Hadley-Firefighter Doug Broecker’s heart races at the thought of returning to New York City, where he spent five days working at Ground Zero three years ago.
This time, he hopes to find closure, exchange phone numbers, and raise funds.
Broecker, 37, will join Hadley firefighter Ed Samulski, assistant chief Kurt Nass, and firefighter-EMT Jason Harrison, another Ground Zero veteran, in returning to the site of the World Trade Center devastation Sept. 26 for a 5K fund-raiser run.
‘We’ve been wanting to go back,? said Broecker, who found it hard to leave in 2001.
For Broecker and Harrison, the sight burned into the minds of many Americans is remembered in close-up images.
A ring of darkness surrounding the blacked-out area met the pair, who drove to New York two days after the twin towers of the World Trade Center were destroyed.
In the immense Ground Zero area, there was no boss to report to, said Broecker.
‘You went in and saw a line of people loading trash, like a bucket brigade.?

‘It was huge, when you looked out you’d see the different lines, it looked like ants in an ant hill literally stretched out forever into the night. It was unbelievable.?
The firefighters could still smell the acrid odor two weeks after returning home.
‘It was horrible,? Broecker said. ‘It was the most horrible thing I’ll ever see, smell, or hear’I hope.?
He recalls finding an identification card with a photo in the debris.
‘But we never found a phone, a desk, a stapler, a computer, a door, nothing. It was ground up and gone,? said Broecker.
Volunteers were taken through a burned-out building.
‘There wasn’t a dry eye,? he said. ‘It was just devastation.?
Workers loaded debris into buckets around the clock. In the early hours during a 30-block walk, Broecker saw hundreds of photos of missing loved
ones along the way.
‘The saddest part was in every picture you’d see people smiling, or with their kids.?
Although met with kindness by the people of New York, there was no time to think of exchanging phone numbers or e-mail addresses with residents or other firefighters before returning home to their jobs.
On the return trip, they drove through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.
It was a trip made by New York firefighter Stephen Siller just days before, when the off-duty firefighter and father of five heard the towers had been hit. His vehicle barred from the tunnel, Siller raced on foot toward the site, gear strapped to his back. He never made it home.
When the four Hadley firefighters return to New York this month for the 5K fund-raiser run, they’ll follow Siller’s footsteps through the tunnel.
The Hadley Township Fire Department is one of 343 fire departments in the country participating in the 5K fund-raiser run. Each department will hold a banner honoring one of the 343 fallen firefighter heroes who died Sept. 11, 2001.
Although the firefighters will be in New York only over the Sept. 26 weekend, Broecker hopes this time to exchange phone numbers and e-mail addresses with other firefighters there.
While he feels anxious at the thought of returning, the Hadley firefighter hopes the cleaned-up site of the World Trade Center towers will bring a sense of finality, of closure, ‘because it was so hard to leave,? he said.
Broecker hesitates to share photos of the site. Glory is not why he’s agreed to talk about it.
‘How many times have you sat and watched TV and saw something terrible happen, and wanted to do more than send a $5 check? It was an honor to do
it.?