Farmington Hills EMS Official Looks Back On Post-Sept. 11 Walk

FARMINGTON HILLS (AP) -- It's been almost 15 years since Jim Etzin and eight other members of southeastern Michigan's firefighting community began the walk of a lifetime.

The nine men took part in a 755-mile trek from the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit to the Brooklyn Bridge a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Etzin was a Farmington Hills firefighter/paramedic at the time. Now 50 and the Detroit suburb's emergency services coordinator, Etzin describes the experience as "very, very moving" and says he and his walking partners were blown away by the outpouring of emotion from residents of the communities in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York through which they passed.

He says the U.S. has never been as united as it was at that time.