Watch this extended feature about the launch of the Ground Zero 360 Exhibition in the Field Museum in Chicago – the brainchild of Ballybofey born former New York police officer Paul McCormack.
Said Paul: “On that terrible day I was NYPD Commanding Officer at Fort Apache the Bronx when the news broke. I immediately grabbed flak jackets and secured access for my wife Nicola, a photo journalist with city newspapers.
“We arrived on the scene and there was carnage and destruction everywhere. Nicola took about 3,000 images of the destruction, which were never publicly released. She intended releasing these on the fifth anniversary, but felt it was not the time.”
After 9/11, Paul was transferred to Manhattan’s 13th Precinct, which lost two officers, Bobby Fazio and Moira Smith, the only female police officer to lose her life that day.
“The next three months for me were crazy times and the experiences were terrible and without like or equal,” he added.
After 20 years in the force, Paul was injured in the line of duty and retired last year. His brother Peter, who joined around the same time, is still a Detective Sergeant stationed in New York.
* Filmed by Shane Wallace
Tags: