Senator Joseph A. Griffo Remembers September 11th 2001

Senator Joesph A. Griffo was in Manhattan on September 11th, 2001. At the time, he was the mayor of Rome New York. He has shared his story from that tragic day on his website. 

It started as an ordinary business trip, and ended as indelible memories of both tragedy and heroism. I arrived in New York City Sept. 10, 2001. My itinerary was simple and straightforward. I had tickets to see my favorite team, the New York Yankees, play that night against their longtime rivals, the Boston Red Sox. The following morning, I was helping to complete a bond sale in my duties as Rome city mayor. Everything changed that Tuesday morning."

The most powerful section from the Senator's reflections was the following paragraph:

It was chaos. From midtown, I watched as ash blanketed buildings in lower Manhattan and smoke billowed everywhere. As brave first responders rushed to the scene to help, I felt helpless. I had offered to donate blood, but was told it wasn’t needed — a dreadful indication that many inside the towers were not injured, but dead."

You can read his full summary of that day here.