9/11 Anniversary Digital Learning Experience

Tim Brown became an FDNY firefighter in 1984 and served in the department for 20 years in different firehouses and as a member of New York Task Force One – one of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue teams. On 9/11, he was detailed to the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management when he responded to the World Trade Center, barely surviving the collapse of the South Tower.   

Jan Demczur was at work as a window washer in the North Tower on 9/11. That morning, he became trapped in an elevator with five other men when the building was struck. He and the others used his squeegee to carve a hole through the elevator shaft to escape, evacuating safely only minutes before the North Tower collapsed. 

Christine Fiorelli Epstein was just 10 years old when her father, Stephen Fiorelli, who worked for the Port Authority in the North Tower, was killed on 9/11. Her memoir “Wednesday Morning: Growing Up in Grief,” begins with the loss of her father and follows her journey growing up in the shadow of the attacks. 

Naveed Shah was a middle school student in Springfield, VA on 9/11 and was immediately inspired to serve after the attacks. Joining the Army after graduating high school, he was deployed to Iraq in 2009 and 2010. He was later appointed to serve on the Board of the Virginia War Memorial to help oversee and continue its advocacy work for veterans.