Port Authority Heroes: Part 2 | October 19, 2001 15:47:56 ...an ax to push the door open, and then ran through the clouds of dust. Says Greene: "It just completely engulfed the north tower where I was and I...
...Ken Greene, the Port Authority's assistant director of aviation, had been directing crowds out of Tower 1. Suddenly he couldn't see a thing: "I started...
...The voice belonged to a firefighter who led Greene to safety. Blocks from the devastation, Greene met his boss, Ernesto Butcher, who had also escaped by... MORE

Ken's Appearances

The 6:08 train pulled into Fairfield on time. I took my jacket off, put it on the overhead rack, and sat in a seat by the window. As always, I was certain that another predictable aspect of my morning commute would take place.

"As we spoke we heard an incredible explosion. The tower actually moved to my right, and then recoiled to the left before steadying."

The explosion moved the furniture and file cabinets, and even rolled Some people sideways while sitting in their chairs. It was a major explosion.

I ran back to my office and looked out of the window facing north. It looked like there was paper and pieces of the building falling from the sky like confetti. The kind of confetti that fell during those parades up Broadway after the Yankees or Mets won a World Series.

"Others were so frightened and panicked that they continued to push their way down the stairs, as if they could climb over or force their way through the crowd."

When we got below the thirtieth floor the process of moving down the stairs slowed down considerably. On every other landing we would all stop walking, and lean against the exterior stairwell wall so that the firefighters had a clear path up one side of the stairs.

I remember yelling to people above me no less than a dozen times, _everybody stop and lean on the wall. Firemen coming your way!_. Most of us were calm enough to do so. Others were so frightened and panicked that they continued to push their way down the stairs, as if they could climb over or force their way through the crowd.

Not that I could blame them.

My instincts told me that if the crowd continued to stop and start moving we would eventually get trampled by a group in panic. But one way or another we had to find our way to the base of the tower, and calm would be our only savior.

"Then I stepped out of the stairwell and onto the mezzanine, and I learned that the world had changed forever."

What I witnessed was beyond my wildest imagination. Disturbing beyond belief. A scene so distressing that I began to feel physically ill. I actually thought that I was going to throw up on the carpet. The mezzanine windows, which were about two stories high and were separated by a series of columns, were stained with blood and debris. And there were fires burning on the plaza.

What Ken Greene experiences over the next several chilling moments, and few hours, and over the next several months will change YOUR view of life in America and of the survivors of that fateful day.

Walls of Ignorance

Just as compelling as the account of the 9/11 day is Ken's critical analysis of events and people that have shaped American history, as well as modern day race relations and politics, and his personal story growing up as a black person in America. He pulls no punches when tackling subjects like the Iraq War, discovery of America, Native American experience, hypocrisy and everyday life in America, and life as a kid from the Bronx.

Without question, whether you agree or disagree with his perspectives, you will be challenged to examine the way in which we conduct our lives in the post 9/11 world.

Here is a review from the Amazon.com Website:

"The casual book-buyer might pick up Ken Greene's When The Walls Came Down and see "another 9/11 book," emblazoned with an image of the World Trade Center buildings billowing smoke after being slammed by jetliners. While the surreal horror of that day can't be avoided whenever an author chooses to tackle this generation's Pearl Harbor, the title belies a sharp critical analysis of what that day really meant to the past, present, and future of America's readiness, or rather, willingness, to truly live up to its ideals of equality, freedom and democracy.

Today, these words are taken for granted, like they need not prove their actuality in Americans' daily lives. However, as Greene begins the first part of the book recalling what started out as a typical day, he explains that he was often reminded of how equality still proved to be an elusive concept when it comes to the perceptions of African-Americans, poignantly explained in what he calls "the seat of last resort," a daily reminder of how, on a crowded suburban commuter train where he was sometimes the only black passenger, the seat next to him was often the last to be occupied, if at all, despite his professional aura.

But it was that professionalism that compelled him to stay behind and help others out of the North Tower of the WTC, amidst a backdrop of horror and mayhem that Greene paints in the mind's eye with a graphic clarity that television images could never penetrate. At that moment, when the walls were literally about to come down, so too did the constructs that separate Americans into categories. It's impossible to imagine anyone in that horrific situation caring whether or not the hand stretched out to help them was conservative, gay, or foreign, and Greene illustrates this as he takes the reader through his fortuitous escape from hell and through the rest of his day.

The million-dollar question left hanging over his audience: Does it take shared tragedy to get Americans to truly come together as one, in the way that's always idealized yet neglected?

The unfortunate answer, as Greene takes his work beyond 9/11, looks like yes, as he convincingly explores America's "business as usual" attitude through a diorama of topics in part two, Politics, which includes the build-up towards war with Iraq, and part three, Race and Hypocrisy.

Even those who don't like looking into that mirror would be hard pressed to trap Greene's work in the category of disgruntled ranting as he has done his homework, providing timelines and context behind so-called controversial issues to bring his point home.

Greene challenges readers to acknowledge inherent hypocrisy simmering under the surface of unflinching patriotism, and he isn't afraid to upset anyone's incredulous sense of "civilized" American superiority. Greene's book is a warning: if Americans lose the true meaning of professed ideals, while also acquiescing the need for governmental accountability in actions that effect the world, history will repeat itself until we get it right...if at all.

Order yours today! When The Walls Came Down A 9/11 Survivor's View of Life in America The one account that will show what the press, media and 911 Commission Hearings can never quite capture!. paperback 270 pages; 5.5" x 8.5" Order Paperback Now ($16.95) $10.00 for e-book edition only To order via paypal send payment to "orders@passionprofit.com"

ABOUT THE AUTHOR