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STORIES

Kenneth Davis

Veteran

Kenneth Davis
Military Affiliations

  • Veteran Child

  • First Responder

MY connection to 9/11

  • I was a first responder (fire, police, EMT) on 9/11

Where were you when you first heard about or saw the 9/11 terrorist attacks?

I was working as a FDNY Paramedic on my day off crossing the 59th Street Bridge heading into Manhattan when I witnessed the first plane strike the Towers. I knew immediately that it wasn’t an accident by the way it turned. I headed straight down to the South Street Ferry Terminal and helped triage people that were in shock and injured. By then the second plane had struck, so I headed over to the Towers to help evacuate and direct the injured. I was in the lobby of the North Tower when it collapsed and I was severely injured, with my left knee dislocated and numerous bumps, cuts and bruises. I was dragged by a NYPD officer and a Fireman out to safety and had them help me splint my leg after pulling it straight, using cardboard boxes from the abandoned street vendors carts. I continued to work for 10 more hours digging and guiding the injured until I was ordered to go to the Hospital by a Lieutenant. I was never able to return to full duty and was put on a Disability Pension. Since that day I have had 16 surgeries and survived 3 years of intensive chemotherapy for Follicular Lymphoma Cancer. The only reason that I believe that I didn’t die that day was because I had to be at the birth of my daughter on the 18th of September, 2001…exactly one week later. I consider her my Angel. I honestly believe that my Training as a Hospital Corpsman gave me the fortitude to be able to do what I did that day without hesitation. I served from September 1979-August 1983 and was stationed on the USS Guam LPH-9, and was part of the initial multinational peacekeeping mission in Beirut, Lebanon.

How did the events of that day shape your life and inspire your service to this country?

Since getting injured that day and watching so many perish, I take every day for what it’s worth because you never know when it could end in a second. I miss my years as a corpsman and have a hard time to this day accepting the fact that I can no longer work as a FDNY Paramedic.

What are you excited to contribute to your community, however you define it, for the next 20 years?

Since 9-11, I have become more involved in volunteering when I can for different causes. I couldn’t be more Proud of the young ladies both of my daughters have become ( my other daughter was 7 years old on 9-11)

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