Emotions aside, Parry Boogard said he felt an obligation, a sense of duty to honor fellow firefighters lost in a horrific, national tragedy that killed nearly 3,000 victims 10 years ago Sunday.
He went to see it firsthand. It left a lasting impression.
The Auburn firefighter often looks back on that painful Tuesday morning in September when terrorists attacked and destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. It’s an experience that continues to have a profound impact on the 53-year-old man, a 30-year firefighter veteran, just as it does for millions of Americans shaken by the 9/11 disaster.
Among the 2,753 victims who died in the WTC were 343 firefighters and 60 police officers from New York City and its Port Authority, and eight private emergency medical technicians and paramedics.
That hit very close to home for Boogard, a fire captain with the Auburn Fire Department in 2001.
“Whether it was in a skyscraper, on an aircraft or at the Pentagon, they will never be forgotten. Their memories live within all of us,” said Boogard, who serve as a battalion chief with the Valley Regional Fire Authority today.
Boogard and Auburn firefighter Chris Heminger were part of a Washington State Council of Fire Fighters delegation invited to attend funerals in New York City a month after the attacks. They also were able to see the WTC site to pay their respects and visit firefighters on scene who were clearing debris.
“The ghostly remains of the 1 WTC North Tower poked above the skeletal and scorched remains of 6 WTC, the Custom House,” Boogard and Heminger wrote in a detailed PowerPoint presentation they shared with a number of Auburn civic organizations upon their return 10 years ago. “Smoke and steam clouds were rising through the structures and gave it a surreal perspective in a horribly real world.”
A world that had drastically changed.
Ten years later, a nation will pause to reflect and honor those lost. Locally, the VRFA, City of Auburn and the Auburn Symphony Orchestra are part of a 90-minute community commemoration. The program – a tribute to South King County’s fire and police in remembrance of the valiant efforts of first responders surrounding the events of 9/11 – begins at 2:30 p.m. at the Auburn Performing Arts Center.
“It is a reminder that the challenges from that day still continue,” Boogard said of the significance of the 10-year anniversary of the tragedy and the lasting consequences of the disaster. “There are still emergency service professionals who are sick and dying from the exposures/injuries they sustained 10 years ago. We cannot forget about these heroes also.”
Ten years ago, those heroes were busy at Ground Zero, removing the rubble and recovering bodies. As visitors, Boogard and Heminger had difficulty describing – let alone comprehending – the sights, smells and atmosphere of Ground Zero.
“It is a scene of ghastly destruction and organized chaos,” Boogard recalled.
“(A firefighter) tells us that the temperatures at the bottom of the debris pile are measuring at 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit. The fire is still burning,” Boogard and Heminger chronicled. “Red-hot beams sticking out of the debris are burning fire fighters with conducted heat as they attempt debris removal.
“Our first stop was by the remains of 2 WTC, the South Tower,” they continued. “The remains of the facade, back lit by huge work lights with smoke and steam wafting through it, created a surreal picture that will remain with me for the rest of my life.”
Dante’s Inferno
The area was devastated, a mangled mess that presented a daunting challenge for recovery efforts.
“Four skyscrapers were totally involved in fire simultaneously with all of the peripheral buildings around the WTC heavily damaged and scorched,” Boogard and Heminger wrote. “I keep thinking that there was a view into Dante’s Inferno, and it was here.”
Later, at a funeral attended by more than 500 uniformed personnel from throughout the country, Boogard described the ceremony:
“There is no casket at this memorial either. We find out through our conversations that there have been no bodies or caskets for the past week, simply memorials for the loved ones in their attempts to find closure.”
2002 visit
A year later, in October 2002, Boogard was invited to Madison Square Garden as a fire department honor guard representative to participate in the official 9/11 memorial service. He said he felt a significant sense of belonging to the brotherhood and sisterhood of the firefighting community while there.
“It reinforced to me a greater appreciation of those who are close to us, and at times are not appreciated as they should be,” Boogard said. “Even though we are well trained and equipped, firefighting is inherently dangerous. You never know when you’ll face a life-or-death situation as did FDNY members on 9/11.”
As a leader with the VRFA, Boogard places a greater emphasis on firefighter safety and survival today. He also has a greater appreciation of the magnitude and scope of the decision-making that goes on each day – and those that occurred on that fateful day 10 years ago.
“To put it very simply: They were damned if they did, and damned if they didn’t,” he said of the ill-fated fire and rescue operations at the WTC on 9/11. “They acted as they were trained and compelled to do, save lives. … Unfortunately, 343 FDNY members paid the ultimate price.”
