Robert Brager reported to work early at the “Alamo” on September 11, 2001.

“Alamo” is New York City police slang for the 77th Precinct in Brooklyn, where Brager works as a street narcotics officer. The 1989 RU graduate, who joined the NYPD in 1997, expected to spend most of his 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift on September 11 in court. As he was preparing to leave the station, another officer told him that an airplane had crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.

“I assumed it was an accident,” Brager says. “We went to the roof of our building because it gave us a clear view of the Manhattan skyline, and you could see the north tower burning. I stood there amazed for a few minutes. Then, I was devastated to see the second plane fly into the south tower. You knew immediately it was intentional.”

Every precinct in the city was activated to send one Sergeant and eight officers to the towers and Brager was one of eight sent from the Alamo. Just minutes after seeing the second plane hit, Brager was in a staging area three blocks west of the towers when the first tower collapsed.

“We rushed toward the towers to aid in evacuation,” he says, “but it was difficult to get our bearings due to low visibility caused by the large cloud of debris. Soon I found myself standing behind world trade center building #7 looking up at the last remaining tower engulfed in flames. I watched in horror as civilians continued to leap to their deaths from above the fire floors, sometimes two or three together holding hands.”

Brager was helping people move away from Ground Zero when the second tower collapsed, triggering another debris cloud with enough force to knock him down.

“I was stunned and unable to breathe for a little while,” he says. “It seemed like what a nuclear winter would be like, completely gray and snow-like.”

Despite suffering cuts and bruises on his left leg, Brager worked for the next 11 hours sifting through “the pile” to try to find survivors.

“It was horrible because, to our amazement, we never found a single person trapped alive that night, knowing that potentially thousands were in there,” he says.

Brager was relieved of duty around 2 a.m. and went to a hospital for treatment of his leg. He soon returned to work, becoming part of a team that worked at the Staten Island landfill looking for evidence in the debris brought there, working 12-hour days, six days a week for four months. “I didn’t have time to grieve,” he says. “I lost two close friends from the NYPD and countless buddies from FDNY.

“I had no desire to return to Ground Zero, and I haven’t been back since.”

Brager did take solace in the well wishes that poured in from around the world.

“It was uplifting,” he says. “I got many e-mails from RU alumni, some of whom I had never met, who somehow found out I was on the NYPD. Unfortunately my computer crashed and I lost their addresses. I just wanted to tell my story and thank everyone. My fellow officers in the NYPD and New Yorkers in general were humbled by the outpouring of support.”

— Rob Tucker