Skip to comments.

Posted on 12/21/2001 2:54:11 PM PST by a_Turk

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (Reuters) - From ground zero to ground zero, New York City firefighters and police visited the war-ravaged ruins of the Afghan capital, Kabul, Friday to meet U.S. troops and distribute supplies to orphans.

The New Yorkers met troops of the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division at an air base north of Kabul and buried a piece of the World Trade Center nearby in honor of comrades who died in the September 11 attacks on New York.

But they also brought 29 tons of food and blankets to the Darul Yiatam orphanage in the devastated western section of Kabul, laid waste by civil war in the early and mid-1990s when 50,000 residents were killed.

``It's a little humbling,'' said firefighter Joe Higgins of Ladder 111 in Brooklyn, whose brother Timmy, also a firefighter, died in the World Trade Center and left three teen-age children.

``After September 11 and now this, I realize I don't got a lot to complain about. We need to get some infrastructure here and help them out a lot. You can tell they're good people.

``Right now, I'm looking at a lot of children without fathers back in New York,'' he said. ``Their fathers' lives were snuffed out. So it's no different here or anywhere else, if these kids don't have any parents.''

GROUND ZERO TO GROUND ZERO

Earlier, the firefighters and police exchanged greetings and messages of support with U.S. troops and got a rare chance to meet normally top secret U.S. special forces, who wear Afghan dress.

Special forces on the front line near Bagram called in the air strikes that forced the Taliban to flee last month.

``For us to be here, ground zero to ground zero, is extremely emotional. I'm so proud to be here right now,'' Higgins said after his plane touched down as dawn broke. ``My heart's beating and I'm glad to be here.''

When they met on the tarmac, the New Yorkers and U.S. troops spoke like old friends. Higgins gave his late brother's picture to an army sergeant named Jerry.

Jerry leaned over to his ear and said: ``You got our backs. Now we got yours.''

Fire Chief Larry Connors told an army captain named Bill: ''We hope that in a short time we see you guys in a parade marching down the canyon of heroes in Manhattan, and I'm gonna be on the side clapping for you.''

``I'd rather sit back when this is all over and have a beer with you all,'' Bill replied. The U.S. military asks its troops in Afghanistan not to give their surnames to media.

Firefighter Higgins then placed a piece of rubble from the World Trade Center's twin towers in the ground near the air strip. A special forces soldier said, simply: ``God bless America.''

One of the special forces soldiers said his unit had been burying bits of the World Trade Center in different parts of Afghanistan in honor of the more than 3,000 people killed on September 11.

INNOCENT VICTIMS

Then, accompanied by trucks laden with rice, sugar, cooking oil and blankets, the New Yorkers drove to the orphanage in an area where many of Kabul's poorest and most vulnerable people live.

The orphans, wearing little but rags in chilly December, lined up in the yard to meet the visitors, who shook their hands and patted their shaven heads.

A visibly moved chief Connors passed out blue New York Fire Department baseball caps to a crowd of small boys.

``It feels very good to do something for these kids, who are orphans of war. It also reminds me of some of the kids back in the States who don't have fathers and mothers because of the World Trade Center.

``These kids are innocent victims, too,'' he said.

This is why one must just love the American people.


Detective Thomas McDonald was among the New York City emergency workers who delivered food and other supplies to Afghanistan today.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.