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CNN Live Today

Interview With Jimmy Chiusano

Aired May 30, 2002 - 13:23   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Four sequences of five rings on that fire bell signaling a fallen firefighter. The bell was sounded at exactly 10:29 a.m., the exact time the North Tower of the World Trade Center fell. Ten minutes into the ceremony, two buglers from the New York Police Department and the New York Fire Department played taps, and there was a fly-over of New York Police Department helicopters honoring the dead and those whose remains will never be found now. It was a very touching day -- 2,823 people were killed in that attack 8 1/2 months ago. Today's ceremony marks the end to the recovery process, the clean-up process there at ground zero, and a new beginning for lower Manhattan. What happens next there at that site.

Somewhere in that honor guard today was Jimmy Chiusano, a grapple operator from Staten Island who asked to work at ground zero because his father was on the World Trade Center construction crew. Mr. Chiusano joins us from the site today.

Jimmy, thanks for being with us. I'm wondering what was it like for you to participate there today, to be part of that honor guard and honoring the dead and the lost?

JIMMY CHIUSANO, GRAPPLE OPERATOR: Well, it was for me personally it was closure. We've been here a long time. And, you know, we had victims' families here today. And it was done with class and dignity, and I'm just proud to say that I was a part of it.

LIN: You were also there when the last beam was removed, that 30-foot span of steel that was carried away. I'm wondering, as you say that this is closure for you, where do you personally go from here? You've been so deeply and personally involved in this process?

CHIUSANO: Well, I'll go home and I'll spend some time with my family. I haven't been around them, you know, for the past nine months. And take a deep breath, collect my thoughts, and move on.

LIN: Are you going to be keeping in touch with some of the people that you've met during the work operation?

CHIUSANO: No doubt about it. I met great people here. We all had a task when we came. We did a great job. And I met a lot of good people, and I hope to keep in touch with everybody, yes.

LIN: Anybody in particular who comes to mind? Some of the special people you met there? CHIUSANO: A lot of Port Authority police, a lot of my fellow engineers, everybody just stuck together and, you know, just helped each other. You know, we had good days and bad days, and everybody was just there for each other, and it was special. It was special. I met a lot of good people.

LIN: You know, we've talked to people like you all the time throughout the months and the recovery process. But I think what you're describing here sounds like a special and almost unspoken bond, that you had to be there for this, you had to be there day in and day out to really understand how all of you felt. I mean, if you could articulate what is unspoken between all of you, what is it that you think maybe we might never understand of what it was like to be there?

CHIUSANO: It's just really hard to explain. But when I got here on September 12, I just felt like I've never gone home. I go home, I take a shower, I eat dinner, I kiss my wife, I kiss my son, I go to bed and I get up and I do it again the next day all over again. And you know, words just can't explain what we went through. The bond that grew between everybody. All the recovery workers, you know, it's hard -- it's really hard to explain. But like I said, I'm just proud I was here to take part in it.

LIN: Have you thought about that big gaping space behind you right now and what you think should replace it?

CHIUSANO: Over the course of the job everybody has talked about it. I would like to see them go up even higher than they were, if that is possible. I don't know. But whatever it may be, there should be a memorial included for all the victims. And I'm sure whatever they are going to build is going to be beautiful.

LIN: Jimmy Chiusano, I bet your dad would be really proud of you.

CHIUSANO: He is. He is. He's very proud.

LIN: All right, thank you very much, Jimmy Chiusano, grapple operator there at ground zero.

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