Another View of 9/11:
Women Tell Their Stories

Many women in the fire and rescue service have commented to Women in the Fire Service about the lack of media visibility of women rescuers at the 9/11 incidents, and about the common and unapologetic use of the terms "fireman" and "firemen" by the news media.

WFS has collected and archived these stories, to provide a counterbalance to the continuing perception that only men were involved in the response, rescue, and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the Pennsylvania crash site.

We encourage all women who responded to the 9/11 attacks, on that date or later, to contact us for an interview if you are willing to talk about your experiences and share them with others. We also encourage everyone to read the book by Susan Hagen and Mary Carouba, Women at Ground Zero, which contains interviews with 30 women rescuers about the events of 9/11.

Here are the stories we have posted so far:

Also see a December 3 article from the Christian Science Monitor about the women firefighters at Ground Zero.

FDNY Lieutenant Brenda Berkman has asked:

"For the fire and rescue service women who are upset about women's invisibility in the media coverage and public ceremonies surrounding the September 11 attacks, please do something about it. Write to the national media. Write to your elected representatives. Write to New York City officials. Help us out here... we can't do it alone."

For more on what you can do to help, click here.

This page last updated 9/3/02