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>> She was supposed
to be at the building.

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My mom should have been
at the Pentagon.

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She didn't make it that day
because she stopped

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by her boss' office
to check on him

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and to get him
before going to a meeting.

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We all do that.

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She asked if he was coming,
he said hold on a second,

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I've got a phone call
from my sister,

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something's going on.

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She waited a few more minutes,

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he said something's wrong,
something's wrong,

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a plane has apparently
hit the World Trade Center.

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[music]

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>> Well the day started for me on 9/11,

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I woke up and it was a beautiful day

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and I had a one year old daughter

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who I hadn't had a chance
to spend much time with

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and I decided
to take the morning off.

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>> 9/11 started like any other day,

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I actually was working a late shift

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that day and,

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you know I got a call saying

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that the Trade Center had been hit.

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>> Well on the morning of September 11th

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I was working for Verizon,

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I was a splicing foreman
in Commack, New York,

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and driving around,
doing my normal duties,

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checking up on my guys in the field

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when I got a phone call
from one of my friends

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saying that a plane
had hit the World Trade Center.

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>> I heard a loud boom
behind me followed

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by a reverberation of the window.

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I turned to see the World Trade Center,

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about ten floors were on fire.

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>> So I actually turned on the TV

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to see what was going on and the minute

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I turned on the TV
the second plane hit the tower

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and at that point I knew immediately
that it was an act of terrorism.

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>> We ran down the 11 stories,

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out the door,
onto the street,

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there were people everywhere,

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it was a lot of chaos
and confusion.

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I walked about a block
west of the office

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where I could get a better view
of the World Trade Center

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so I can see exactly
what was happening.

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I don't think anybody
could have imagined at that moment

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that the towers
would actually come down.

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>> So, on 9/11 I was I law school,
I had an early morning class.

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I finished my class,
went to the library and was studying

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when some classmates of mine
walked up and told me

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a bomb had gone off
at the Pentagon.

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You know the wedge that ultimately
was hit by the plane,

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that wedge was her office space,

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it was lots of people's office space

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but that was my mom's office space.

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>> Obviously the adrenalin
started flowing in my body.

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You know, you don't know
what to do at the time,

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you have to compose yourself.

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We got the call from our Commander

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to get ready, pack gear bags,

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we might not be home for several days.

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>> And so I went back
to my apartment and we waited.

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And we waited and we waited
and we waited for the phone

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to ring and the phone rang
but it wasn't my mom.

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It wasn't my mom for about four
and a half hours.

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Four and a half hours
later my mom finally calls me

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‘cause she had to walk
from the parking lot of the Pentagon,

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because she made it that far,
across a lot of major thoroughfares,

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back to Crystal City to her office.

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She made it back to her office
and the first thing

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she did was she called me.

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>> After working a couple of hours
helping out on that pile of rubble,

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just looking for people,

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escorting people to ambulances,

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all the agents in my group
found ourselves walking funny

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and our soles had melted a little bit

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from the heat of that pile,

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and agents had to replace their boots
on a recurring basis,

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those who worked there
on a day to day basis.

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There's a lot of things
racing through your mind,

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how could this be, how did this happen,

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and hopefully there was something

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that we could do that would save lives.

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>> There was certainly that feeling
that life as we knew

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it would never be the same again.

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Immediately after 9/11,

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and certainly on the day as well,

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I was overwhelmed
with the feeling that,

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you know,

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I had to do something to help,

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had to do something
to make a difference.

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>> After that day I knew
I had to make a change

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and I wanted to make a change
the best I could,

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to do the most good I could,

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and Immigration and Customs Enforcement

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was hiring
so I put in for that job,

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and in August of 2005
I started with ICE.

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>> What working for the government
meant to me before 9/11

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and after 9/11
were two entirely different things.

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>> I believe that 9/11 is
very important to the United States

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and it's important to ICE

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because our job
is to protect the people.

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>> Working or ICE is a tremendous
source of pride for me.

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Immigration Customs Enforcement
was borne out of the events of 9/11

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and it was set up specifically
to address threats

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that face our homeland.

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>> And that's our job, to go into
harm's way when everyone is evacuated.

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It shows how important that the job
and the mission is for ICE

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to keep the homeland safe,
and the bottom line

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is that we must protect
the people of the country

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and then, at the end of the day,

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we all must go home to our families.

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My job now I love.

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I wake up every morning between 3:30
and four o'clock in the morning

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and I don't hit the snooze.

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I mean I'm making a change,

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we're out there arresting bad guys

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and making the community safe

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and that's the best I can hope for.

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>> There have been hard times
certainly through my career

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but what carries me through is knowing

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that what I do makes a difference,

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it makes a very big difference.

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>> The mission of the Department
and of the Agency is unparalleled.

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The ability to provide the nation

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with all the tools it needs
to protect the country,

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what would I say to the folks at DHS
or the folks at ICE?

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I would say thank you. Right?

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I come from a place
where I know this work is hard

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and it can be trying,

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but the benefit that we bring
to this country,

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in an effort to prevent

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what almost happened to me
that day, never again.

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Never again.
Not on my watch.

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Not on my watch, um-um.

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[music]