A Manitowoc native & former director of Fire and EMS services with the Village of De Forest was in New York shortly after the terrorist attacks 17-years ago yesterday. Jeff Miller, a 1987 Lincoln High School and UW Madison graduate, said that a friend’s brother-in-law and New York City Firefighter, not on duty that fateful day, was having a hard time dealing with the tragedy. So, Jeff and his buddy packed up their turnout gear into a car and drove to New York to help in a supporting role.
Miller said he recalls the morning of the attacks, like it was yesterday, as he and his wife were getting their youngest daughter off-to-preschool.
Jeff said, “You felt helpless…..even though you wanted to help, but there wasn’t much you-could do at that point.” Miller also remembers listening to President George W. Bush as he spoke to-the nation. He was in a small pub in a New York suburb and said the place “went dead silent, you-could’ve heard a pin drop. It didn’t matter what politics you believed in……everybody was united-as one..after this country was attacked.”