We partnered with WNYC to look back at Clinton’s time at Ground Zero – a far cry from the controlled figure now a step away from the presidency
The Clinton who emerges from the WNYC tapes is passionate, raw and unrestrained. Above all, she is livid.
...As the 15th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, the memories of those days, and her role in them, remain fresh for many who stood by her side. Richard Alles was on the smoldering pile on 12 September, the day after the attacks, when Clinton turned up and proclaimed: “This attack on New York is an attack on America, it’s an attack on every American.”
Then a uniformed firefighter with battalion 58 in Canarsie, Brooklyn, Alles arrived at Ground Zero 20 minutes after the second tower collapsed. He stayed there for two days and nights, seeking survivors amid the ruins. What struck him most about Clinton that day, he said, was what he called her “compassion”.
“She really went out of her way to speak to the first responders on the site to reassure them,” he said. “I never forgot it.”
Alles was also struck by how Clinton quickly grasped the potential health risks of Ground Zero, and how doggedly she pursued treatment for those who suffered. “We all knew from the get-go that the air was contaminated,” he said, “but we had a job to do so we kept on working. Senator Clinton was at the forefront over dealing with it, she showed herself to be a fighter.”