I miss my old friend Pete Martin

[Doc Hudson]

Pete Martin was a heck of a fine guy. He had a major thing for old Winchester lever-action rifles and Colt Single-Action Army Revolvers. He also had a pretty wife and three handsome sons. Pete Martin was also a Fireman. As a matter of fact, he was a Lieutenant in charge of Rescue #2.

Pete and his squad were the first Fire/Rescue team on sight at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Pete and his whole squad died that day. They were heroes who went into danger with their eyes wide open when all about them people were fleeing in panic.






Pete is on the left in this photo.

I'll never forget amigo.

[sav]

FWIW, My sympathies for your loss, Doc. I, too, lost several friends in the 9-11 attacks that fateful day four years ago. I will never forget them, or the sacrifices that many made on that day.

[Prester John]

A heartfelt tribute to a man of courage.

May his memory be eternal!

[GMan]

Doc,

To pay tribute to a friend like that is a distinct sign of true friendship. He does live on within all of us through your words.

[Archangel]

sorry about all your losses.

Even here, I came close to losing friends. A friend's wife owned a print shop at ground level and decided to go in late. First she knew was when police blocked her from the area.

A very good friend phoned his twin brother on an archeological dig in Ontario's north to say he was okay. The twin was stunned, he had heard nothing about it. Friend had an office in the WTC but was making a breakfast meeting with a client elsewhere.

Another good friend's sister works maintainance there but she had called in sick.

What a tragedy.

[davedove]

A coworker escaped the Pentagon crash only because a meeting he was to attend that morning was cancelled. The meeting room was right where the plane impacted.

[jfellrath]

My aunt's brother was in one of the towers when it was hit. He got out, rented a car, and drove all the way from NYC to Cleveland (where he lives) without stopping.

My cousin's husband's dad had just gotten home from his shift as an NYC police officer when he heard the news, and headed right back out again. He was one of the officers who was in charge at Ground Zero.

It's amazing how this one incident in U.S. History affected someone in almost everyone's lives.

[Blu (Ontario)]

A touching tribute, Doc. (I'll raise a glass to he and ye tonight at supper.)

[davedove]

If anyone is interested, I recently finished reading the book "102 Minutes" about the people inside the Twin Towers on 9-11 (I forget the author). I have to warn you it is very emotional reading and at times hard to keep reading. There are accounts of heroism and tragedy. There are amazing accounts of sheer determination and outright luck from the survivors. A very good read.