newsstands, the people in business suits and janitorial garb bottlenecking at the top of escalators as they headed toward the exits with naked fear on their faces. He went downstairs to the fire command post and discovered a black-and-yellow-striped sea of New York City firefighters—thirty or so in all.

Tim quickly spotted his mentor and best friend, Terry Hatton, suited up and ready to head higher in the flaming tower. Even in this cacophony, Terry was hard to miss; at six foot four barefoot, and nearly six foot eight with his gear on, he was a mountain of a man, one of the most respected leaders in the most respected fire department in the country. Tim and Terry had met through work, but their friendship extended far beyond the brick walls of the firehouse. They drank together (Tim could hold his liquor far better than Terry), talked about their dreams and frustrations, and celebrated Terry’s marriage to salt-of-the-earth Beth when the happy day came. If they had been actual brothers, Terry would have been the older one.

Tim, in fact, was a man with many brothers—three biological and many, many picked up along the way. One might describe his whole life as being built on a foundational belief in the importance of brotherhood—that old-world value of being there for the man who would, in turn, be there for you. It was an idea that gave him great comfort, an idea that guided his entire life.

As Tim approached, Terry and he locked eyes. Finally face to face, they gave each other a knowing look and a hearty hug, made even heavier by the force of Terry’s gear. “Might be the last time I see you, brother,” Terry told Tim. “I love you, man.”

Prior to the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, Tim accepted an assignment from the FDNY to serve in the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM), established in 1996. The OEM was located in what many called “the bunker” in 7 World Trade Center. As a supervisor of field operations, Tim’s responsibilities that day were to coordinate emergency response in the field and communicate the conditions back to the state-of-the art communications center. This could mean anything, including working with the FDNY fire chief, the Port Authority, Con Edison, and the mayor.

From the moment the lights flashed off and on again at 8:46 a.m., Tim put down his newspaper, abandoned his breakfast, and jumped into action. After making sure that the watch command was up and running on the twenty-third floor, and grabbing his three portable radios, he went to assess the situation on the ground—“already like a war zone,” as he describes it—from three sides, a maneuver that was a holdover from his firefighter training. He went to the lobby command post in Tower 1 to assist the incident commander but was quickly redirected to the Tower 2 command post when the second plane hit.

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