9/11 Hero In NJ: From American Dream To 13-Hour Nightmare

CHESTER, NJ - It has been 18 years since the 9/11 terror attacks and Will Jimeno, the former Port Authority Police Officer and Morris county resident who spent 13 hours trapped in the rubble of the Twin Towers, still bears the physical and mental scars of his ordeal.

Jimeno was one of the first responders who charged straight into danger during the 9/11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center, and while trying to save people found himself trapped when the buildings collapsed. Swept up in a maelstrom of falling debris and literal rain of fire, the Navy veteran wound up pinned beneath the rubble for more than half a day.

“It was the jet fuel burning. I could smell it and I recognized it from my time in the Navy,” Jimeno said. “I covered my face as best as I could as these balls of fire came down and burned my arms.”

An experience that could have challenged his faith, in fact, reaffirmed it, and in the years since his rescue Jimeno has dedicated his life to advocacy, to patriotism and above all else, love.

Proud Beginnings

But years before turning his experience of survival into a message of hope, before he lent his voice to advocate for first responders and before his retirement from the Port Authority Police Department due to his injuries, Will Jimeno was a boy from Hackensack who loved to play soccer.

Born in Columbia, Jimeno immigrated to America when he was two years old and it didn't take him long to fall for his new homeland.

"I was raised to be proud of my heritage," Jimeno said. "But my parents were very clear that America was our country."

It was that love for his country that led him to join the armed forces after high school.

"I joined the Navy instead of going to college and saw 11 different countries and a lot of different cultures," Jimeno said. "And one of the things I took away from it was how great this country is. The freedoms we have here could not be found elsewhere."

And that devotion to the flag and what it stands for is something Jimeno stills speaks about.

"Whenever I speak to a group or at a school I tell them that the American flag is not made of cloth," Jimeno said. "It is made of the blood of patriots."

After completing a tour with the Navy, Jimeno pursued his dream of becoming a police officer by obtaining an associates degree in Criminal Justice from Bergen Community College.

"Its the job I wanted since I was a kid," Jimeno said. "I always wanted to be a cop."

Jimeno graduated from the Academy on Jan. 19, 2001 in a ceremony at the Marriott at the World Trade Center.

"We were the centennial class," Jimeno said. "And out of the 77 of us that graduated 45 were assigned to the biggest bus terminal in the country."

As one of those 45, Jimeno said he experienced a baptism by fire dealing with gangs, the homeless and a myriad of "routine" police activities.

The American Dream

By the time Sept. 10, 2001 had arrived Jimeno was living with his pregnant wife, Allison, and his four-year-old daughter Bianca in a house in Clifton.

"We had moved into this house six weeks before the attack," Jimeno said. "And I said to myself, 'I'm living the American Dream'."

In hindsight, the day was surprisingly normal.

"My mother said to me later when I picked up my daughter from her house on Sept. 10 I had the biggest smile on my face," Jimeno said.

And that next morning, Sept. 11, 2001, there was no hint as to what was to come.

"Every morning, including Sept. 11, I would get up and get ready for work and before I would leave I would kiss my wife, kiss her belly and kiss my little girl," Jimeno said. "And then I would literally skip down the stairs and go to work."

And despite the ordeal he went through, Jimeno refuses to let it sour him on life.

"As a survivor I remind people of what happened that day," Jimeno said. "But the good things. I want them to remember the good things, not the bad things. Because I saw a lot of love that day."

Tremendous Love Despite Terror

An act of cowardice, an act of terror, and an act of mass murder was how Jimeno had characterized the 9/11 terror attacks. But despite that, he said those thoughts were not the lasting impression of the day.

“I saw a lot that day, but what stays with me the most is that I saw tremendous love,” Jimeno said. “I saw tremendous love on 9/11.”

How Jimeno ended up where he was on 9/11 was something he felt may have been part of a grand design. As a child, Jimeno’s father used to caution him he had to be careful because he was always helping people, putting himself on the line for others, and that could lead to trouble.

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Jimeno left for work on a bright and clear morning and made his way to work like it was any other day. After roll call, Jimeno was issued the assignment of 42nd and 8th street and headed out to his morning post.

“I remember standing at my post watching thousands of people pass me,” Jimeno said. “And then I looked down the block and saw a shadow pass over me.”

What Jimeno couldn’t have known at the time, was that shadow was a plane headed for the World Trade Center.

All Hands On Deck

According to Jimeno, a few minutes after the shadow passed over his position, a call came over the radio calling all officers back to the police desk. Once inside, Jimeno saw the World Trade Center burning on a large television.

“I remember everything sort of clicked with my training,” Jimeno said. “Port Authority officers we are cross-trained as firefighters and as first responders. We deal with drugs, domestics and are prepared because we monitor a target rich area.”

As his superiors went to commandeer a bus, Jimeno called his wife on a pay phone before joining up with Officers Dominick Pezzulo, Antonio Rodrigues and Sgt. John McLoughlin, a 21-year veteran of the force.

