Dominick Pezzulo
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Dominick A. Pezzulo (1965-2001) was a Port Authority Police Department (PAPD) officer who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. His final hours were portrayed in the Oliver Stone movie World Trade Center.
Early in the morning of Sept. 11, he volunteered for the rescue effort in the first World Trade Center building as it was burning with the help of PAPD Seargent John McLoughlin and Officer Will Jimeno. Approaching the building, the floor shook with the impact of United Flight 175 as it ploughed into the South Tower. The men quickly ran for their lives to the building's elevator shaft. Only Pezzulo, McLoughlin and Jimeno would survive the initial hit, but soon afterwards Pezzulo's words were drowned by the fall of debris.
"Just remember me, I died trying to save you guys," were his last words. He then fired a single shot into the air trying to let the others know where his friends were, and then died.
Early life
Jean-ette Pezzulo met her husband Dominick while they were attending Herbert Lehman High Schooll in the Bronx. Although they knew each other from the neighborhood and school, they didn't start dating until they finished high school. Ms. Pezzulo, now a School Aide and Local 372 member at Lehman, was struck by how considerate Dominick was during their first date. "We went to the World Trade Center," she recalled. "We were by the water fountain and he was concerned that I might get wet. That impressed me."
Pezzulo also returned to teach auto repair, math and computer technology. After seven years as a teacher, Pezzulo became a Port Authority Police Officer. He was stationed at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Pezzulo was on his new job only 13 months when he received the urgent telephone call on September 11, 2001. He and other officers commandeered a city bus and raced downtown to the World Trade Center. Dominick Pezzulo was 36 years old when he died. He left behind a 7-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter.
September 11th, 2001
Their shift had started routinely that morning at the bus terminal. The rookies, Will Jimeno, 34, and Dominick Pezzulo, 35, were stationed at the terminal entrances, Jimeno at the north entrance on 42nd Street, Pezzulo at the south entrance. Pezzulo and Jimeno were good buddies, having both graduated from the academy nine months earlier. Word had spread quickly that an airplane had struck the World Trade Center. At that point the general assumption was that the collision of American Airlines Flight 11 at 8:46 a.m. was a horrible accident. Sergeant John McLoughlin ran through the bus terminal collecting men who wanted to help downtown. Jimeno and Pezzulo immediately volunteered.
As they raced toward the North Tower elevators, they heard a loud droning sound that none of them could identify. Jimeno asked Sergeant McLoughlin if this was a "second plane" coming in, and before John McLoughlin could answer, the floor shook with the impact of United Flight 175 as it ploughed into the South Tower. The men kept pushing their cart, but the shock waves from the collision rattled everything around them. The floor buckled, and the walls started to crack. The five officers ran for their lives.
Burning jet fuel rushing down elevator shafts from the point of impact on the 81st floor sent a monstrous fireball in their direction. McLoughlin shouted for his men to run to the freight elevators. As they fled, the ceiling gave way and the concourse above crashed down on them, dispersing the fireball.
The damage was beyond belief, yet some of the lights were still working, and Jimeno could clearly see the destruction all around him. He was on his back, surrounded by debris, his left leg trapped under a slab of concrete. His friend Dominick Pezzulo was face down next to him, covered with plaster dust and chunks of ceiling, but he was alive. Jimeno looked around for the others, calling out to them. Sergeant McLoughlin responded, saying that he was pinned down as well. Jimeno couldn't see him, but he estimated from the sound of McLoughlin's voice that he was about 20 feet away. Jimeno called out to Officers Amoroso and Rodrigues, but neither responded. He shouted their names for a full two minutes. Amoroso and Rodrigues had been at the back of the pack as they ran from the fireball.
Pezzulo, who lifted weights to stay fit, told Jimeno that he was all right and started to dig himself out. When he finally got to his feet, he assured Jimeno that he would get him out. But then a deafening rumble drowned out his words and everything started to shake violently. The two men couldn't see it, but the South Tower was collapsing. Instinctively Jimeno tried to curl up and protect himself, but there was little time to react and, for Pezzulo, no clear course of escape. New chunks of concrete rained down, and a heavy concrete slab the size of a mattress landed in Pezzulo's lap. The dust was thick, clogging the air. Jimeno was coughing, his eyes tearing as he tried to get oriented.
But then it started all over again. Twenty-nine minutes after the South Tower fell, the North Tower started to collapse. Jimeno was desperate to get to his friend, but he couldn't move. When the noise finally subsided, McLoughlin reported that nothing new had hit him, but that he was still trapped. Jimeno could hear Pezzulo's labored breathing.
"You okay?" he said to his friend. "Dominick? Talk to me." "Willy," Pezzulo said, struggling to get the words out. "Willy, I'm hurt bad." "Stay awake!" Officer Jimeno urged his friend Dominick Pezzulo. "Stay with me."
Pezzulo finally started to respond. He told his friend that he loved him, and Jimeno returned the sentiment. They talked quietly for a while.
"Willy," Pezzulo said, "don't forget I died trying to save you guys."
Jimeno assured him that he would never forget. Pezzulo then lifted his arm straight up. He was holding his service revolver. He fired a shot toward the light to alert rescuers to their whereabouts. But as soon as the shot went off, his arm went limp, and his head went slump.
Pezzulo was the last person of Local 372 NYFD to have died in the September 11, 2001 attacks
World Trade Center movie
In the film World Trade Center by Oliver Stone, Pezzulo was played by actor Jay Hernandez.
See also
- Will Jimeno
- John McLoughlin (World Trade Center attack survivor)
- Dave Karnes
- Jason Thomas
- World Trade Center (film)