Bob Beckwith, a retired firefighter whose likelihood encounter with the president amid the rubble of floor zero turned a part of an iconic picture of American unity after the Sept. 11 terrorist assaults, has died. He was 91.
Beckwith died Sunday night time in hospice care after coping with most cancers in recent times, his spouse, Barbara Beckwith, mentioned Monday.
Carrying his outdated firefighter helmet from Ladder Firm 164 in Queens, the Lengthy Island resident stood with US President George W Bush as he delivered a rousing speech to weary responders three days after hijackers crashed airplanes into the dual towers of the outdated World Commerce Heart, killing 2,753 individuals.
“He was simply fortunate. He was on the proper place, on the proper time, and that is why he is well-known,” Barbara Beckwith mentioned Monday by telephone from the couple’s residence in Baldwin, a suburb about 30 miles from Manhattan. “However he was an everyday man. Nicely-liked and quiet. Only a common Joe.”
Beckwith was 69 years outdated and retired for seven years following a 30-year profession when he rushed to assist with search-and-rescue efforts as scores of different present and former first responders did within the hours and days after the assaults.
Beckwith mentioned he was merely on the lookout for a great vantage level to see the president as he surveyed the destruction. However Bush made an surprising detour and hopped aboard the crushed Engine Co. 76 truck the place he was standing, Beckwith recalled to the AP on the tenth anniversary of the assaults in 2011.
Barbara Beckwith mentioned her husband helped the president stand up on the fireplace truck and was about to let himself down when Bush intervened, assuring his spot in historical past.
“The president mentioned to him, ‘The place are you going?'” she recounted. “‘You are going to be proper right here with me.'”
Bush addressed firefighters, cops and others via a bullhorn, his arm draped round Beckwith at one level.
“I can hear you, the remainder of the world hears you, and the individuals who knocked down these buildings will hear all of us quickly,” the president mentioned as the group chanted, “USA! USA!”
The second, which was captured in video and images by The Related Press and different information shops, turned an everlasting picture of resilience following the deadliest terrorist assault on American soil. It even landed Beckwith on the quilt of Time journal, a souvenir he proudly displayed at his residence for years.
Beckwith’s wake can be Friday, and he can be buried Saturday on Lengthy Island, the place he raised a household that features six kids, 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Bush, who remained involved with the household through the years and even checked in as Beckwith’s well being worsened, was amongst those that known as Monday morning to ship condolences, his spouse mentioned.
In a press release, the previous president mentioned Beckwith’s “braveness represented the defiant, resilient spirit of New Yorkers and People” following the assaults.
“When the terrorists attacked, Bob suited again up and, like so many courageous first responders, raced towards the hazard to avoid wasting and seek for others,” Bush wrote Monday. “I used to be proud to have Bob by my facet at Floor Zero days later and privileged to remain in contact with this patriot through the years.”
New York Metropolis Fireplace Commissioner Laura Kavanagh known as the well-known picture “each inspiring and heartbreaking” and mentioned efforts by Beckwith and different former first responders was a “testomony to their devotion” to the division.
“Bob is without doubt one of the heroes of 9/11 who stood tall for America, New York Metropolis and all New Yorkers,” the Uniformed Firefighters Affiliation, a union representing NYC firefighters, wrote on X, previously Twitter, on Monday. “He spent many hours looking for the members we misplaced on that fateful day in 2001.”
