06/02/15-Boston,MA. Law enforcement officials lift a knife that they allege was being held by a man, who was under surveillance for terror related issues, who police shot this morning at 4600 Washington St. in Roslindale. Staff photo by Mark Garfinkel
I, like many, was watching one of the morning national news shows when the unthinkable events that would change our nation forever commenced. First, one plane, and then another crashed into the World Trade Center towers. I went in to work my Boston Herald news photography shift shortly thereafter. The updated and ever-changing news reports showed one, if not both of the ill-fated airliners, departed from Boston’s Logan airport. I started toward the airport. It would take me over an hour to get from the Herald’s South End headquarters to Logan as most workers vacated the city at the same time. Cell phone service, due to heavy usage, was barely working in our area. I arrived on top of Logan’s Terminal B parking garage to look down at a quiet airport as other media members arrived. We all noticed when an F15 fighter jet roared overhead. It was at about that time that I received word that Peter West, the father of Herald colleague Matthew West, had been working in one of the WTC towers when the planes hit. Cell service was still very spotty and every once in a while, through the day, I would check in with Matthew and another co-worker/friend Matt Stone to find out any information about Mr. West. We all thought that the heavy confusion of the day and the bad cell service, etc. were the reasons we had not received information on the whereabouts of Mr. West. We are a close bunch at the Herald photography department and as the hours passed, we would contact each other to find any information we could about the West family, so as to not bother them. Peter west, a loving father, husband, brother, uncle and friend, died as he was going about his work on the 104th floor. A loving eulogy by his son Matthew would follow at the New Jersey funeral. Here is a link to the eulogy and to the Peter West memorial website. My photos below show F15 flying over Logan and a state police car guarding an American Airlines plane in the hours after the attacks. They also show one of the first jets to arrive at Logan after the four day closure of the airport. That arriving jet, a DHL cargo jet, is framed by an American flag flying above Winthrop. A few days later there was a very emotional prayer service at City Hall plaza that was attended by many area pilots and flight attendants. God bless to Mr. West and to all the victims of that horrific day. Peace on earth!
The 135th Annual Ball and Awards Ceremony of the Boston Fire Department honored 20 firefighters last night who, according to Interim Fire CommissionerJohn F. Hasson, “have distinguished themselves in the performance of their duty during 2013.” Hasson spoke to the large crowd at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel and touched upon the bravery displayed at the April 15 Boston Marathon terrorist attack where “members, on duty or off, performed their duties with the utmost bravery”. Firefighter Douglas Menard, of Engine Company 14, was awarded the John E. Fitzgerald Medal for the Most Meritorious Act. His plaque description reads: “On April 15, 2013, two bombs were detonated by terrorists at the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon. Fire Fighter Douglas Menard was in close proximity to the bomb detonation and was knocked off balance by the explosion. Without hesitation and under the uncertain threat of more bombs, he came upon his first victim, a mother covering her teenage daughter’s injured leg. He applied a tourniquet and moved on to several other victims with burning cloths caused by the hot metal fragments of the bomb. He extinguished their burning cloths and provided first aid to their burns. After receiving several reports of victims in the Marathon Sports building, he entered the building and, aided by other firefighters, continued to to provide first aid to multiple victims.”
Nineteen other firefighters were honored for heroic acts performed in 2013.
Medal of Honor recipients, Fire Lieutenant Sean M. O’Brien, engine company 7, at left, and firefighter Charles M. Buchanan engine company 24, and Michael Foley.
