Homeland Security Audio Archive

Since 9/11, we have heard amazing stories from CHDS alumni, students, faculty and staff about why they are motivated to serve and committed to protecting the country. The Homeland Security Audio Archive preserves these stories while inspiring the next generation of public safety leaders and serving as a reminder of the sacrifice and dedication that local, state, tribal and federal homeland security officials make on a daily basis. CHDS faculty, students and alumni, login to add your story.

	Martin Alperen Author, consultant, instructor, Self-employed "Although I was far away, I felt as if the attacks were in my own neighborhood. I was also a first responder… I could relate to firefighters and police officers going into a burning building rather than trying to get out."
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	Meredith Austin Chief of Staff, US Coast Guard "As we drove in, New Yorkers held up thank you signs and waved. As a New Yorker myself, I felt the attacks were personal so I was glad to do my part to help in the recovery."
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	Richard Blatus Battalion Chief, New York City Fire Department (FDNY) "On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was late for work as I took my 9-year-old daughter to the doctor…an event that probably saved my life because many of my friends and co-workers did not return to headquarters that day."
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	Stephanie Blum Attorney Advisor, DHS, Office of General Counsel "I could not help but wonder what kind of world I was bringing my child into…At first, it did not occur to me that I could use my skills and training as a lawyer to help make the country safer."
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	John Brown Director, Arlington County Office of Emergency Management "It is really about making those connections and establishing those networks so that the next time we get attacked, we can respond to it even better."
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Michael A. Brown Senior Desk Officer, Office of Global Strategies, International Operations Division, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) "I felt a growing tug at my heart strings to fight terrorism, but I didn’t know what to do…enlist in the military, rush to the scene? …now nearly 26 years since my dad’s death, I cannot think of a more important cause than the one that connects me with my colleagues today."

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	Christopher Cleary Commanding Officer, 4th Precinct, Nassau County Police Department "In the months after the 9/11 attacks, I attended dozens of funerals and memorial services for neighbors, friends and fellow first responders which turned homeland security from a job into a passion for me."
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	John Cline Independent Author, Lt. Commander (Ret.), U.S. Navy "I guess you could say it all started with FBI Director J, Edgar Hoover…he suggested law enforcement was a worthwhile calling. Several years later, I discovered he was right."
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	John Comiskey Specialty Professor, Monmouth University "I learned the names of my friends and colleagues who made the supreme sacrifice that day. The same men whom I shared police cars and dinners and beers and our children’s little league games. I saw the children at funerals holding their fathers’ police hats and fire helmets."
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	Carol Cunningham State Medical Director, Ohio Department of Public Safety, Division of EMS "Hurricane Katrina proved to us, that although we've taken many measures, we failed to protect some of our most vulnerable citizens which are our children and I look forward to being part of that process in the future."
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	Thomas Currao Battalion Chief, New York City Fire Department (FDNY) "…looking up to see my wife Lisa, holding my newborn son and yelling that they had just hit another building. In that moment of stark reality, my perspective and purpose in the fire service changed forever."
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	Tom Dailey Chief of Police, Independence Missouri "I was a venue commander at the Olympic bombing at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, so I see a tremendous value in the prevention and deterrence of catastrophic events connected with terrorism."
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	Darrell Darnell Senior Associate Vice President, George Washington University A former Dept. of Justice and DHS official provides a personal account of 9/11 events and how they led to the creation of the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security.
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	Vincent Doherty Director of Outreach Programs, NPS Center for Homeland Defense and Security "Chief Jack Fanning, my boss, my friend, my mentor…succumbed in the South Tower on 9/11 along with 19 of my men from HazMat 288…That is why I advocate education as the means to better prepare so that the third battle of New York City never happens."
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	Chuck Eaneff Deputy Chief (Ret.), Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety "My interest in homeland security began in the mid-1980’s a couple of years after the Marine Corps barracks bombing in Beirut. I was working undercover at the time, doing my version of Miami Vice in Silicon Valley, California."
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	Ellen Gordon Associate Director, Executive Education Programs, Center for Homeland Defense and Security, Naval Postgraduate School "I was very fortunate to have very talented mentors at my side throughout my career, mentors who encouraged me to always stress the system and use imagination."
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	Michael Grossman Chief, Los Angeles County Sheriff Department "In early 2001…I was managing a small group of deputies who were working on efforts to recognize and prevent terrorism through the Terrorism Early Warning Group. It was an ad hoc organization…that grew into the first local fusion center in the nation."
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	Leonard Guercia, Jr Director of Consulting Services, The Holdsworth Group "In the fall of 2001, the State of Connecticut was affected by the anthrax attacks. One of those attacks took the life of a school teacher from Oxford, Connecticut."
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Ray Guidetti Captain, Executive Officer, New Jersey Regional Operations Intelligence Center "I made a commitment to myself and to my friend. If we were going to stop something like this from happening again, we needed to do things differently. We needed to think differently and we needed to plan differently about the way we policed America and regardless of that challenge, I needed to be part of this change."

