CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — For Chuck Wehrlie, firefighting is in his DNA.
"I'm a fourth-generation firefighter. I'm retired now, a captain. When I retired, I was a volunteer for 6 years, full-time for 29,” Wehrlie told WBBM Newsradio.
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Twenty years ago on Sept. 11, after he learned of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks, Wehrlie jumped in the car, drove to Missouri and, before he knew it, he was on board a C-130 plane on the way to New York City.
"I was driving up to Arlington Heights Fire Academy to teach a class. I called my task force in Missouri not even thinking we'd go. An hour later, they paged me and told me they needed me to go down there. No question I was on the way,” the retired Naperville fire captain recalled.
Wehrlie was at ground zero for 10 days to oversee the structural operation after the twin towers fell.
"We landed in New Jersey the next morning. We were shuttled over to the Javits Center to set up our operations. We were hoping to find someone alive. We went underground, we went down five levels in the parking garage. All the cars were burned up. Walking in there, seeing the 16 acres of destruction, it was overwhelming. It was like a movie set, that's how I can explain it,” Wehrlie said.
Even though everyone wore respirators, toxins were all around him.
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“Sixty-something chemicals in the dust. Since that time, over 500 fireman and policemen from New York died from the dust, 5,000 others in the last 20 years,” Wehrlie said.
In 2012, Wehrlie was diagnosed with Stage 4 tongue cancer that he would later learn was aggravated by his work at ground zero.
"We didn't realize at the time, with all the cancer-causing dust in there, we were all wearing respirators, but we were also breathing in people," he paused. "I never thought about that until a couple of years ago, but there were people in that dust because they were all pulverized."
Wehrlie had visited New York City several years earlier and rode with the New York City Fire Department Rescue 1 crew. While he was there, he would find and mourn friends he met back then.
He felt an especially close bond one one firefighter in particular, Joe Angelini Sr., who ripped his firefighter patch off of his shorty and gave it to him.
“I treasured that patch,” Wehrlie said.
Fast forward to 2001, when Wehrlie was volunteering at ground zero, he saw a body that had just been recovered and bagged and offered to help other rescuers carry it.
“I found out later that that was Joe Angelini Sr., who gave me that patch. He and his son both died there. The hardest part was seeing the policemen and firemen who survived, walking around looking for their sons, brothers and friends,” Wehrlie said.
That day, 343 New York City firefighters died doing their job. Thirty-seven police officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department and 23 police officers of the New York City Police Department also died.
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After 9/11, Wehrlie spent many years traveling the country, talking to high schools about his experiences that day but said in recent years, those speaking engagements have dried up.
"I used to speak to high schools all the time. Now, I barely get any requests anymore. The world has changed. It really has in the last 20 years. I don't want this to be forgotten," Wehrlie said, shaking his head.
The retired fire captain said he will continue telling his story to anyone who will listen and on this 20 year anniversary, he said it's up to the next generation to keep the memory of that day alive.
"We used to be united, rooting for this country. It's not that way anymore. This day needs to stay in the history books. They talk about the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Vietnam, all that. This has gotta be included. This is the worst attack in this country. We can't forget,” Wehrlie said.
Wehrlie said Sept. 11, 2001 will always be a part of who he is and, despite his cancer and the gruesome images burned into his brain, he wouldn't change a thing about how he and his colleagues responded and reacted that day.
"We'd all go back in a minute. We'd go back right now if we had to,” he said.
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