Mr. McCole has written a riveting book from the perspective of someone who was right there. I couldn't put it down.
I work as a taxi driver in New York City. Since 9/11 I have talked to literally hundreds of New Yorkers about their experiences on that fateful day. So I know how this event has affected the lives of the people here.
For example, a few weeks ago a young lady in my taxi (on a long ride to Brooklyn) told me that she was in the WTC that day, in the first tower that was hit. She went through the horror of it, telling me how she had seen skin falling off the bodies of burn victims and how she had heard the thuds of the bodies of people who had jumped. It was quite clear from listening to this woman that the mental effects of the disaster were still weighing quite heavily on her.
That's what is so remarkable about the story that John McCole tells. We of course admire the courage of the firefighters and all of the rescue workers. But what is perhaps no less heroic is how McCole decided to take responsibility for healing himself both physically and mentally. And the fact that he chose to tell his very personal story is something that must also have taken extraordinary courage.
So I strongly recommend this book.
In fact, if I ever get McCole in my cab, he gets a free ride!

I didn't read the newspapers or watch TV from Sept. 11th till about October sometime 2001.

My husband flew out of Boston on that morning and even though he landed safely at La Guardia Airport about 10 min. before the first plane hit, I was still so shaken up that I didn't want to get any more upset. I am a humanitarian and that's what I do full time and on a daily basis. I had to have my wits about me so I got all of my news off of the internet for about 15 min. in the evening before going to bed.

But I was extremely interested in what happened at Ground Zero and I even went to volunteer there at the beginning of October.

I read SECOND TOWER'S DOWN in less than 48 hours.

John McCole tells what it was like both physically and emotionally to go through this tragedy from day one. How often do you get to speak with a firefighter and have him tell his story?

This is a MUST READ. I especially liked his descriptions of his family and his interrelationships with his fellow "brothers", the FDNY, New York's finest.

Men who tell what they are thinking and what they are doing and how it affects them and what their opinions are about everyday situations always fascinate me. But Sept.11th was an experience like we've never had before and to be able to listen in while John McCole tells you in simple words and ideas how he survived being there and seeing what he saw is worth sitting down and experiencing.

If you want to help your local fire department then get 10 copies and deliver them in person or by mail to the different fire houses. I'm sure they would appreciate it.

This book is not a recollection of facts, cold and harsh, but rather the experience of a man who, despite training his whole life for this kind of experience, finds himself irrevocably changed by September 11th. I felt I was living the aftermath of Ground Zero with him - the present-time living intermingled with the backflashes of horror and grief that must be either be drowned out or dealt with eventually. (And in my own faint mirror of his story, I can relate. Although I am a stay-at-home mom living thousands of miles away, I know the experience of having the horror of September 11th creep back into my consciousness, bringing with it moments of grief and loss. I can only imagine how much more intense this must be for a man like McCole, who grew up with firefighters in New York and, as a Lieutenant who was not assigned to a particular firehouse, worked with many of those firefighters who were lost at the World Trade Center.)

Lt. McCole, consistent with the courage that firefighters display when challenged by physical threats on a daily basis, chose to confront both the mental and emotional pain of September 11th, and the physical trauma that affected him as it has so many of the firefighters who worked at Ground Zero. Likewise, in this same tradition of heroism, he shares his tale of how he worked to bring the same solace and help to his fellow firefighters. And so the story becomes not just a maudlin tale of the aftermath of terrorism, but a tale of one man's spiritual journey and his determination to bring help of a more lasting kind, to his fellow heroes.

This book sat on my shelf for two months, unread. I feared that reading it would feel like slowing down on a freeway in order to gawk at the scene of a terrible accident, or like watching some grisly murder story that the news tends to sensationalize it a macabre circus these days. Instead, I found myself challenged spiritually and deeply grateful for the glimpse into the heart and mind of a truly courageous hero. Thank you, Lt. McCole, for your contributions above and beyond the call of duty.