9/11 firefighter who stood next to Bush in famous images dies
Al Jazeera
Bob Beckwith was working in the smouldering ruins of the World Trade Center when George W Bush visited the site.
A retired New York City firefighter who rose to fame after being photographed next to then-President George W Bush in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks has died at the age of 91.
Bob Beckwith was working in the smouldering ruins of the World Trade Center three days after the attacks when Bush visited the site and gave a speech promising to hold the perpetrators responsible.
“I can hear you, the rest of the world hears you, and the people who knocked down these buildings will hear all of us soon,” Bush said in remarks to rescuers scouring for survivors.
Pictures of Bush speaking into a megaphone with his arm around Beckwith became some of the most well-known images symbolising the grief and resolve of Americans in the days after hijackers crashed planes into the Twin Towers.
“Bob Beckwith was one of many retired FDNY [Fire Department of New York] members who responded to the World Trade Center site in the days and months following September 11 to aid in rescue and recovery as a testament to their devotion to their FDNY family,” Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said in a statement on Monday.
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