Crime & Safety
9/11: Where Were You?
Ten years after 9/11, Rick Mayhew of the San Marino Fire Department recalls participating in a memorial march in New York City and the first thought he had when he found out about the World Trade Center attacks.
Division Chief Rick Mayhew holds a photo collage of a New York City 9/11 memorial march he and other firefighters took part in one year after the World Trade Center attacks.
Mayhew, who worked at the South Pasadena Fire Department at the time, marched in place of the physically and emotionally exhausted New York firefighters who worked in the wake of 9/11 (right photo: Mayhew at the march).
“I guess you could say it felt like we were there in support of our family,” said Mayhew. “It wasn’t an obligation; it was a desire to help them get through this time.”
Find out what's happening in San Marinowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The morning of 9/11, Mayhew was getting dressed for the funeral of his father, who had passed away a few days before, when a friend called and told him a plane crashed into the World Trade Center.
“When I turned the TV on it was just prior to the second plane going through the Twin Towers,” said Mayhew. “My dad was a World War II marine, and my first instinct was to call my dad and get his input on this and then I realized: ‘I can’t; it’s his funeral I’m going to.’”
Find out what's happening in San Marinowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
This photo of Chief Mayhew is now part of a photo gallery of people in over 800 Patch cities that were affected by 9/11.
Where were you on 9/11? How did it affect you?
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
