For many young Americans, the Sept. 11 attacks is marked as a solemn day of remembrance of a terrorist attack that shook the nation and redefined what community means. Students today view this as a piece of recent history, while being consistently surrounded by older generations who distinctly remember the sense of fear and uncertainty of that day.

However, it is rare to meet someone who was a first responder and experienced that day not only as an American, but as someone who took an oath to protect the American people. On the campus of The Masters School, there are those who vividly remember getting the call to act.

Director of Safety and Security Victor Seguinot served as a member of the New York Police Department (NYPD)  during the Sept. 11 attacks at the 50th Precinct in Riverdale, New York. When the first tower was hit, he said he was getting his car fixed at a dealership while being informed of the event by television broadcasts.

“At that point, as soon as my car was fixed, I responded to my command. My partner had already gone down with five of the officers. And when she went down, we lost communication. So my job was to get into a vehicle to find the other officers that were not communicating at that point,” Seguinot said.

As both an American citizen and a police officer, Seguinot said he was internally conflicted by his duty to remain collected as a law enforcement officer and his sentiment and worries as a New Yorker.

Seguinot said,“ As a civilian, I could actually feel what they [New Yorkers] were feeling, but being a police officer takes over what you feel.  When I got to the site and saw what happened, it was something I’ve never seen before except in movies; it was like a war zone. Everything was pulverized except for the metal. We were finding IDs on the floor, people’s shoes. But as a cop I had to hold back a lot of my feelings and just try to help as much as I could.”

Many first responders arrived at the site of the attack without certainty that they would return. “We knew specialized police officers who went out with the helmets and the guns, and two of them never came back. Alone in the police department, we lost 23. It was a total of 75 law enforcement people who passed away that day. It’s the 25th anniversary. To me, it almost seems like yesterday,” Seguinot said.

Seguinot acknowledges that during the aftermath of the attack, New York endured a dark time, but the sense of community that was built by shared grief motivated officers to persist. 

Seguinot said, “The way the city came together, offering us free meals, shoes, change of clothing just [for us] to keep doing what we’re doing was a very impressive thing. So that boosted our confidence, and it felt like we were there for the right reason and we were doing the right thing.”

Looking in retrospect to that moment 25 years ago, Seguinot hopes that younger generations will learn through the Sept. 11 attacks that uncertainty can be a reminder of shared humanity. “I hope they understand that the world is unpredictable. The more you get involved with positive things in the world, the more you help change the world for what it is. 

Seguinot continued, “[I want them to] remember how this country was formed, how this world was formed, how we got here, what it took, and how it was built by people’s sacrifices.”