Changed by 9/11: Gerry Ahearn

At the time of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, Gerry Ahearn was a detective assigned to the Intelligence Division of the New York City Police Department. He was on a trial in Brooklyn Federal Court sitting on the Long Island Rail Road when he was notified that the towers were attacked.

He made his way to his office, which was at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, and was assigned to a five-man recovery team, which meant they took over a commuter ferry from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn to the South Street Sea Port.

“We were looking to find injured victims and then transport them to doctors at Lutheran Medical Center,” he said. “There were no injured, you were alive or dead. We were able to evacuate about a 600 people, and then we made our way to the towers and started to dig.”

After a few days, the New York City Police Department was able to re-group, and started working in four-man teams with the FBI.

“A few days we worked on terrorist leads and then back down to the towers on a recovery team collecting body parts,” he said.

That lasted until Thanksgiving. By that time the city and the police department were back on their feet, and Ahearn was still assigned to the Intelligence Division, working on terrorist cases, which were confidential in nature.

As for friends that he lost that day, there were many co-workers, but three men who were close friends.

The first firefighter that was killed in the line of duty was Danny Suhr.

“He stepped off the rig, looked up at the towers, and said, ‘Lets go to work boys,’" said Ahearn. “At that time, unknown to Danny, a man jumped from the building and landed on Danny, and killed him.”

Father Judge gave Suhr his last rights and he went into the towers and he passed.

“In speaking with Danny's co-workers that day they said Danny saved their lives, because as they placed Danny in the ambulance, the south tower fell, which would have killed all of them,” Ahearn said.

Another friend was a partner of Ahearn’s, John "Chip" Chipura. After working in the police department for 12 years, Chip rolled over to the fire department. In 1983 Chip was a young marine stationed in Beirut, the terrorists attacked the barracks he was staying in, blowing up the building, and he spent three days digging himself out, Ahearn said.

In 1993 during the first attack on the towers, Chip and Ahearn ran down there to find Chip's twin sister, and turned out to be okay on that day. In 2001 he was assigned to Engine Company 219 in Brooklyn, and responded on 9/11, and was never seen again.

Then there was Capt. Timmy Stackpole in the FDNY. They grew up in the same Brooklyn neighborhood.

“Timmy was a few years older than me, and was a natural leader,” Ahearn said. “He was like a big brother to all of us. While out on sick leave from a previous fire, he responded to the towers and was killed in the line of duty.”

Stackpole’s younger brother Mike, also a fireman, was there a few days later when Timmy was found and Mike helped carry him from the pile.