ANNOUNCER:
00:00:01
60 Minutes Rewind. As we've just heard, it's a recurring theme. People desperately running downstairs as firemen raced up the stairs toward the inferno. Now, hundreds of those men are missing. Men devoted to saving lives and to each other. Which brings us to Squad 18. A third of this elite squad is missing, and the survivors have been working around-the-clock to find their brothers. We sat with some members of the Squad, who arrived at the scene after the collapse. Mike Connolly, Lieutenant Pete Campanelli, Gary Moore, and Dan Castellano, all stole a few precious moments to talk about those they've lost. Men who were among the first to arrive at the scene. Gary, do you have any idea what floor they had gotten to, how far they had gotten into the building? No. Knowing that they were going to be the first arriving units that they're going to be probably up the farthest up the towers.
VICKI MABREY:
00:01:04
Farthest up the towers meant no time for escape. Everyone on duty from Squad 18 was buried in the collapse. Lieutenant Billy McGinn, Eric Allen, Manny Mojica, Andy Fredricks, Dave Halderman, Larry Virgilio, and Timmy Haskell. Since then, the surviving squad members, all of whom were off-duty that morning, have worked 24-hour shifts, digging through the wreckage to find their brothers. Who knew them better than the guys he spent-- worked with and spent their time with in the firehouse? We knew them the best. We're the real closest. It's a family member. We want to be there. You dig and you dig, and then they cut, and they dig, and you cut, you dig. And you're on your hands and knees. There's not much room to operate. It's so very slow going. It has taken hours at times to get one guy. It's hellish. It's pretty, pretty-- that's what it really reminded me of, when I kind of had hell in my mind is just, metal in all kinds of different angles, holes, steam, smoke rising. It's horrible. Your brothers are down there, and you want to get them home. Whether it's good news or bad news, you want them out of there. You want to bring them back. How many have you found? Four out of seven. At that moment, when you find someone, what's the overriding emotion? You know, mourn their loss, but celebrate their life.
DAN CASTELLANO:
00:02:57
Manny was a big, burly biker, but a Teddy bear. Tough guy with a heart of gold.
DAN CASTELLANO:
00:03:08
Larry Virgilio, he was fun to be around. Yeah, he'd go see opera and Shakespeare. Probably, more cultured than the typical fireman. Yes.
VICKI MABREY:
00:03:23
What was Andy like?
DAN CASTELLANO:
00:03:25
Andy was a heavy, family-oriented guy. His love was his family, and the second was the fire department. What about Eric?
PETE CAMPANELLI:
00:03:35
Eric's like Jack of all trades. He could do anything. You needed something, Eric was right there.
GARY MOORE:
00:03:43
And if he didn't need something, he could tell you what you do need.
DAN CASTELLANO:
00:03:45
Yes, that's right. No problem.
DAN CASTELLANO:
00:03:48
Lieutenant McGinn was always known as an aggressive firefighter, but he was a controlled aggression.
GARY MOORE:
00:03:55
And I could picture him just jumping off that rig and getting up there, two steps at a time, and just like, let's go, let's go, come on, let's go. Because he realized what was at stake.
DAN CASTELLANO:
00:04:09
Dave, he was a doer. His dad was on the job. His brother is on the job. He was a guy who did it and got it done. Good man. Timmy was probably, the best-looking guy in the firehouse, besides Gary. If he was born in the West Coast, he'd be a typical California surfer dudes hanging 10 or whatever. Timmy was a super guy. Timmy's brother's missing at this point, too. Timmy's brother was a captain.
MAN:
00:04:39
Right. The loss is outrageous. Do you have conflicting emotions now? People talk about survivor's guilt. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I've said that-- I said that to the chaplain the other night. I feel guilty that I'm glad I wasn't there at the time.
VICKI MABREY:
00:05:03
Did any of you think, I wish I was something other than a firefighter today? MAN 1: No. MAN 2: No. Not on Tuesday morning.
GARY MOORE:
00:05:11
Not Tuesday morning. We're going to be there today, tonight, tomorrow, and next week, and next month. We're still going to be the Fire Department of New York. And we'll do what we'll have to do.
VICKI MABREY:
00:05:21
Firefighters tend to come from generations of firefighters. They say it's in their blood. But for Lieutenant Pete Campanelli, whose father and brother are also firemen, the chain might soon be broken. I don't think my son's going to come up behind me, and I'm happy about that. Why? It's a dangerous job. It really is. [AUDIO LOGO]
