'We Were One Nation' Despite Tragedy

For Redlands Fire Chief Jeff Frazier, the wait to get into Manhattan was almost excruciating.

“First responders are used to the bells going off, getting on the fire truck and driving,” Frazier said.

Hours after two planes hit the Twin Towers, Frazier and dozens of fellow rescuers were following federal procedures in order to get to New York.

“Certainly for us, it was a long day of waiting to get started knowing that people were struggling without our assistance,” he said.

Frazier was a member of the San Diego Fire Department when he was sent to Ground Zero as part of Riverside Urban Search and Rescue Task Force Six.

“I left March Air Force on the afternoon/evening of Sept. 11,” said Frazier.

Since all commercial airliners were grounded, rescuers were taken by military transport. Frazier arrived early the morning of Sept. 12.

He was part of the San Diego Urban Search and Rescue Task Force and Incident Support Team, which worked as liaisons planning out where to position rescue teams and how to track and deploy resources. He was there 27 days, he said.

The team was based out of the Javits Center in Downtown Manhattan. While there, President George W. Bush paid a visit. A moment that Frazier said made a positive impact.

While it was hard not to be affected by enormity of the tragedy, it was the strength of the human spirit that touched him the most, Frazier said.

“The silver lining to a very dark cloud was the way we as a people - fire and rescue, residents and volunteers - responded. For a period of time there, we were one nation. There were no political factions, no agendas. We were just trying to help. That is what I choose to remember most about that disaster.”

Find More 9/11 Coverage:

• Touched By Terror: Patch Remembers 9/11 in 911 Snapshots