ABSTRACT
Like his father and brother, Ron had always wanted to be a firefighter. His young adult life was just beginning and he was very happy that he had just joined the force and had an engagement party on Labor Day, 2001. On the morning of 9/ 11 he woke up with his fiancée. It was a lovely sunny morning, but soon nothing would normal again. He was an early responder to the attack and saved several people by assisting them in escaping from World Trade Center One. He saw people leap from the towers to their death to escape the fires. As the first tower collapsed he and some other firefighters escaped the debris by finding their way into a neighborhood restaurant and slamming the door as everything turned black. After what seemed like an hour they managed to get out and continue their rescue efforts. None of Ron’s family was injured but he, like all New York firefighters, lost “brothers” on that day. He worked long shifts but said he was in “an altered state” and did not talk much about it at the time. Weeks later he was considered a hero, though he did not feel like one. Still, he made several TV appearances including Saturday Night Live. Companies called and offered him jobs, and women called and wanted to go out with him. About a year later he left the Fire Department and broke off his engagement. In 2009 Ron talked about how much he missed his fiancée and his job as a firefighter. He did not have significant symptoms but believed that he had made some bad decisions and that 9/ 11 had thrown his life off course. He did not quite understand how or why but said he had been profoundly damaged.
