Our day started the same as usual on September 11th, 2001. All members of the Task Force started the day as we normally did.  Shortly after our day started, as the same as the rest of the world, we witnessed on television the horror unfolding in New York.  In the moments after the first tower fell our day began to change in ways, we will never forget. We were asked to pack our bags and standby for further instructions. Since it was unknown when or where another attack would take place, emergency resources were frozen in case needed in their own areas. At 4 pm on September 11th, we were told our unit was most likely needed in NYC.  At 9:30 pm we were asked to deploy.  Around 10:15 pm we were on the road heading north on Interstate 95.  We drove code 3 (lights and sirens) the entire way with our two marked units fully loaded for anything that may lie ahead, stopping along the way only for fuel.  We were the first arriving cadaver dog team, having made the trip overnight and arriving at first light.  This was the fastest drive to NYC any of us had made as we drove there at top speed knowing the resources were in need.  The Task Force spent 9 days at the disaster site recovering some of the initial human remains and worked through injuries, pain, and emotions to complete our mission.

We will soon leave more information as to our mission and what we did. These are not the glamor stories you hear on the news, but the way we lived those nine days in September and the horrors one never saw on TV.  Our days were nothing though to what the members of FDNY and NYPD went through for months, and still live yet to this day.  It was an honor to work with the members of FDNY and offer our services in their time of need.  In our hearts, we have a special place for them all and for the 9th Battalion who we worked most of our time alongside and came to know.  Our heroes are FDNY, NYPD, and the Port Authority. We were there in support of them in their efforts to save lives.