Decorated NYFD firefighter committed to never forget the heroes of 9/11
By Jane Robelot
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GREENVILLE, South Carolina (WYFF) — Billy Martin knew that September 11, 2001, was going to hold incredible challenges, and likely tragedies, for the New York City Fire Department as soon as he saw the second plane strike the World Trade Center towers.
He was 33 years old, married with an 18-month-old son, and when his Engine Company 83 The Bronx was dispatched to Lower Manhattan, he wasn’t sure that he would ever see them again.
Martin survived and wears a special medal on his NYFD coat honoring his service on that day, a day that history records as the worst terror attack on American soil, taking 2,977 lives.
Sadly, 343 New York City firefighters were among that number, giving their lives that day, and saving tens of thousands of others in the largest rescue operation in U-S history.
Martin and his family, now with three children included, have made Greenville, S.C. their home, and he makes every day count in keeping the 9/11 promise to never forget
He often drives by the section of steel beam at the Boiling Springs Fire District on Pelham Road in Greenville just to pay tribute, just to say aloud “I will NEVER FORGET”.
He makes every effort to speak about the sacrifices and heroism of his fellow firefighters to students and community groups so that the generations born after him will also carry the charge to never forget.
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