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9/11 Q&A: Ironworker Willie Quinlan

By Lauren Wolfe | Special to amNewYork

September 11, 2006

Willie Quinlan, 59, of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, retired ironworker with Local 40. Worked on the construction of the World Trade Center and the cleanup after its destruction on 9/11.

Q: What did you do on the construction of the WTC?

A: I was a connector there on Tower A, the North Tower, for three years (1968-1970). Connectors are people that climb, connect steel together. I worked there till we got to about 80 stories.

Q: Were you more proud of this than other projects you'd worked on?

A: At the time, it was the highest building in the U.S. And I was a part of it. I was proud of that.

Q: Where were you on Sept. 11?

A: At the time the building got hit I was in Downtown Brooklyn. I couldn't believe it. You couldn't see the far side of the building. You could see the smoke pouring out of it. We were looking at it. Then we saw the other plane come in and hit it. I couldn't believe it.

Q: What were you thinking (when the towers fell) at that point?

A: It's gonna take us forever to clean this up. We're going to be here forever. It was a sight you couldn't believe. Everything you looked at was destroyed. It was just dust. One big pile of dust. The structural parts--you could see the columns all lying broken.

Q: At Ground Zero, were you looking for survivors?

A: When they found a cop we sealed it up. When you came upon things, you took care of it. When you came upon bodies or anything, you either do it yourself or you worked together.

Q: How did it all change you?

A: You don't realize it till you're out of there. That's when it really hit you. I did things I never thought I could do. We're ironworkers. We're qualified to do the work as far as the structure goes, but to do with medical emergencieswe're not qualified, but we did the best we could.

Q: What do you think about when you look at the skyline now?

A: It always comes back to you. It's something no one's ever going to forget. You go by there and you think and you put it out of your mind and you just keep on going.

Q: Do you go down there much these days?

A: I've been down in that area quite often. I would stop and look about it and you think about the way it was and the way it should be.

Q: It's not too painful to go?

A: Not anymore. Time heals everything. Time. When everything goes up--the memorial, the buildings, the freedom tower. Looking at it in a few years, it'll change people's minds, how they feel, make it easier for them. For me too.