CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Two Corpus Christi firefighters who responded to Ground Zero in the days after September 11, 2001, say they would do it all over again — and on the 25th anniversary of the attacks, they want Americans to remember those who were lost.
Lee Rogers and Stephen LeBlanc are both retired firefighters with the Corpus Christi Fire Department and members of the Urban Search and Rescue Team for the State of Texas. The team's inception was in 1996.
The two men describe themselves not as brothers by blood, but by faith — a bond forged in the smoke and debris of one of the darkest moments in American history.
"I always call Lee, we always stay in touch — we do — we haven't missed one," both said.
"But they got me through it all ... lots of support from my brother," LeBlanc said.
Within hours of the second tower collapsing, Rogers received a call that would send them both north.
"Hey Kay, it's Lee, what's going on? And she said, Lee you're going to be deployed by 4pm this afternoon," Rogers said.
By the following Tuesday — a week after the attacks — Rogers and LeBlanc arrived at Ground Zero, where fires were still burning.
"We could see off in the distance, the lights and where Ground Zero was and this is a week later — this was the following Tuesday — and the smoke was still rising — those fires had been burning for a week," Rogers said.
For the next several days, the two worked 12-hour shifts searching for signs of life and recovering those who had been lost.
"The smell was overwhelming — the dust and debris," Rogers said.
"While we were there we had, you know, firefighters that were removed, brought down from the towers — they've gone up to the ultimate sacrifice," LeBlanc said.
The two men say they never lost sight of the magnitude of what happened that day.
"Never forget, you know, we lost 343 firemen that day — made the ultimate sacrifice on that day. They didn't run away — they ran into that building, you know," Leblanc said.
Now, on the 25th anniversary, Rogers and LeBlanc say their greatest fear is that the tragedy is fading from public memory.
"I worry that it's been forgotten," Rogers said.
Rogers also offered a message he hopes resonates with everyone who remembers that day.
"And none of those people thought they were gonna die that day. There are people that went to work. There are people that left home that morning. And I only hope that when they left home, whoever their significant other could be — wife, husband, sons, daughters, dogs, cats — I hope — I'm sorry — I hope that they just said how they feel. I hope they weren't arguing. I hope they weren't fighting. I hope they weren't upset with each other because we never know what our last words will be," Rogers said.
On the anniversary, Rogers said the date has a way of making itself known.
"I'd look at the clock and it's 9/11 — I see a digital clock and it's 9/11 — I thought it was just me," Rogers said.
The two brothers will be calling each other today — and they hope you'll call your loved ones, too.
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