“Bob Beckwith, 9/11 Firefighter Who Posed with President Bush at Ground Zero, Passes Away at 91” – One America News Network
OAN’s Abril Elfi
11:28 AM – Monday, February 5, 2024
Bob Beckwith, the retired fireman who went above and beyond to locate survivors during 9/11 and who was captured in a famous photograph with former President George W. Bush at Ground Zero, passed away at the age of 91.
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The union representing New York firefighters and former United States Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) announced Beckwith’s death on Monday.
Although the cause of death has not yet been released, it was known that Beckwith had malignant skin cancer along with other health issues.
Beckwith, who was already 69-years-old at the time, heard the news that terrorists had hijacked two commercial planes and crashed them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, which would cause the deaths of 2,753 people. Beckwith had been retired for six years prior before the planes came crashing.
Even so, he still made the decision to volunteer his efforts and accompany police cars across the Williamsburg Bridge and travel to Lower Manhattan in order to assist in the hunt for survivors.
His relatives reportedly attempted to stop him from visiting Ground Zero. However, Beckwith threw on his old uniform, fastened his helmet, and hurried out the door after learning that one of his old colleague’s sons was among the hundreds of missing firefighters.
“I told my wife, ‘I’m going down,’” Beckwith recalled in a 2005 interview with CNN.
According to the 9/11 Memorial Museum, Beckwith was able to persuade the NYPD and National Guard that he was late for work and was allowed entry to Ground Zero while wearing his old gear, which included his leather fire helmet from Ladder Company 164. After arriving at the scene, he started working on the bucket brigade, where a row of first responders stood shoulder to shoulder and manually passed buckets of rubble to one another in an attempt to find survivors. He joined a team that successfully located FDNY Engine 76.
“I go start digging with the guys in the North Tower, and we come across a pumper with a 76 Engine,” Beckwith said. “And we’re working because we’re looking for survivors and we’re looking for people, and we’re hoping they found an air pocket or something.”
Word spread among rescuers that Bush was planning to visit Ground Zero during that horrific first week after the event. To get a better look at where he thought the then-president might speak, Beckwith scaled the charred hull of a fire engine.
