On the morning of 9/11, Scott Strauss was on the train home when he heard over his Walkman that a plane struck the World Trade Center. Assigned to a rescue team, Strauss reached the World Trade Center moments after the North Tower collapsed. For the next several hours, he joined in the arduous task of searching for survivors in what would become known as “the pile.”

Early that evening, Strauss was notified that Port Authority Police Sgt. John McLoughlin and rookie Officer Will Jimeno were found in the debris field. They survived the collapse of the towers but were trapped 30 feet beneath the pile, injured, and unable to escape. It was up to Strauss and his team to rescue them. The team began the perilous journey to reach the officers, crawling over hot steel and squeezing through narrow, smoke-filled spaces. It took more than three hours to pull Officer Jimeno to safety. Sgt. McLoughlin was rescued a few hours later.

On the morning of 9/11, Will Jimeno, a rookie officer with the Port Authority Police Department, was just beginning his shift in midtown Manhattan when news of the terrorist attacks broke. Upon arriving at the World Trade Center, Will joined Sgt. John McLoughlin and attempted a rescue operation.

As the team made their way through the shopping mall beneath the buildings, suddenly and without warning, the South Tower began to collapse above them. When everything settled, Will found that he had managed to survive, and was trapped 30 feet beneath the pile of debris.

Today on the Muster Room Podcast we welcome Jessica DuLong, the former chief engineer of the retired 1931 New York City fireboat, John J. Harvey. In this episode of the Muster Room, we discuss the Harvey’s role on 9/11 and how the aftermath of the tragedy impacted DuLong.

Today in the Muster Room we have the Acting Nassau County Commissioner of Emergency Management, Richard Corbett. Among his many challenges in emergency service was Superstorm Sandy. The storm wreaked havoc on Long Island and the entire New York City metro area. Being on the barrier island, Long Beach was directly in the storm’s path and posed one of the largest challenges ever in the Fire Department’s history.

From serving our country on the Afghanistan battlefield to protecting the residents of Suffolk County, Matias Ferreira has overcome the loss of both of his legs to become the first double amputee Police Officer in the United States.

This week in the Muster Room we have Charo Lopez, sister of slain Nassau County Police Department Officer Arthur Lopez who was shot and killed while attempting to arrest a hit-and-run driver on the county’s border with New York City.

Today on the podcast we have retired NYPD Detective John “JB” Bellico

NYPD Detective Ron Thomas enters the Muster Room with his therapy k9 partner, Piper

TikTok star and Police Officer Paulie Lewis joins the Muster Room for our pilot episode.