“That was basically my team,” Jimeno said. “And we decided that no matter what happened we weren’t going to leave anyone behind.”

Within moments, the officers were loaded up on to the bus and made the trip from mid-town to the Trade Center in record time.

Armageddon

Following a police-issued Chevy Suburban, the bus with the Port Authority officers arrived two blocks from the towers and soon nearly 50 cops were amassed outside the site that would be known as ground zero.

“I looked up and it looked like Armageddon,” Jimeno said. “It was bad.”

While the bus was in transit, the second plane had hit the towers. And the macabre scene had gone from bad to worse.

“Another Officer, Ronny Delmar said, ‘they’re jumping.' And he was crying. People were jumping from Tower 1,” Jimeno said.

The officers stood in stunned silence, mustering until a game plan was ready.

They didn’t have to wait long.

“Soon they were asking for volunteers who knew how to use Scott Air Packs,” Jimeno said, referring to the respirator devices. Those devices were well known to the members of Jimeno’s team. “We just came out of the academy and we knew how.”

Soon the group, led by Sgt. McLoughlin, were running toward the towers.

“I remember looking back and it was a lonely feeling,” Jimeno said. “There were four of us running down the street and there was debris and glass and unfortunately body parts.”

Jimeno was tasked with unloading some unneeded equipment in the Suburban and as he met up with his team in one of the Emergency Rooms in the towers to pick up what equipment they could.

“We went under the mall level to the police desk. And there was a piece of the fuselage there,” Jimeno said. “That is where we hooked up with Christopher Amoroso.”

Amoroso was a Staten Island resident and fellow Port Authority officer who was there helping with the evacuation.

“We grabbed a cart and threw as much gear as we could and headed out,” Jimeno said. “We went out to the escalators on the concourse and the marble was cracked, which showed that the plane hitting the towers had it shook it to the base.”

Jimeno said that there was a steady flow of people coming through making their way to the exit and was overwhelmed by the love and humanity he saw in them.

“I remember seeing a black man and white man carrying this woman out. She had a very bad cut on her leg and they were just in the line of people helping her out,” Jimeno said. “I know I was scared and the other guys were scared, but for us we had taken an oath. I remember thinking if these civilians can be this brave, than us in uniform need to step it up.”

Everything changed at 9:59 a.m. when the South Tower collapsed.

Buried Alive

From where he was standing on the concourse, Jimeno could see the revolving doors, but before he saw anything he heard an explosion.

“The sound was so loud it shook my helmet like a movie,” Jimeno said. “And then I saw a fireball bigger than my house coming toward us.”

Jimeno followed Pezzulo into a hallway, which held a freight elevator as they were bombarded with concrete as the South Tower pushed in on them.

Amoroso and Rodrigues never made it to the elevator, and died instantly.

“Dominick was packed in concrete but uninjured, a wall was on me and I was in a lot of pain and Sgt. McLoughlin began, who we couldn’t see, began calling for us to sound off,” Jimeno said. “And that was when I realized we lost two guys.”

According to Jimeno, Pezzulo was miraculously uninjured, and he worked himself free and attempted to extract Jimeno.

“The plan was to free me and then we would go free Sgt. McLoughlin,” Jimeno said. “But it was hard. Dominick could see daylight above us. We were all fathers with kids at home and he could have left us. But if he left he never would have been able to find us again. So he stayed and kept trying to free me.”

Then at 10:28 a.m., the North Tower collapsed.

Another Boom

Despite repeated attempts, the large piece of concrete that had pinned Jimeno was too much for Pezzulo to move by himself. And when the North Tower collapsed, Pezzulo was still in the process of wrestling with the rebar when their situation took a turn for the worse.

“We heard another boom and it was Tower 1 coming down,” Jimeno said.

The collapse of the north tower triggered further settlement of the south tower debris and Pezzulo became pinned beneath a falling concrete wall.

“There was blood coming out of his mouth and he said to me, ‘I’m dying Willy,’” Jimeno said.

Now mortally wounded, Pezzulo fired a single shot from his service weapon in an attempt to alert any nearby rescuers to the group's position beneath the rubble.

“Last thing he said to me was ‘Willy don’t forget I died trying to save you guys',” Jimeno said. “His last ditch effort to help us was he fired his gun in the air and then he falls over and dies.”

Horrified and devastated by what he saw, Jimeno struggled to keep it together.

“Now it is me and my Sergeant and I say ‘Dom’s gone’ and the sergeant just kept telling me to keep it together,” Jimeno said.

Rain Of Fire

As if the metaphor for the hell he was is wasn’t enough, fire began to reign down on Jimeno, literally.

Jimeno said the fire was from burning jet fuel that was igniting everything in its path. One of those fireballs landed near Pezzulo’s weapon and impossibly, ignited the remaining ordinance in the weapon.

“Dominick’s weapon proceeded to fire these rounds just over my head,” Jimeno said. “I told Sarge, we’ve been crushed burnt, shot at. What else is going to happen.”

It was around this time Jimeno felt ready to succumb to the darkness.

