Todd Bosma is the Assistant Director of Game Operations for the Portland Trail Blazers. Todd is letting Blazers fans take a peek into the BCB New York trip through his personal journal entries.
November 11, 2001 - 8:00 am PST
November 11, 2001 - 10:30 pm EST
November 12, 2001 - 8:00 am EST
November 13, 2001 - 9:45am EST
November 13, 2001 - 5:45pm EST
November 14, 2001 - 8:45am EST
Monday– November 12, 2001
8:00am (EST)
The long day begins. The plan is to start out with a quick breakfast and then head on over and visit a few firehouses.
Unfortunately our plans were changed after a plane taking off from JFK crashed into a residential area in Queens. The city went into shutdown mode - airports and bridges were closed and many people were stuck in limbo. It was a little scary, as people didn't know what caused the crash, and as I write this journal entry, there is still no definite cause for why the plane went down. At least the bridges and airports are back open again and people are getting back to normal.
After some food we were off to our first station. We visited Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 4 located on 48th and 8th. We stopped in on them and before we even got into the station we were hit with all the memorials located on the street. Once we walked into the station and met a few of the firefighters it's easy to see why the city, if not the nation, is drawn to these people. Even though they have to deal with tragedy every day, they are still fun-loving guys. Everyone has many stories to tell and is interested in hearing about everyone else's experiences as well.
At this firehouse we presented firefighters with an autographed basketball, a "Blazers love the FDNY" banner signed by members of the Blazers front office and goodie bags which contained Blazers T-shirts, an autographed Rip-City Magazine or yearbook, a Blazers hat and other goodies on behalf of the Portland Trail Blazers. We had a great time while we were there.
While we were there, we had time to wander around the house looking at all the things people from around the country have sent to express their thoughts, prayers and thanks for the heroic acts of September 11th. I wandered over to where the gear was hanging and my eye was drawn to a particular helmet. This helmet must be a seasoned veteran's because it was darkened by the soot and has obviously seen in its day. There, stuck to the band was a photo of an American Flag. It was very touching. Although that wasn't the hardest thing I saw in that station, it was very touching.
Every fire station has a dry-erase board listing who is "on-call" - although I have learned that if you are a firefighter you are ALWAYS on call. At Engine 54's house there is a dry erase board - but what is different about this one is that it is dated September 11, 2001. On it still lists those brave men who went to the World Trade Center and never made it back. On it there are all sorts of notes written by fellow firefighters and families of those who were lost. They said that they will never take it down, nor should they.
Equally tough was walking through the halls and reading the letters written by children who lost a parent on September 11th. I wish I had thought to copy some of the letters, because there is no way I can possibly write what those kids expressed. It was hard to leave that station, but our time there had come to a close.
We left the firehouse, piled into our van and headed to the next destination. Needless to say it was a very quiet van trip. Stop number 2 on our tour of firehouses, was Rescue 1. According to Billy Quick, the green berets of the FDNY work in Rescue 1. This station is very special in that they lost every single member of their squad on September 11th. The current members of Rescue 1 were thrown together and have only been working together for 2 months. The Rescue squads were set up to save firefighters because no one was else was doing it. The firefighters were saving everyone, but no one but other members of this house were saving the firefighters. That is why they started the Rescue squads. It was difficult to walk through the halls and know that all the men in this company were wiped out at the WTC.
Again we handed out bags, an autographed basketball and another signed banner. After a quick lunch, we went to our third station, Engine 22 Ladder 13 10th Battalion. We hit this house after lunch and after the Blazers practiced so that some of the players could come. We were glad to see Head coach Maurice Cheeks, Assistant coaches Dan Pannaggio, Herb Brown and Caldwell Jones as well as Zach Randolph, Reuben Boumtje-Boumtje, Mitchell Butler, Erick Barkley and Bonzi Wells all at the firehouse.
This firehouse lost 9 men on September 11th, 5 of which they have identified - 4 of which are still missing. Here we donated $10,000 to the September 11th relief fund on behalf of the Portland Trail Blazers and their fans. This is the money that fans donated to the fund during the Blazers pre-season games. During the 4 events (3 preseason games and 1 scrimmage) fans donated $5,000. The Blazers organization gladly matched that sum and today we donated it all to the September 11th relief fund.
I think the players had a good time, and I know the firefighters enjoyed having them there. Bonzi Wells dressed up in full firefighter gear and even started breathing through the oxygen tanks. Erick Barkley joked that he was going to trade in his Blazers pinwheel for a firefighter helmet. The players hung out for a while talking with the firemen and Bonzi, Erick and Mitchell convinced the firemen to let them slide down the pole from the second to the third floor. Every player landed and had a huge smile on their face - Bonzi looked a little scared at the top of the of the pole, although if you ask him now he will strongly deny it.
As we were leaving with the house, we walked past where they had hung pictures of their 9 fallen brothers. Everyone lingered there - they were just pictures, but everyone stared at them. The players mentioned that it really makes you think about what is important - some of them even went back inside to thank the firefighters for all that they do.
After we left that station - we got the chance of a lifetime. Billy Quick arranged for us to take a ride on the Fire Department's fireboat. We took off from 14th street and went down by the Statue of Liberty then circled back around and went over by the Brooklyn Bridge. This was great because not only did we get close to the Statue of Liberty, but also we got really close to the shore. We were able to see the cranes that are working on the clean-up efforts. There is one quick section where you can see part of the building still standing. It was really quite amazing to see. Just looking at the skyline now is hard to put into words.
Tonight we are headed down to serve food at the respite center a block and a half away from ground zero. Our shift starts at midnight and goes until 8:00am. We will be busy and it will be a long night, but we are all looking forward to it.
We had one more stop before dinner. We headed to a local Boys and Girls Club at Housetown and Pitt Street. There, Nick Jones talked to the kids about respect, keeping their cool and staying in school. We also had time for mini-clinic for the 50 kids that were there. After which, the kids received a great talk from Billy Quick about his experiences as a firefighter both before and after September 11th. We dropped off goodie bags for all the kids too - it was a great experience.
Time for DINNER - although we only had about 30 minutes to do so! Another treat for us, we ate at Squad 288 - Billy Quick's old station. How much fun are these guys! We spent about an hour and a half there and presented them with goodie bags, an autographed basketball and a check for $5,000. The house is going to re-donate the money to the fund for the wives and families of those who lost their lives on September 11th. We had a good time with these guys, and trust me, I wish I could tell you more about all that we experienced today, but we have to go to Brooklyn now and get our ID badges so we can head down to the Respite Center for our MIDNIGHT SHIFT. I will try and write more tomorrow, that is if I ever get to get to sleep. After our shift we will have been awake for 24 hours straight. We are taking bets on who is the first to drop, want in on the odds???
