PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the memories of that morning remain vivid for the firefighters who ran toward the burning towers as thousands fled.
Mike Duzant, a former New York firefighter now living in Portsmouth, was one of them.
"Building is on fire and flames are shooting out the windows, and everyone is running out and you're running in," Duzant said.
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Duzant and his fellow firefighters from Brooklyn did what they had trained for their entire careers — rushing straight into danger to save lives. Two men from Duzant's firehouse entered the second tower.
"They went in. Chief Grezlick was the chief. He turned around and said standby," Duzant said.
Then the buildings began to collapse.
"When it started coming down all we could do basically is run, and the chief and aid were still in there," Duzant said.
When the dust settled, the devastating reality set in. Not everyone would be coming home.
"We went out with 7 and came back with five," Duzant said.
For the days and weeks that followed, rescue teams worked tirelessly, clinging to hope.
"We're hoping people are trapped in voids, we're hoping to find survivors and it didn't work out the way we planned," Duzant said.
The emotional toll was overwhelming. Firefighters had to find a way to keep working through unimaginable grief.
"It kind of numbed you because I think if you let it effect you would just sit down and cry," Duzant said.
After more than 24 hours of rescue work, those who survived returned to their families, forever changed.
"You go home, you hug your kids, hug your wife," Duzant said.
But the work was far from over. The fire department faced an unprecedented tragedy.
"For a year straight half of the fire department went to the pile and helped, the other half went to funerals," Duzant said.
The numbers tell a heartbreaking story.
"We buried 343 brothers," Duzant said.
25 years later, the physical and emotional scars remain.
"I have three screws in my back from 9/11 when the buildings came down," Duzant said.
For survivors like Duzant, the memories are never far away.
"I was there, you try not to think about it everyday," Duzant said.
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