BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - "It was surreal," said Steve MacMartin, former Customs and Homeland Security Agent in Western New York, who spent two months sifting through debris from the 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City in 2001.
"I remember exactly where I was that day. I remember the car I was driving as I was heading into work the morning of 9-11. It was surreal to listen to it unfold and then participate in it later in the day."
MacMartin was sent to ground zero in October and November of that year and February of 2002. "I was sent to ground zero and to the landfill on Staten Island called Fresh Kills to work on the recovery effort."
Something that has stayed with MacMartin after all of this time is the smell.
"A smell permeated the air. It was intense. And it grew more intense the closer you got."
MacMartin said he and others were sorting through debris, looking for government property, confidential and classified material. There were a lot of government offices located at the World Trade Center. The debris was sorted and taken to the landfill on Staten Island, where it remains stored to this day.
"I came across so many photographs, jewelry, rings, necklaces, hockey pucks, baseballs, elevator placards, I could go on and on," said MacMartin of the personal effects that he saw while searching.
Above everything else, the homeland security agent remembered having a real sense of purpose. "We all had a job to do, with the somber knowledge that so many people had been killed there."
What has changed in twenty years? And where does the country stand today? "Life as we knew it had changed completely that day," said MacMartin.
"We've come to accept long security lines; magnetometers at concert and sporting events. September 11th changed travel and airport security."
He notes that terrorism has also changed. Back in 2001, after the first plane attack into the World Trade Center, terrorism didn't cross anyone's mind, until the second attack. Now people live with the idea of terror attacks.