“At that point I really wanted to die,” said Jimeno, a devout Catholic. “I thanked God for my wife and for my family and I thanked God for letting me be here to try to save people. My one regret was not seeing my little girl being born. And I asked God when I got to heaven if I could just have a bottle of water. Because my mouth was full of dust and smoke and debris.”

Jimeno said after making peace with God he closed his eyes and prepared to die.

A Vision Of Salvation

As Jimeno made the sign language symbol for “I love you”, a message to his wife and daughter and prepared for the end, he said a remarkable vision came to him.

“I remember seeing a man with a beard. Dressed in white and I couldn’t see his face but it was very bright,”Jimeno said. “Behind him over one shoulder was this tranquil lake and the other shoulder was a field of wheat like in the movie ‘Gladiator.’ And in his hand he had a bottle of water.”

According to Jimeno, that vision changed the game on him again.

“I opened my eyes and I knew I wanted to live,” Jimeno said. “The next several hours were torturous. We were in a lot of pain. We prayed. We said our fathers over and over again. But I knew I wanted to live.”

It was then that Jimeno asked McLoughlin to put the call out over the radio that he wanted his second daughter to be named Olivia.

“My wife wanted that name, but I didn’t like it,” Jimeno said. “The women always win. Sarge put over the air that I wanted my daughter to be named Olivia.”

Suffering from compartment syndrome from the compression, the two men tried to keep their spirits up, but it wasn’t until 8 p.m. that they had their first dose of hope.

Rescue By Hand

The two men were located and extricated after former U.S. Marines Sgt. Jason Thomas and Staff Sergeant Dave Karnes heard their cries for help. Both survivors, were severely injured.

“It took almost three hours to get me out. Every piece of equipment they had to get us out was broken. They basically had to dig us out by hand,” Jimeno said. “I remember telling them to cut off my leg but they said no they would get me out. And they did.”

Jimeno said as he was passed out of the hole he saw the moon shining brightly in the sky and realized the towers were done.

“I asked a firefighter where was everyone, where were the buildings? And he looked at me and said, ‘they’re gone kid’,” Jimeno said. “That was the first time I cried.”

As Jimeno was handed from person to person to be loaded into the ambulance he tried to connect with all who were helping him.

“I remember grabbing patches on their uniforms,” Jimeno said. “And I just kept saying thank you.”

Although he asked to go to Hackensack Medical Center, Jimeno was taken to Bellevue Hospital.

“When they opened the door to the ambulance there were all these doctors and nurses standing around there,” Jimeno said. “And I realized there weren’t other survivors being brought in. That was the second time I cried.”

13 Hours, 13 Surgeries

Jimeno underwent 13 surgeries, one for each hour he was trapped in the rubble. McGloughlin was worse for wear, coming out after 22 hours. The two Port Authority officers were the only two who came out of the rubble alive.

“My poor wife. I flatlined twice on the table,” Jimeno said. “But after 13 operations I was ok. I flatlined twice on the table. But I came out alive and I am here today. It took me two years to recover. I have a hole in my leg and my foot doesn’t work, but I am ok.”

Lessons Learned, Lessons Shared

Jimeno has since retired from the Port Authority Police and lives with his wife Allison, oldest daughter Bianca and youngest daughter—Olivia—in Chester. Olivia Jimeno, the baby girl Will named while trapped in the rubble, turns 18 on Nov. 26. And Will and Allison celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary this past August.

Jimeno has been active in the local community, particularly supporting first responders in his hometown, in New Jersey and New York and beyond. The lessons he learned that day he shares in lectures as a guest speaker whenever he is called upon.

He has used his public platform to raise awareness to issues that are close to him. Jimeno is a staunch supporter for the Second Amendment, and has lobbied on its behalf on multiple occasions.

A religious man by nature and upbringing, Jimeno also shares his experience of faith when given the chance to speak publicly.

In the week leading up to Sept. 11, Jimeno posts remembrances and personal reflections on his social media page of those who did not survive that day that he had personal contact with. He also speaks out in support of events that support his police brothers.

After the movie "World Trade Center," based off of his experience was released in 2006, Jimeno found himself not only in the position of being a celebrity but befriended by them. Actor Michael Pena, who played Jimeno in the film has kept in touch and recently invited Jimeno and his family to the premiere of "12 Strong" where Pena played one of the Army Green Berets who were the first Americans to engage the taliban right after the attacks on September 11, 2001.

"It was a blessing to meet and talk with some of the men who made up the 12 American heroes and give them a well deserved thank you and hug," Jimeno said, noting that the film shows American courage. "The film shows what it means to be a good human being no matter where you come from and together we can defeat evil."

He even was an inspiration for the Saint Louis Rams before their season opener back in 2015.

Over the last 18 years, Jimeno has found a way to make an unimaginable horror relatable to people who are struggling in their everyday lives. He does so by not comparing traumas or minimizing what others are going through.

“We all face adversity. We all have our own World Trade Centers. It can feel like having two buildings fall on you,” Jimeno said. “It is important to have faith and hope and love. There is more good in the world than we know.”

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