Nebraska Task Force 1 Battalion Chief Reflects on 9/11 Deployment
Lincoln, Neb. (KLKN) — Nearly 25 years after the September 11th attacks, a leader with Nebraska Task Force One is reflecting on his first deployment.
Battalion Chief Mark Majors was sent to New York following the attacks, an experience he says he’ll never forget.
Twenty-five years ago, Majors had only been with Nebraska Task Force One for about a year. When the September 11th attacks happened, he knew right away he wanted to help.
“Like most first responders, in everything we do, we want to be there. We want to be in the right place at the right time to just lend some assistance,” Majors said. “I think we all kind of had that anxiety, like, let’s go. We really wanted to go and just do whatever we could to help.”
About ten days later, he was deployed to New York on his very first deployment with the task force.
The bus ride into Lower Manhattan is still etched in his memory.
“Coming through the tunnel and seeing large signs that there was one sign that said New York City closed,” Majors said. “Imagine driving down Interstate 80, and you’re traveling through Iowa, and you get to the border, and you see a sign that says Nebraska closed, turn around and go back, and there’s security and checkpoints, and you’re not going anywhere. It was really surreal to kind of see things like that.”
The team first provided rescue coverage around the city while local crews worked at Ground Zero.
About a week later, Majors began working 12-hour shifts at the site, where his role included providing logistical support and rescue if needed.
He says seeing the scale of the destruction in person is something he’ll never forget.
“We saw what we saw on TV, but I mean, as with any disaster, when you physically get there, and now you have depth and complexity of what you’re looking at,” Majors said. “The depth and the size and the height and the width of the disaster, of Ground Zero downtown, was something that will never escape my mind.”
Twenty-five years later, Majors is now a task force leader and rescue team manager for Nebraska Task Force One.
He says that first deployment led him to become even more involved in disaster response.
