This coming Friday marks the fourteenth anniversary of a day that has left an everlasting mark on our country. A beautiful late summer morning was shattered when terrorists launched the biggest attack on American soil since the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. In just 102 minutes, 3,000 American citizens, from all walks of life and all different ethnic backgrounds, were killed in a senseless series of attacks that destroyed the World Trade Centers in New York City, damaged the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and left a crater in a Pennsylvania field (thanks to the heroic efforts of the passengers, who downed their plane so it couldn't be used as a weapon).

As we remember the different heroes of that day, there is one story that truly shows good karma is always there for those who help others. This is the story of Jay Jonas. Jonas, at the time, was a Captain in Ladder Company Six of the New York Fire Department. There are so many different stories of the heroic efforts of the New York Fire Department that day; it still is the largest rescue effort in FDNY history. But the story of Capt. Jonas is an inspiring one, and on this, the fourteenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I would like to share it with all of you.

When describing Sept. 11th, the same old cliché is always used: It started off like every other day. It truly was a beautiful morning. The cool crisp air and cloudless sky made a good start to what some had described as "the beginning of a perfect day." The morning beauty hid the evil that was brewing in the clear skies. For Jonas, he was in the kitchen at the fire house on Canal Street in Chinatown, making breakfast and getting ready for the day tour. It was quarter to 9, 8:46 a.m. to be precise, when the evil exposed itself. A deafening boom shattered the morning silence and from the fire house, smoke could seen billowing into the sky. Jonas and other firefighters ran outside; another firefighter screamed over the intercom: "A plane just crashed! A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center!"

Without hesitation, Jonas had his company "saddle up" and within minutes of the first strike, they were on their way down to the World Trade Center. The sound of police and fire sirens echoed off the buildings; people lining the streets staring up at the North Tower and the large gash that had been made from the impact. For the first time ever, the city that never stopped or slept, came to a grinding halt.

Captain Jonas knew not of the attacks that were unfolding; no one did. To many it was an accident and it was up to the firefighters and police officers to rescue those trapped inside. Over 80 floors separated them and the fires. Elevators would be out of order so walking up the stairs would be their only means of getting up the tower. Papers and debris could be seen falling from the tower and as they got closer, Jonas and his men could see that people were falling as well.

When his company arrived, they parked outside of the North Tower. With pieces of the building raining down on them, Jonas and his team had to run back and forth in unloading the equipment and constantly look up to make sure nothing would hit them. Upon entering the North Tower, Jonas saw a scene he had never seen before. The lobby was filled with hundreds of firefighters; almost all of the companies in Manhattan were there. Several fire chiefs were working together to control the situation and regulate what companies went where. Jonas led his men to the lobby desk where they watched a group of firefighters run up the stairs. Those men who went up, never returned.

As Jonas wrote down his name and company at the lobby desk, a large shadow darkened the lobby for a split second, followed by another loud explosion. More debris and chunks of metal began to fall onto the ground. A firefighter came running into the lobby. With fear and shock in his eyes he conveyed the news: "A second plane just hit the second tower!"

The situation now changed drastically. Not only was the North Tower a burning inferno, but now the South Tower needed attention. Looking almost helplessly at the devastating events that were beginning to unfold, one of Jonas' men, Gerry Nevins, said, "We are going to be lucky if we survive this. We may not live through today." The men of Ladder Company Six agreed and shook each other's hands wishing them the best of luck. Jonas went to one of the Chiefs, Chief Pete Hayden, and asked him if he knew of the second crash. Hayden responded: "I know. Just take your boys up and do the best you can." With that, Jonas nodded and went to his team.

Jonas went to his men and told them their mission. "We're on a search and rescue mission. That means we're going to help out whoever needs help. We've got 80 flights of stairs to go up and we can't use the elevators. I know it's a raw deal, but we got to do it." Without hesitation, his men answered "We're with you Captain. Let's go!" With that, the men of Ladder Company Six began to ascend the stairs. Because Stairwell B led directly to the ground floor, Jonas chose this as their route up. This decision, though insignificant at the time, ended up saving their lives.

As they ascended Stairway B, Jonas couldn't help but wonder where the Air Force or the Navy were. It was clear now that the country was under attack; there were reports of a third and fourth plane on their way in. Who was watching his men's backs as they went up? Jonas also remembered the thousands of people who were going down the stairs as they went up. These people were escaping what would become the worst attack in American history, yet there was no panic, no pushing. They were calm and helping each other, a factor that saved so many lives that day.

Because they carried over 100 pounds of equipment Jonas had his men go up ten floors at a time. After going up ten floors, they would break for a few seconds, catch their breath, and press on. Upon reaching the twenty seventh floor, Jonas noticed two of his men were missing so he halted his company on 27 so he could go look for them. He found them on the stairs and once he brought them up with the rest of his company he had them pause and drink some water. It was 9:59 a.m.

As they were preparing to continue on, the building began to shake; a large rumbling sound could be heard, getting louder and louder and louder. The building swayed, the lights flickered and then...quiet. Everything became eerily still. He looked at one of his men, Billy Burke, and told Burke to go check out what had happened. Burke ran down the hall only to return moments later with a petrified look on his face. Jonas asked him, "Is that what I thought it was? Did part of the building fall off?" Billy responded: "The South Tower just collapsed."

