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'When I left there, I think I held my family a little bit closer' | Sugar Land firefighter reflects on recovery efforts after 9/11

“By the time we got there, we knew it was recovery. It was no longer rescue," Lt. Greg Hopper said.

SUGAR LAND, Texas — Stories from September 11th have stuck with us for so many years, but for one Sugar Land firefighter, the story he’ll always remember, is his own. He was there in the aftermath.

Lt. Greg Hopper was at work when it happened 20 years ago. He dropped everything.

“Kissed the wife and baby of 4 months goodbye and left," Lt. Hopper said. 

As part of Texas Task Force 1, Hopper was sent to ground zero as FEMA Search and Rescue.

“The governor told us ‘look, there’s 30 million people in Texas that want to go, you’re the only 62 that are getting to go," Lt. Hopper said. 

But it took six days before they could finally get a flight.

RELATED: How the Houston area is honoring those lost in September 11 terror attacks

“By the time we got there, we knew it was recovery. It was no longer rescue," Lt. Hopper said.

Finally, he was on the ground.

“We’d been watching the same news everybody else had for 6 days and I had no idea how big it was until I got there. Somebody told us later on that the rubble pile was 14 acres," Lt. Hopper said. 

For the next six days, Lt. Hopper worked to recover what and who lay below the rubble.

“So that’s the bad part of it. There was never a body being pulled from it, it was always parts," Lt. Hopper said. “While I was there, my whole thought was try to find something that would give a family closure. When I left there, I think I held my family a little bit closer.”

On the 10-year anniversary, Sugar Land Fire Station 1 was bestowed a piece of the World Trade Center, and every time he sees it, Lt. Hopper says it reminds him of his time in New York. 

His hope for this anniversary is to get back the unity, we once had. 

“The best thing that came out of 9/11 was September 12th," Lt. Hopper said. "I hope we can get just a little piece of that back because this country is not there right now for sure.”

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