ENGINE 37/LADDER 40 FIREHOUSE 415 W 125TH STREET, WEST HARLEM, MANHATTAN DIVISION 3, BATTALION 11 "HEART OF HARLEM" "LIFE BEGINS AT 40"
LADDER 40 MEDAL
ROBERT J. MILMORE FF. LAD. 40 JUL. 31, 1989 1990 FIRE BELL CLUB
FF Milmore, Ladder 40, was awarded the Fire Bell Club Medal for heroism at a collapsed building July 31, 1989 at 1980 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard, Manhattan.
WTC STORY
Retired N.Y. firefighter shares his 9/11 story in Fairfield
By IRMA WIDJOJO |
PUBLISHED: September 12, 2011
FAIRFIELD —
Robert Milmore was never late to his job.
Not until Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001.
Milmore was a New York firefighter stationed at Fire Department New York Staten Island Rescue Company 5 on that fateful day. At 7:30 a.m. he called the station and was told to come in on Friday instead.
“Why after 19 years as a firefighter, that one morning … I wasn”t there?” Milmore rhetorically asked the attendees of the 9/11 memorial at Fairfield Fire Station 37 on Sunday, the 10th anniversary of the most devastating terror attack in U.S. history. He was the keynote speaker of the countywide event.
Solano County law enforcement personnel, firefighters, county and Fairfield city officials attended the somber occasion.
Milmore now lives on to tell his story of that fateful day when his company lost 11 members, leaving 11 widowers and 24 orphans.
The New York Fire Department lost 343 people on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked and crashed two passenger airplanes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, along with two others that were crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., and a field in Shanksville, Pa.
Milmore attributed his faith with him being spared by the tragedy, which claimed nearly 3,000 lives.
“I”m spiritually protected,” he said.
He said the attack changed his and his fellow firefighters” lives.
“Some of the guys are not doing very well now,” Milmore added. “My wife is my strength. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be able to (be where I am today).”
He said he is still affected to this day, experiencing night terrors and trouble sleeping.
At the end of his address, Milmore presented Fairfield Mayor Harry Price, Fire Chief Vince Webster and Police Chaplain Joseph Prudhomme with crosses made out of steel from the site of the attack.
Milmore was also named honorary mayor of Fairfield, as well as honorary chief of police and fire departments by Price.
One block away, hundreds of people strolled along the Civic Center Drive lined with antique and modern fire engines, informational booths, a silent and live auction, and tables selling various food items. All proceeds will go to the New York Police/Fire Widows and Children's Benefit Fund.
Fairfield resident Sy Nahhas looked at pictures of the Sept. 11 attack with his wife and two young children.
“I try to explain to (the children) what the pictures mean and why we are down here,” Nahhas said. “It's important to always remember.”
He said he was at work when he heard the news 10 years ago.
“At first I didn't realize the extent of the damage,” Nahhas said. However, he watched the news at home later in the day and was angered by the attack, he added.
Like Nahhas, Christine Golez was working when she watched the towers crumble to the ground.
Golez was a Fairfield police officer, who retired earlier this year.
“This is the most horrific thing that ever happened in my lifetime,” she said.
Golez said 9/11 affected her greatly because of her camaraderie with other police officers and firefighters. To deal with the grief, she turned to art.
One of her works, titled “As others ran out, they ran in,” is a representation of the Twin Towers with the pictures of the 403 killed first responders in small clear jars. It now graces Fairfield Fire Station 37.
Fairfield Mayor Price, who received one of the steel crosses, said it will be mounted somewhere in the city “as a constant reminder of Sept. 11, 2001.”
“Today represents the importance of remembering man's inhumanity to men 10 years ago,” Price said. “Tolerance, respect and diversity represent the highest idea of freedom in a democracy such as ours. These perverted terrorists oppose individual freedom and the pursuit of happiness and attempted to destroy it.”
https://www.timesheraldonline.com/2...irefighter-shares-his-911-story-in-fairfield/
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