World Trade Center

Hours passed as the sergeant and his younger officer remained trapped twenty feet below the surface. They were roughly midway between where the towers once stood. Both were experiencing intense pain. They could hear, but not see, each other.

Will, who had graduated from the Port Authority Police Academy with Dominick Pezzulo earlier in the year, was 33. His wife, Allison, was expecting their second child. He advised McLoughlin of his condition:

Concrete across my chest, my leg, and a cinder-block wall on my right foot.

He was actually jammed into the rubble so tightly that not even a folding shovel could be inserted beside him.

Although Officer Jimeno could see light, Sgt. McLoughlin was in darkness. The man known for his calm and steady ways was stuck in a space about the size of a body. His legs pinned by debris, he could move his left arm but not his right. Speaking frankly to his younger colleague, McLoughlin reminded him that rescuers would have to wait until the scene was more stable.

Will saw flames. Fortunately, each time they came near, balls of fire would veer away from the trapped officers. But the heat was so intense that bullets in Dom’s magazine belt started to explode. It was natural for the men to wonder if they would burn to death, unable to fight anything off on their own. Will called out to McLoughlin:

Sarge, I don’t know how long I can hold out.

Using a set of Smith & Wesson handcuffs he had purchased a few years before, while a security officer at Toys ‘R Us, Will tried the best he could to pick at the debris which held his body. Laying the cuffs aside for a moment, Will could not find them back. He was sure he was going to die.

McLoughlin recited prayers he had learned as a boy. For a time, it seemed that death was inevitable. He thought of Donna, his wife, and their four children. He had to hold on.

Will and John talked with each other, trying to make sure the other stayed awake. Then, at 8:00 in the evening, a miracle. McLoughlin and Jimeno heard the most incredible sound:

United States Marines. If you can hear us, yell or tap.