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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview with Rick Saracelli, Jack Ellis
Aired March 03, 2002 - 10:13 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: New York City firefighters are being honored this weekend by mayors in 200 cities. There will be a lot of thank yous to go around and pictures to promote travel and tourism. Joining me here in Atlanta is New York firefighter Rick Saracelli and Mayor Jack Ellis of Macon, Georgia. Thank you so much, both of you, for being here. I can't wait to talk about ...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for having us.
PHILLIPS: ... this program. Absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you ma'am.
PHILLIPS: I have to ask you definitely, Rick, you were there September 11, once you got to ground zero you had to hook up with the other firefighters. Kind of take us back to that moment and how that was such a tough time for you.
RICHARD SARACELLI, NYC FIREFIGHTER: When we got to ground zero that night, we got with my ladder company 49th and the Bronx, we relocated to serve as ladder company one on Dwayne Street (ph) in downtown Manhattan. It was frightening going down there to a battle scene. We didn't know if we were going to be attacked again, and we knew at that time many, many of our brothers were trapped in the rubble, and to feel what we felt, the emotions we felt is indescribable.
Of course, the civilians were trapped in the rubble too, but our first concern was our brothers. And going down to ground zero through midtown and into downtown, to pull out from the flyers that were still burning and the dust was incredible. There was six inches of dust on the ground from East River to the Hudson River all the way down to the battery (ph) and up to Canal Street (ph). The whole southern tip of Manhattan was covered with six inches of dust. It looked like a blizzard and the dust was ground up gypsum of mortarboard (ph) and concrete that the World Trade Center had been made of.
PHILLIPS: So now you're involved months -- almost six months later in this program, joining Mayor Ellis, and you're having the lieutenant come and he even spoke to your new recruits, the firefighting recruits. How did what he had to say about that day and even being a firefighter affect the folks in Macon? MAYOR C. JACK ELLIS, MACON, GEORGIA: Well of course we're very pleased to host Lieutenant Saracelli and his wife for the last three days, and they did a lot for the people of the city of Macon, Georgia. And of course, the youngsters and the school system as well -- as well as our firefighters got a chance to touch, see and feel a real hero up close and in person, and we just wanted to show the New York City firefighters how much we appreciate them.
And our leader Marc Morial, the mayor of New Orleans was the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and we all came up with this idea, you know less than two months ago and made it happen across from 200 cities across the country, as you alluded to earlier, hosting firefighters and it's been a tremendous success, and it's been good for our cities. It shows that we are united, that cities unite America because we are a nation of cities.
PHILLIPS: So when you address these firefighters, what did you tell them about just being so proud to be a firefighter and that times are different now.
SARACELLI: Well I told the Macon firefighters that we're all part of the same fraternal organization. We all call each brother. It doesn't matter if you're from a big city or a small city. We're all in it to save God's creations, whether they be people or recreations of the people that God created. And every firehouse is a holy place in my opinion, and we are all brothers, and I enjoyed addressing the new recruits and I wish them to have a healthy and happy and long career, and I pointed out to them that their fire department may be smaller than the New York Fire Department, but it was just as good.
PHILLIPS: And you think folks in Macon will go get in an airplane and come to New York and visit the lieutenant's firehouse and ...
ELLIS: I think so. We are -- we are encouraging that, and I think we showed that last -- two months ago at the U.S. Conference of Mayors. We had our conference in New York City. We went to New York from D.C. by train, had a three-day event there, visited ground zero and tried to show people that it's OK to travel and we are encouraging people to travel, and that's what this tour of having 200 firefighters span out across the country to show that it's OK to travel, as well as show the importance of first respondents and firefighters and police officers and other emergency management personnel happen to be the first respondents in our cities, and we wanted to say thank you to them, and demonstrate that we are all united in this effort and they have our full support.
PHILLIPS: And I've got to ask you before we wrap up here, as you head back, how are all the firefighters doing? How did this just affect the bond within all of you?
SARACELLI: It made it closer. It made us all closer, as if we weren't close before. This has just made us closer. It's made us closer with our families. It's made us closer to the families that no longer have the firefighters the head of the home. And it's all -- it's made us all want to make America a better America. If there is one thing that comes out of this disaster, it's that all Americans are going to work very hard to make America better.
And this decision by The Conference of Mayors to bring 153 firefighters out to 150 cities throughout the nation so we could thank them for their support to New York in our time of need was a brilliant -- a brilliant plan. And I would like to thank all Americans for helping make America better, and we're not going to stop until we make America the best America it can be, and with that, when we do that, my brothers that died at the World Trade Center and the people that died at the Pentagon and the people that died in the field in Pennsylvania will not have died in vain.
PHILLIPS: Lieutenant Rick Saracelli from the FDNY. We definitely salute you. I can tell you almost this entire newsroom has an FDNY cap, and Mayor Ellis, thank you so much for coming here from Macon, and talking about the program -- it's fantastic.
ELLIS: Thank you very much for having us.
PHILLIPS: Gentlemen thank you.
SARACELLI: Thank you ma'am.
PHILLIPS: All right.
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