As we remember 9/11, Anthony Rumore was part of the military response on that day. "It was tough to deal with. I definitely suffered some PTSD afterwards, seeing the things that I did. The corpses, the bodies coming out of the wreckage."
19 years ago on the morning of September 11, Rumore was a sergeant in the National Guard when he woke up to the unthinkable.
"Woke up late that morning, walked into the living room, turned on the TV and started to begin to understand what was happening."
Rumore quickly rushed off to join the boots on the ground at the world trade center. "Got off the bus and just saw chaos and debris everywhere. The soot on the ground was inches thick and begin to see parts from planes."
For several weeks, he lived in an abandoned building in the financial district.
"We worked 12 hour shifts. So as you can imagine at the end of the 12-hour shift all we wanted to do was sleep." He secured the perimeter, cleared debris and chased away looters. "Our unit was responsible for catching people looting in the world trade center. They took advantage of a bad situation to where they were infiltrating our lines," Rumore said.
It was one of the darkest times for New York City and our entire country.
"There's not one September 11 where I don't shed a tear or cry thinking about the people that reached out.
That were behind barricades. That were holding up pictures. That were holding up signs saying, please help, me help find my brother or sister or mother or father," Rumore said.
Along With the painful memories, he also remembers the hope.
"In a time of crisis, Americans pulled together. It wasn't about political agenda. It wasn't left versus right. It was about people."
A message he thinks our country could use right now. "9-11 taught us one thing, in the times of great despair, people came together," Rumore said.
\He is now retired. Rumore lives near the Phoenix area with his wife and daughter.
