September 11, 2001
I was assigned to the World Trade Center Command and working an RDOX plainclothes detail with my partner, Police Officer Uhuru Houston. May God rest his heroic soul.
Only minutes before the first plane struck the North Tower, Officer Houston and I made an arrest on the plaza outside 4 World Trade Center. With the assistance of Officers Christopher Amoroso and Clinton Davis, we escorted the prisoner to the PATH processing room. I searched the prisoner, secured him in a holding cell, and we began preparing the arrest paperwork when we heard and felt an enormous explosion. Even below ground, the building shook violently. I immediately thought it was another truck bomb.
As I headed up the escalator toward the concourse, I heard Officer Basic radio that an aircraft had struck the North Tower. On the plaza, I witnessed fires, burning debris, and human remains scattered across the area. Civilians stood only feet from falling debris and people still falling from above. I immediately began evacuating as many people as possible.
I then returned to the concourse, helping evacuate injured civilians from the towers. Later, Captain Whitaker assigned me to PATH Square, where I worked alongside Sergeant M. Duane and Officer Fitzpatrick, assisting with the evacuation after the second aircraft struck the South Tower.
Moments later, the South Tower collapsed.
The floor shook violently. There was no time to run. I was thrown into total darkness and buried beneath debris. When everything became silent, I realized my right arm was pinned. My radio and handcuffs were gone, and I believed I would never see my wife, our four young children, or the rest of my family again.
Then my World Trade Center fire brigade training took over. I forced myself to stay calm, freed my arm — suffering a severe laceration in the process — and began crawling through the darkness. Visibility was almost nonexistent.
Eventually, I heard coughing and identified myself as Police Officer Finnegan. A voice answered that he was Police Officer Szapanski, who had a flashlight. He handed it to me and followed as I searched for a way out using familiar landmarks.
Soon I heard another voice calling for help. It was Sergeant Robert Vargas, a trusted friend with whom I had worked for years at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. We found each other, embraced, and realized neither of us knew what had happened. We had no idea the tower had collapsed around us. Along the way, we found a disoriented civilian and brought him with us.
Somehow, we found an exit onto Vesey Street. Sergeant Vargas and I remained together until we reached a temporary crisis center. I was later transported by ambulance to St. Vincent’s Hospital, where I underwent surgical repair of my injured arm.
Serving that day remains the greatest honor of my career. The courage, professionalism, and selflessness displayed by my fellow police officers and first responders will never be forgotten.
P.O. Edward “Ed” Finnegan #740
World Trade Center Command
