Bob Beckwith was a New York City firefighter who became an icon of resilience when he stood with President George W. Bush at Ground Zero just a few days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
- Died: February 4, 2024 (Who else died on February 4?)
- Details of death: Died in hospice care Rockville Centre, New York, after fighting cancer at the age of 91.
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Bob Beckwith’s legacy
A U.S. Navy veteran who served in the 1950s, Beckwith joined the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) in 1964. He served for 30 years, retiring in 1994, not knowing that his work with the FDNY wasn’t done. He returned to help in a moment of need and became one of the best-known faces of the FDNY.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Beckwith was helping his grandson, who had been hit by a car while riding his bike. He learned of the first plane to hit the World Trade Center while waiting at the hospital. By the time the second plane hit, Beckwith had learned his grandson would be all right, and he became determined to go to Ground Zero to help his former colleagues. His family initially resisted – he was close to 70 years old, and the site of the attacks was dangerous – but a few days after 9/11, they relented, and he put on his old gear and went to the World Trade Center to help in the search and rescue efforts.
The day Beckwith went to help, September 14, was coincidentally the day President Bush had also traveled to Ground Zero to speak to the rescue workers there. While Beckwith was working in a bucket brigade and searching for missing persons, some other firefighters uncovered a firetruck that had been buried in rubble. Realizing it could be an ideal platform for the president’s speech, the Secret Service agents asked Beckwith to climb atop the firetruck and test its stability. He jumped up and down on it, confirming it could hold weight, and then he offered the president an arm to help him climb up.
Beckwith thought that would be the end of his duties to his president, but as the Secret Service agents motioned for him to step down, President Bush asked him to stay. He became the face of the FDNY that day, standing by the side of the president in a much-photographed iconic moment. The next day, their image appeared on the front page of the Daily News and later the cover of Time. After the president finished his speech, he asked a Secret Service agent to give Beckwith an American flag that flew at Ground Zero.
Beckwith only worked at Ground Zero for a day, realizing that the backbreaking work was better left to active firefighters rather than a retiree. But he was now one of the faces of the FDNY, and he became a spokesman for the New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation. Beckwith donated the gear he was wearing at Ground Zero to the 9/11 Memorial, and he arranged for his flag and a first edition of the Time cover to be donated to the memorial after his death. He exchanged Christmas cards with President Bush for years, and he visited the White House several times.
Notable quote
“[The crowd] went berserk. That was really something. And there I am standing there. I did look up to heaven and I did say, ‘Look at me, Ma. I’m with the president.’” —from a 2021 interview for NBC 4 New York
Tributes to Bob Beckwith
Full obituary: The New York Times
