Episode Details

Retired FDNY Captain Rocco Fertoli, who was off-duty on 9/11 but raced to Ground Zero as the towers fell, recounts his harrowing firsthand experience — describing the air as “bad sunburn and glass,” the futile digging through rubble that felt like “spitting in the wind,” and the crushing grief of losing fellow firefighters. He rejects the label of “hero,” saying he didn’t do enough, while also revealing how many first responders now die from illnesses caused by toxic dust — more than those lost in the attacks themselves. Fertoli’s powerful testimony, delivered at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, is a plea for emotional honesty: speak your truth so others can too.

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