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First Responders in Hawley Remember 9/11

HAWLEY — People gathered all over our area to mark the 13th anniversary of the terror attacks against America. In Wayne County, community members came to ...

HAWLEY -- People gathered all over our area to mark the 13th anniversary of the terror attacks against America.

In Wayne County, community members came to a memorial and many of those present were at Ground Zero that very day. We talked to them about their memories from 9/11 and the threats our nation is still facing today.

A piece of the World Trade Center sits as a memorial in Wayne County, as first responders and community members in Hawley remember the attack on America 13 years ago.

Bob Essex was there at Ground Zero on September 11, a day he says he could never forget.

"As September comes around, you start to smell the smells, you just get a feeling that you can't describe to anyone who was not there," said retired Port Authority Officer Bob Essex.

For the next eight months, Essex helped recover bodies from the debris.

Retired New York Police Department Officer Frank Setteducato also responded to some of the first emergency calls to the World Trade Center and says the first thing he noticed was the fire.

"Then all of a sudden you start hearing thuds, and certain sounds and you happen to look up and it's people jumping, I mean they have no recourse," said retired Setteducato.

As these men and women in Hawley remember those terrible events, they agree the terror threats against our nation stand greater than ever.

"There is a real threat right now, and we can only hope that our military is in position to finally bring it to an end," said Essex.

"We do as a nation need to become one force, one fist. You have to deal with it now," said Setteducato.

President Obama's address to the nation outlined some more specific plans to attack the terror group ISIS, using an air attacks, but keeping U.S. combat ground troops out of the fight.

Some think Obama's plans just aren't enough.

"He's trying to please everybody and you can't do that. War ain't pretty, period. You kill people and break things. That's what war's all about," said Brent McQueen of Hawley.

Others say the threat of terror still seems to loom, even after years of progress.

"It does, I think it's always in the back of your minds that something like this could happen again," said Christine DeMarinis.

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