Reply: Lt. Nagel

“I’m sure Bobby Nagel is happy up above, that all his men were saved. He was in the hotel between the two towers; and he was at the Command Post. He had all his men in the lobby area waiting for their assignment. When they first heard the building coming down; nobody knew what it was. And when they finally ran, they ran towards the lobby. He ended up next to the elevator wall. He survived the first collapse, but he was trapped. For the first 10-15 minutes you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. The guys accounted for everybody and they got to him. His first concern was “Do you have everybody?!” And they did. He wanted them to get the Chiefs out behind him that were trapped. They were hurt. According to what was relayed to me. It took them awhile to get equipment to cut him out because all the close rigs were crushed. They had to crawl over rubble, through smoke, and dust to get to rigs where they could get equipment. It took awhile and they had finally started cutting him out. Before that they got search rope and attached it to him, a flashlight, a cigarette, and water. He went searching in the area that he was trapped. He came back, they started cutting and they heard the same noise again. He ordered the guys to get out. The two guys that were doing the cutting went to a column about 20 ft away and held on. They were buried up to their chest in debris. We were never able to find the Chiefs bodies or Bobby Nagels body.”

Capt.
Charlie Roberto
FDNY Engine 58
“The Fire Factory”

Every year I try to get to a stair climb to remember Lt. Nagel and his sacrifice. After doing some research I found we have some similarities. Both born in January. Both history buffs. Both having endless conversations. Found this on YouTube and wrote down this Capt. account. I print it out and tape it on my bottle when I climb.