The situation changed once again. The sister building to the North Tower had just collapsed and it was hit second. The North Tower, the tower Jonas and his men were currently in, was hit first and was still standing. This meant, the tower was a ticking time bomb; the possibility of collapse at any moment. Taking the initiative, Jonas ordered his men to do the only logical thing: evacuate the building. They would be lucky if they made it out alive.

When they reached the twentieth floor, they encountered an African American woman named Josephine Harris, who was standing and crying in the doorway. She had made it down from the sixtieth floor, but because her legs were in a great deal of pain she could go no further. His men looked at him and said: "Hey Cap, what do we do with her?" Jonas had a decision to make; take Harris or leave her behind. As a firefighter, Jonas realized he had only one choice. He had one of his men pick her up and carry her down the stairs. In the years and interviews that followed, people often asked Jonas why did he stop and take her. He could've left Harris and no one would've known. His response was admirable: "I would have known, and the image of her face in the doorway would have haunted me forever."

They slowly progressed down the stairs but when they reached the fourth floor, they found that carrying her down was getting increasingly difficult. Her legs finally gave out and Jonas halted his men as he went into the fourth floor offices to see if he could find a chair to carry Harris on. It was 10:28 a.m.

The search for the chair halted when the building began to shake again. The sound they had heard while up on 27 returned, only this time it was greater in intensity. Jonas managed to return to his men and Harris in the stairwell and as the building swayed back and forth, they all braced for the collapse they were sure was coming. The sound of twisting steel echoed throughout the stairwell and the force of the collapse was so strong that one of the firefighters was literally picked up and thrown down two flights of stairs.

Then in an instant, everything got eerily quiet again. Jonas looked around to make out his surroundings. Dust filled the air which obstructed his sight. The dust also made it hard to speak and breathe; the men and Harris were coughing and gagging for air. When he was able to, Jonas had everyone sound off. All of his men and Harris were present and accounted for; they all survived.

When radio transmissions began to come through one call gets all of their attention. It came from a Lieutenant Mike Warchola who said: "Mayday Mayday Mayday! This is the officer of Ladder Company 5. I'm trapped in the B Stairwell and I'm hurt bad!" Jonas made an attempt to ascend the stairwell to aid his comrade but upon reaching the sixth floor there was too much debris blocking his path. Jonas reluctantly called back on the radio: "I'm sorry Mike...I can't help you." It was the hardest thing Jonas had to do; the lieutenant didn't make it that day.

After attempting to go down the stairs, Jonas began issuing Mayday calls. It took forty minutes to get a response but when it came, it reassured Jonas that they would make it out. "They know where we are. They know we're alive." Now all they could do was wait. As they did, they heard fires breaking out and small explosions (these were from World Trade Center Buildings 5 & 7) all around them. Harris became scared. Jonas, very calmly assured her to remain calm. "It's alright darling, we're all a little scared."

A little while passed when suddenly a call came from the radio. It was the voice of John Salka. Salka called out: "Battalion 1-8? Two out of Six? Where are you? We're coming to get you." Jonas answered: "We’re in the B stairway of No. 1 World Trade Center. I’m on the fourth floor in the stairway.” Other firefighters were calling in and asking where Jonas entered the building to get a bearing on where the captain and his men was. Suddenly someone asked: "Where's the North Tower?" Jonas was thinking that I am in the North Tower! but because he wasn't outside, he was not aware of the fact that both towers were gone. Because his staircase was still intact, he and his men were under the impression that only part of the building fell.

Some more time past and finally the company was rescued. Jonas made sure Harris got out on a stretcher and his men got out before he left. What he saw was something he never imagined he would ever see. Where once the two tallest buildings in America stood, now lay a field of twisted metal, steel and debris. Buildings 5, 6 and 7 raged with fires. It was at this moment where Jonas realized the severity of it all; the World Trade Center towers no longer existed.

The attacks only last one hundred and two minutes. By 11 o'clock, all planes had been grounded. Another plane had hit the Pentagon and United Flight 93 was downed by the passengers in Shanksville Pennsylvania. According to counts, 2,753 people were lost at the World Trade Center that morning out of the 2,977 who were lost that day. Of the number 343 were firefighters, 23 were New York Police Officers and 37 were Port Authority Police officers. It is also said that one hundred people are known to have jumped from the buildings. Only twenty people were pulled from the rubble alive. (http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/27/us/september-11-anni...)

Jonas and his men survived because they stopped to aid Josephine Harris. Later estimates show that had they passed her by and continued, they would have reached the lobby just as the building was collapsing which would have killed them all. But because they stopped to help Ms. Harris, their progress slowed so drastically they were in the right spot at the right time. When the North Tower came down, the collapse, somehow, circumvented the lower flights of the stairwell around the areas of the 3rd-6th floors. Because of that, some could call it good karma, Jonas, Ms. Harris and the men of Ladder Company 6 survived.

Fourteen years later the images of that day still haunt us but the heroic efforts of those who ran up the stairs and those who helped one another help overcome the bad. 9/11 showed us the evil that humans are capable of. But it also brought out a goodness which we forgot existed. People taking care of each other for no other reason than it was the right thing to do. It was the darkest day in our nation's history but through it all we survived because of the efforts of those first responders, such as Captain Jay Jonas and Ladder Company Six.

"On Tuesday September 11th, America was knocked to its knees. On Tuesday September 11th, America got back up again."