The Second Tower's Down

by John McCole and John Mc Cole

This story begins as John McCole enters the aftermath of the World Trade Center collapse. It continues through the nightmare days that followed and explores the emotional and physical strain that he... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1861055765
• ISBN13: 9781861055767
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Robson Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.8" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

From the 9/11 disaster to inspiration and hope!

John McCole has done something amazing in this book. His vivid descriptions of the carnage are so gut-wrenching that the reader sometimes wonders if it will be bearable to turn the page. At the same time, it is impossible to put the book down.John's honesty about his emotional and physical state through all the grueling weeks of work at Ground Zero is truly remarkable. I found myself almost "becoming" a NY firefighter, as if I were actually experiencing each situation with John and the other firefighters. I have read other accounts of 9/11 and its aftermath, but this is really the BEST of them all. The reason I say this is because even though the pain, sorrow and destruction sears a path straight through your heart, at the end of the book is great hope and inspiration. John discovered a way to alleviate the emotional pain and physical destruction of his days at Ground Zero, and he shares this with us all. He shows us that even under the worst of circumstances, something CAN be done about it, and he then proceeds not only to do it for himself, but makes sure that all his firefighting brethren can benefit as well.I would like to thank John McCole for lifting us up from the effects of our tragedy, and pointing us to the way out of the trauma of 9/11. This book is definitely a MUST-READ for every American!

Bringing It Home

Lt. McCole's book was a very personal account of this tragedy that gave me a new understanding of 9-11. I got a clear picture of what the day to day operation of cleaning up was like and it wasn't pretty. His sharing of how he dealt with this and how he came through it was inspirational. JV - Florida

The Second Tower's Down

This book is gut-wrenching. Lt. McCole took me right back into the bowels of the most horrible place on Earth following Sept 11, 01.He recalls events with uncanny precision and fills the readers mind with a moving tapastry of the spirit-numbing horror which stunned our great nation.He doesn't hold back anything and surprised me at his honesty. Few firefighters I know ever let others in that close to their soul. He offers wisdom to a country that lost its remaining innocence and sound solutions for those that suffer health problems from serving at that horrible place.I read it from cover to cover in one sitting...I had no other choice.Thank you Brother John.

Fine account of 9/11

After 9/11, the American people gained a new respect for those who work in the emergency services. Before that attack, how many publishers would have thought of producing a book by a New York firefighter? Each plane carried 15,000 gallons of fuel, which when ignited by the impact caused 1000-degree fires. Each impact was about a million tons. More than 300 firefighters were killed. The attacks showed how cowardly and ugly terrorism is - the Vietnamese never resorted to terrorism, despite years of aggression and occupation, of chemical and biological attacks and repeated nuclear threats. Think of the sheer courage it took to run into the burning towers that morning, to evacuate everyone that they could. They have a working class pride in doing your job: "We all continued to do our jobs. That was our hallmark." Afterwards, the hellish horror, the sights, sounds and smells, the shock, played over and over again in their minds. 400 firefighters with sleeping eating and breathing problems had to take medical leave. The employer offered no help to those stuck in grief and loss. So McCole took responsibility for his workmates' health, insisting that the union got the firefighters to follow a programme of diet, exercise and saunas. On the anthrax threats, McCole writes with working class common sense, "the news didn't help, sensationalising every last bit of it. Sometimes it seemed like the news was worse than what had really happened." He writes, "no lasting peace was ever sustained by victory in war alone." He ends with an eloquent appeal: "For those of us in the Fire Department, caring for the families of our brotherhood has become a part of our everyday affairs. But the responsibility to do likewise will be borne by everyone in some way, somehow. As the years roll on, the most positive effect that the events of 9/11 can have is that we recognise we all share the common purpose of caring for one another. I can only hope that the compassion shown by my brothers in the Fire Department on that fateful day will be an example to others in the years to come. I'm proud to have served with you."

This is an important book

Mr. McCole has written a riveting book from the perspective of someone who was right there. I couldn't put it down.I work as a taxi driver in New York City. Since 9/11 I have talked to literally hundreds of New Yorkers about their experiences on that fateful day. So I know how this event has affected the lives of the people here.For example, a few weeks ago a young lady in my taxi (on a long ride to Brooklyn) told me that she was in the WTC that day, in the first tower that was hit. She went through the horror of it, telling me how she had seen skin falling off the bodies of burn victims and how she had heard the thuds of the bodies of people who had jumped. It was quite clear from listening to this woman that the mental effects of the disaster were still weighing quite heavily on her.That's what is so remarkable about the story that John McCole tells. We of course admire the courage of the firefighters and all of the rescue workers. But what is perhaps no less heroic is how McCole decided to take responsibility for healing himself both physically and mentally. And the fact that he chose to tell his very personal story is something that must also have taken extraordinary courage.So I strongly recommend this book.In fact, if I ever get McCole in my cab, he gets a free ride!