Terrence McGhee

Terrence McGhee was a New York City Police Department (NYPD) Detective on September 11, 2001. That morning, he and his wife brought their children, nieces, and nephew to school. After dropping them off, his wife went to work at the Botanical Gardens and McGhee went to the office in the Bronx Homicide division. While there, McGhee and his colleagues heard about the first plane hitting the North Tower on the news. They were shocked and trying to comprehend and make sense out of what had just happened. When the second plane hit the South Tower, everything changed.

Later that evening, McGhee and a few of his partners went to downtown Manhattan, the Ground Zero site. He recalls an eerie calm and silence over lower parts of Manhattan. Littered paper, dust from the collapse of the World Trade Center, and the smell of the acrid smoke surrounded them. The buildings around where the Twin Towers stood were only partially destroyed; shattered windows and gaping holes could be seen in the buildings.

McGhee and his partners attempted to dig through the rubble to try to find or rescue people. He recalls finding a woman’s pocketbook, jacket, and other articles of clothing, and he began to wonder whether that was all that was left of an innocent woman who just went to work that day. Hours later, he arrived home, feeling relieved to see his children, nieces and nephew safe, sound, and asleep. He immediately thought of the families who were not as lucky following the tragic events of September 11; those who were still waiting for their loved ones to return home.

Two weeks after September 11, 2001, McGhee joined the NYPD-FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. He felt it was something he just needed to do so he could contribute and help in his own way. Nearly a year following the attacks, he and his partners were working to conduct interviews around the world of people working with the military. They were able to obtain a complaint against an individual, named Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, the son-in-law of Osama bin Laden and spokesperson for his terrorist group. In 2014, he was sentenced to life in prison for terrorism-related charges.

Following the attacks, McGhee recalls witnessing American spirit coming together. People stood united on the street and set up tents, shelters for clothing, gloves, face masks, and food. McGhee notes how proud he was to be, and continues to be, an American.