Steve Buscemi talks about what he saw in Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks: “It was almost impossible to process the enormity of what had happened.”
Steve Buscemi considered it “almost impossible” to prosecute what he saw after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in New York.
The Reservoir Dogs actor used to be a firefighter in the city and answered a call to help at the World Trade Center site in 2001 and admitted he was grateful he already had sessions with a therapist because it helped him speak through his feelings after a week working to find survivors.
He wrote in an essay for TIME magazine: “In fact, it was good to be there. I was there for less than a week, but it wasn’t until I got home that the magnitude of it all caught me. .
“Almost impossible”: Steve Buscemi considered it “almost impossible” to prosecute what he saw after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City
Always supportive: Jim Carry and Steve Buscemi at a concert a month after 9/11
“I already saw a therapist, and while it was almost impossible to process the enormity of what had happened, just having someone to sit with with all my feelings was a consolation. It’s not something they usually get first aid.
“Announcing vulnerability is a difficult thing for everyone, but especially for people with a primary identity as a protector.”
And while the Fargo star and fellow firefighters found the dust from the fallen towers “more annoying” than anything else they found in it, it did highlight the damage caused by the site’s toxic chemicals.
He wrote, “Powdered concrete and who-knows-what clogged a face mask, so fast it worked best without one,” Buscemi wrote. “Someone would say, ‘This will probably kill us in 20 years.’
Aerial death: Buscemi said the first agents of the time said: “This will probably kill us in 20 years”
“Some people had no choice”: Buscemi mentioned the slogan “never forget” and wrote that many of the first responders “have no choice”
‘Well, it didn’t take 20 years. Debilitating chronic conditions surfaced even before the battery was cleaned. More people are believed to have died today from toxic exposure at the 9/11 site than the deaths that day.
“Of course, it was thick with carcinogens. But if the truth had been shared with firefighters, I’m sure they would have continued to work.”
Steve urged people to “never forget” what happened, mostly because tragedy still has a serious impact on people’s lives.
He concluded, “Never forget,” everyone said. Some people have no choice. What is surprising is who to remember. Shortly after the attack, Congress created a Victims Compensation Fund. to help lifeguards cope with the consequences of the day.
Supporting first responders: Buscemi wrote about the campaign to expand funding for first responders and their families affected by smoke after 9/11
“When the money started to run out, the survivors had to launch a pressure campaign to get permanent funding, which finally arrived in 2019.
“It was an effort led by Jon Stewart and activist John Feal and supported by all the former firefighters who can’t laugh without coughing and by all the family members who pretend not to notice.
Never forget, because people are still struggling. People are still dying, ”the actor said.
In 2019, the Senate passed a bill that expands funding for 9/11 victims, respondents, and their families for decades.