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	Richard Harlow Special Agent In Charge, United States Secret Service "March 30th, 1981 … that day, is the day John Hinckley attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan … and I knew, from that minute, that I wanted to be a Secret Service agent."
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	Edmund Hartnett President, Bronsan Risk Consultants "It was a very dark day but for the NYPD it was in many ways our finest hour. Many people died but through the efforts of all the first responders, a lot of people are alive today."
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	Chris Hetherington Manager, Business Continuity Planning, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP "I was commanding officer of NYPD’s Advocates Office…I was unable to know what was going on as the attacks took place at the Trade Center. I decided, at that point, I would commit myself to understanding and learning about the threats that face our nation."
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Susan Jones-Hard Managing Director, Executive Education Programs, Center for Homeland Defense and Security, Naval Postgraduate School "I thought it was very important for public health to be at the table, that there needed to be leadership that had the ability to cross the gaps, between the traditional public safety and public health in order to understand how all of these different entities would need to work together."

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	Bill Kalaf Chief Information Officer, Arizona Criminal Justice Commission "Watching the events at the Twin Towers was an experience I will never forget; however, the events at the Pentagon changed my life forever."
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	Mark Landahl Sergeant, School Resource Officer Unit, Frederick County Sheriff's Office "On 9/11, 2001, I listened to the radio with my academy classmates as the attacks unfolded. On that day, the questioning of my career decision stopped as I knew I was where I belonged and dedicated myself to what became homeland security."
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	David Longshore Press Secretary, New York State Assembly "We received letters, from school children around the country… there was a drawing done by a child of the twin towers and they were on fire and the note said, thank you for helping all of the hurt people."
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	Andrew Lluberes Senior Adviser, DHS/Office of Public Affairs "We could see the plumes of smoke rising from the far side of the Pentagon where the plane had struck. One of the first thoughts to cross my mind was this event and day would be my Pearl Harbor just as that December morning in 1941 had been for my parent’s generation."
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Harry Mayer Regional Emergency Coordinator, Field Supervisor, Region Three, US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) "I vividly remember the feelings of anger, fear and suspicion at the Arab world that permeated most of American life…Little did I realize at the time that two years later, I would be standing on an Iranian Revolutionary Guard base as a part of an international humanitarian relief effort."

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	Scott McAllister Deputy Under Secretary, State & Local Program Office, DHS Office of Intelligence & Analysis "One of the most moving things was actually holding Mohammad Atta’s check book in my hand…knowing that the person…was the one who carried out 9/11; it was just a very strange sensation; one I’ll never forget."
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	Melissa Patterson Emergency Management Coordinator, Tarrant County Administrator, Office of Emergency Management "I remember sitting down slowly on the coffee table, staring at the screen with tears streaming down my face, like most people were. So, there I was with that feeling again, that I wasn't doing enough, that I wasn't helping enough people."
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	Michael McDaniel Brigadier General, Michigan State Guard, Associate Professor & Director of Homeland Security Studies, Thomas M. Cooley School of Law "All of us, not just those of us in traditional first responder [positions] but all of us citizens have to be engaged in public service…we have to be engaged with our hearts and minds in this undertaking for the betterment of our country."
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	Philip McGovern Captain, Office of Safety and Security, Boston EMS "I spent the next several days between Logan Airport assignments and preparation for the unknown. I knew then, that I needed to do more."
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	Joseph Pfeifer Chief of Counterterrorism and Emergency Preparedness, New York City Fire Department (FDNY) "The results of pushing information out "to the field was seen on May 1, 2010 in Times Square. That evening, Faisal Shahzad tried to blow up a SUV… the street vendor said something….the police called the fire department and … the firefighters saw that something was wrong."
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	Andrew Phelps Emergency Manager, City of Santa Fe "I needed to do something more important and for me, 9/11 showed me what I needed to be doing…Emergency management and homeland security was a perfect melding of my performance background, my love of emergency response, my passion for government and political process."
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	Kevin Power Detective Lieutenant, Commanding Officer-Arson/Bomb Squad, Nassau County Police Department, NY "He wanted to know from his older brother, the cop, what was going on. Were we at war? I felt so helpless and I told him he should run toward the Brooklyn Bridge as fast as he could.”"
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	Deborah Rantz Strategic Communications Coordinator, NPS Center for Homeland Defense and Security "I saw it as a way to give something back the way my mom did and I left my .com position of 10 years for my position at the Center. I am happy to know my work benefits the first responder community including healthcare professionals like my mom.”"
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	Donald Reed Deputy Chief, Civil Support Branch, Future Ops Div, U.S. Northern Command "We face a number of significant homeland security challenges, including both changing actors, and changing threats within a changing global environment...these challenges that have driven me to stay in my current homeland security and homeland defense career path."
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Susan Reinertson Chief, Emergency Management & Corporate Security, National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK) "The inspiration that has fed my career is working through bureaucracy to help communities recover from disasters. It began with the 1997 flood in Grand Forks, ND. My father had lived in the same house since he was in the 5th grade. When I saw the devastation on his face…it inspired me to do whatever I could."

