In the days after the Twin Towers fell, writer Matt Labash headed to Manhattan. His firsthand account of the wreckage and its aftermath was first published in The Weekly Standard in September 2001. We’re honored to bring it to you today. —The Editors
It doesn’t seem right, really—romanticizing catastrophe instead of just confronting its grim particulars head-on. Still, they cut quite a swath at Sir Harry’s Bar in the Waldorf Astoria, these brave men with forearm tattoos and walrus mustaches—firefighting volunteers who have swooped in from places like Danbury and Pittsburgh to shore up New York’s own decimated ranks.
The hotel has graciously provided free accommodations. So after a 12-hour shift sifting through World Trade Center rubble, firemen stagger into the bar like flame-retardant cowboys, still wearing their charbroiled gear. As they fill the room, I turn to a well-heeled patron, trying to summon an appropriate reference from a Peckinpah movie. “They look like somebody,” I say, struggling. “Like goddamned heroes,” he replies, as the fireman douse their dust-infested insides with complimentary rounds.
