9/11: In Their Own Voices: Sgt. Dennis Mathers

Sgt. Dennis Mathers and a half-dozen other Montville Police officers received the call for assistance on Sept. 11, 2001.

They left that afternoon for New York City, staying three days, working 12-hour shifts, manning checkpoints.

Mathers, who is now 60, has been with the Montville Police since 1979.

Sgt. Dennis Mathers

There was a call for police officer assistance, and officers came from everywhere. There was a major city in need of assistance. Dire need of assistance.

It was still dangerous, but the first thing that runs through your mind is: It’s somebody in need. That’s why most of us are in this position.

There was some patriotism there, too.

A third of the department went. The others picked up the slack. It was a good representation.

My daughters were scared. They didn’t want me to go. My wife was leery but supportive. It was a big worry to take on.

WE WERE WELL RECEIVED by the New York City department. We were one of the few departments to arrive with vehicles, and that helped.

At Ground Zero, it was right out of a movie set. It was unbelievable. Buildings had landed sideways. There were lunches the restaurants had prepared, covered with incinerated concrete. Flames were still going. The devastation was hard to comprehend. Nobody sees that in their lifetime.

At the time, everyone was too busy to think. You didn’t have the time to think about it. You actually didn’t think about your family.

I’ve been to New York City many times. I’ve never seen it that way. Never seen the unity in the people. Everything else stood still – racial issues, crime issues, everything else came to a halt.

I saw busloads of ironworkers, and people cheering them on the way to Ground Zero. It was a good feeling.

Officers were there from all over the country. The good part of this was the unity. Joe Citizen said hello, and thank you. We got a lot of thank yous.

9/11 CHANGED EVERYBODY'S LIVES. It made everything so much different than the lackadaisical assumption that we were protected. We’re very vulnerable; there’s only so much you can do.

Your perception of what’s around you changes. You’re aware, more aware.

I think your perception of your family is: They’re always going to be there. Almost 3,000 people had that perception that morning – and they’re gone.

We all know that there’s a hazard (in the job of a police offier), but you train to go home at night.

IN MY LIFETIME, my kids’ lifetime, my grandkids’, I hope we never have to do that again. But I’m not naïve enough to think it won’t happen.

At the moment of 9/11, we became aware and united, but as time passes, people have a tendency to regress. We’ve got to keep aware; that could happen again tomorrow.

I would do it again, but if I never have to do it again, that’s a blessing in itself.