By Ryan Mershon
September 11, 2001, was just a regular day at school for me – a fourth grader living in New Jersey – until our gym teacher told us that something horrible had occurred just north of us in New York City. Shortly after, we were sent home to our parents with no explanation.
I remember getting home and seeing my parents watching TV. This was the first time I saw the planes hitting the Twin Towers and smoke pouring into the sky. Minutes later, I observed people jumping from the towers and falling to their death. The towers fell, and the city so close to my home was enveloped in a cloud of dust, smoke and death.
My father did his best to explain to a 9-year-old what was happening. This was my first time hearing the word terrorism.
Later that afternoon, I watched my neighbor return home from his job near the World Trade Center. He walked up the driveway in his suit and tie, covered in grey dust. He spent the next 15 minutes washing the dust off his suit with the garden hose, then threw his suit in the garbage before heading inside.
Not long after this, I spoke to my friend whose father was a volunteer firefighter at the local fire department. Having observed the tragic events, volunteer firefighters from all over the area headed to the local firehouse. They gathered their gear and made their way to the World Trade Center in engines and personal vehicles. They would spend several weeks sifting through the rubble of the World Trade Center, many sacrificing their health in the process.
‘An image burned into my mind’
Watching firefighters run into the Twin Towers and begin ascending the stairs that many would never come down from was an image burned into my mind. Cops, EMTs and firefighters alike risked their lives to help evacuate thousands of people to safety. And as we all know now, 343 New York City firefighters, 72 law enforcement officers, and 8 EMTs made the ultimate sacrifice that morning – the greatest loss of life in the fire service history.
I watched these events unfold along with the rest of the country and immediately knew that when I grew up, I wanted to be one of these heroes. Firefighters, law enforcement officers and EMS personnel were the heroes of the day. People openly thanked emergency workers for their service and praised the work they were doing.
Not long after 9/11, I went to my friend’s house and was able to talk with his dad, Mr. Murphy, who was a volunteer firefighter who had recently returned from Ground Zero. Mr. Murphy told me about his time searching through the rubble and even described what it was like when President George Bush arrived at Ground Zero. Mr. Murphy even took me down to the fire department and showed me around the trucks and station.
‘This is what I would do’
My interest in this profession only grew as I got older. I continued to hang out with the men at the firehouse and got to know several EMTs and police officers while doing so. I knew when I turned 16, this is what I would do.
Upon reaching the minimum age, I joined the Hillsborough Volunteer Fire Company No. 3 as a junior firefighter. This program allows local youth to respond to fire calls in gear and assist with exterior operations. And after the fire was out, Mr. Murphy would take me through the burned building and show me where the fire started.
Soon after, I joined the Hillsborough Rescue Squad and started EMT school. I received my EMT certification at 17 and started taking medical calls with the same men and women who responded to the Twin Towers eight years earlier. I talked with them about their time at Ground Zero and found that many of my new colleagues thought about 9/11 on a daily basis and will forever remember pulling body after body out of the rubble. The weight of their mental burden was only outweighed by their pride for having answered the call on America’s worst disaster.
I spent the beginning of my career trying to live up to these giants. I got into every aspect of technical rescue, joined a search and rescue organization, and became a full-fledged firefighter.
This was not enough, though. I decided to become a police officer as well. I went to college at the University of New Haven and graduated with my bachelor’s degree in criminal justice – investigative services. Not long after, I was hired by the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office as a correctional officer. Five years later, I moved to Wyoming and became a deputy sheriff with the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office and a firefighter/EMT with Laramie County Fire Authority. I feel so honored to be a part of the public safety family, serving our community just as those brave first responders did on September 11, 2001.
‘Remember why we took the oath’
I know many of my brothers and sisters in emergency services got their start after witnessing what happened on September 11, 2001, realizing they wanted to be the next generation to answer the call. It is essential that we remember that passion we felt to serve, as it can be too easily clouded by negativity. After all, the news regarding emergency services, most often law enforcement, is overwhelmingly negative. Too many people only see the rare bad actions of a few instead of the absolute heroism of the many. Even the fire service is not immune to the change in public perception. Such negativity impacts our ability to recruit new members, leaving a much smaller pool of people to answer the call. Will we be able to build the next generation of firefighters, police officers and EMTs? This is why it is more important now than ever to take time to remember the acts of heroism displayed on September 11, 2001 – remember why we all took the oath and climbed aboard the fire truck for the very first time.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ryan Mershon is a deputy sheriff for the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office and a firefighter/ EMT for the Laramie County Fire Authority. Mershon started his career in Hillsborough, New Jersey, as a firefighter and EMT in 2008. He then started his career in law enforcement with the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office in New Jersey in 2015. After eight years in the corrections divisions between both New Jersey and Wyoming, he moved to the patrol division in 2023. On the fire side, Mershon has worked in both structural and wildland firefighting while also being a certified driver-operator, fire instructor, and cause and origin technician.