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	Thomas Richardson Battalion Chief, Seattle Fire Department Having responded to both the 1995 Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma and the 9/11 attacks in New York City, "I am fully committed to continuing whatever work is necessary to help secure the nation and protect the freedoms that we hold most dear."
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	Thomas Richardson Battalion Chief, New York City Fire Department (FDNY) "They became my motivation to want to learn more about what we call homeland security. I felt that as a supervisor, who was responsible for the safety of firefighters, I had a personal and moral obligation to learn more about terrorism - what it is, why it happens and how we can defend ourselves against it."
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	Tony Russell Region VI Administrator, FEMA "I think of that day often and recommit...to always do my best to help disaster survivors, past, present, future and potential. This is an opportunity and a gift that I have been given that for a different set of circumstances would not have happened if I was in that building on that day."
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	Erika Schaub Director of Emergency Management, Hofstra University "Nobody knew who bin Laden was... That is the reason why I chose to change my career from conservation biologist, hoping to save the world from the loss of bio diversity, to emergency manager, hoping to save the world from the terrorist threat."
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Linda Scott Manager - Healthcare Preparedness Program, Michigan Department of Community Health - Office of Public Health Preparedness "It is human nature for us to think that at anytime, we can pick up the phone and call 911 or go to the emergency department and someone will be there to help us or our family. Well, that won't happen without solid plans, support, equipment, supplies and training to make sure we are all ready."

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	Thomas Shannon Deputy Fire Chief, Scottsdale Arizona Fire Department "The dog stopped short and was smelling very heavily a piece of paper on the ground. The piece of paper was a business card…the business card was really the only thing that remained from Mr. Shea’s office."
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	Robert Simeral Executive Director, Intelligence Research, Center for Homeland Defense and Security, Naval Postgraduate School "I was the Commander of the Office of Naval Intelligence and I had some people working in the Pentagon…I was on my way into the building walking across the parking lot when I saw the American Airline jet impact the side of the building."
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	Lawrence Sommers , "…fire fighters, law enforcement and volunteers were working there. I was struck by the fact that many people had in their eyes a commitment to try to find fallen friends, family, and comrades at the work site. Everybody was fatigued….I was proud to be part of that."
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Gail Stewart RII Hospital & EMS Preparedness Coordinator, FL Department of Health- Public Health Preparedness "I had pulled people from the grips of death as a paramedic. I arrested drunk drivers so they couldn't kill others as a police officer, and as a firefighter, I saved homes and memories for all types of families….Why could I not guarantee to my son, that terrorism would not happen directly to him?"

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	Deirdre Walker Retired, None "The sniper case taught me that as leaders we can never stop working on what I call our leadership blueprint. These disasters on steroids that we have seen unfold since 2001 are the kinds of disasters that eat up a lot of our planning assumptions."
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	Christopher Ward Lieutenant, New York City Fire Department (FDNY) "The unusual circumstances of having no fatalities in my fire house, unlike all those surrounding us, left me with a relentless desire to do something, to give back or to make a difference."
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	Alicia Welch Battalion Chief, Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) "I was surrounded by my young firefighters who wanted to know, ‘What would we do, in that same situation?’ And from that very moment, I realized that I didn't know the answer to the question and knew that I had to start learning more, participating more."
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	Mark White Deputy Chief for Homeland Security, Suffolk County Police Department "Terrorism is the first thought on my mind as I wake each morning and the last thought before I go to sleep at night. That tragic day motivated me to dedicate the remainder of my career to prevention, detection and deterrence of terror attacks…it is the best way I can honor those who were killed."
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	David Williams Mentor/Trainer U.S. Counter Narcotics Training Team - Afghanistan, USCENTCOM: Counter Narcotics Program - Afghanistan "I was motivated to try to do something. Since the method of attack on September 11th was the use of commercial aircraft as weapons…I wanted to help in some significant way to create a better aviation sector security program for the Southeast, Texas region."
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	Peter Winski Inspector, (Ret.), Executive Officer, New York Police Department( NYPD), Counterterrorism Division "I remember thinking it was going to be a long day as I switched on my lights and sirens and I sped up. As I was approaching Manhattan, I heard my officers yelling that another plane was coming and that it struck the second tower. I remember thinking that this was no accident."
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	Lauren Wollman Managing Director, Academic Programs, NPS Center for Homeland Defense and Security "Riding down the highway from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and seeing the American flag flying on Israeli fire trucks and police vehicles, and small misspelled homemade signs on everyone's car window: We stand with you."
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