Branson West Heritage Museum features 9/11 history and artifacts

Twenty-five years after the terrorist attacks changed America and the world, the impacts are still being felt, especially by surviving firefighters and volunteers who worked the piles at Ground Zero where the World Trade Center towers once dominated the New York City skyline. 

     While 343 FDNY firefighters made the ultimate sacrifice on September 11, 2001, hundreds of surviving firefighters spent days, week, and months sifting through 1.8 million tons of debris at the 16-acre site. A display at the Faith, Family and Country Heritage Museum in Branson West honors those who lost their lives that day, along with the more than 4,300 first responders and survivors who have died from illnesses related to toxic exposure, surpassing the number of people who died (2,974) on the day of the attacks. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Toxic health risks soared from carcinogens caused by the 400 tons of crushed concrete, glass and asbestos building materials combined with the gases and jet fuel that laced the air around Manhattan. More than 69 types cancers were identified, most notably thyroid, prostate, colon and blood cancers, along with chronic respiratory conditions like COPD and pulmonary fibrosis. Some illnesses such as mesothelioma took up to 20 years to develop.

     Over 200 FDNY units and roughly 400 firefighters were on the scene immediately before the towers collapsed, with hundreds more self-deploying or arriving during shift changes. One was Anthony Schiano, a 25-year-old New Jersey volunteer who, after hearing of the attacks, rented a truck, filled it with emergency supplies and drove to Lower Manhattan where he worked on search and rescue efforts that day. 

     He remained as part of the massive cleanup effort for the next 90 days, often working shifts of 16-18 hours a day. His fireman’s uniform is on display in the Branson West museum. Rust residue from removing the steel beams can still be seen on the sleeve cuffs of his well-worn jacket.

     Also part of the museum’s 9/11 display is a tribute to the rescue dogs, including Brittany, the last of the 9/11 Ground Zero search dogs who died at the age of 16 in 2016 at an animal hospital in Cypress, Texas. 

     Michael Bellone was working as a medic at a large industrial warehouse in the city when the WTC towers were taken down by two of the four hijacked planes. He also credited the search-and-rescue dogs, which were trained to sniff out bodies. The Federal Emergency Management Agency had scores of veterinarians at the scene to treat the dogs. 

     “They (search dogs) weren't trained to recognize heat. When they hopped on a smoldering I-beam - some of which were hot enough to melt the firefighters' rubber-soled boots - they'd get hurt," said Bellone. 

     While searching for survivors at Ground Zero, Bellone met Bob Barrett, a retired firefighter with Ladder 20, which lost 20 men that day. The two men worked 257 consecutive days recovering bodies and body parts from the debris. 

      Five months after the 9/11 attacks, Bellone was working as a FDNY safety director when he and actor Gary Gere, who was documenting the efforts at Ground Zero, made a remarkable find. Found buried in the rubble where the South Tower of the WTC once stood was a frail Bible page that contained the story of a tower that reached the heavens (the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11). 

     Bellone said that finding the page fused to a chunk of debris led him to believe that “we can start over again.” He later added that one of the lessons he learned from 9/11 is just how precious life is and that God had placed him there for that (search).

     Inscribed messages of faith from Bellone and Barrett, as well as a photo of the Bible page found at Ground Zero, are among the relics that help tell America’s tragic 9/11 story at the Faith, Family and Country