Feb 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 2

that one of his friends, a firefighter
with the New York Fire
Department, had died while
responding to the towers.
“He was one of the first firemen
to get into the building and he
unfortunately lost his life,” says
Witherspoon. “It definitely had
an effect on me personally, big
time.”
Of the 2,753 people killed in the
attack at the World Trade Centers,
343 firefighters and paramedics,
23 New York City police
officers, and 37 Port Authority
police officers died.
PENTAGON TARGETED
On the morning on September
11, 2001, Walton was at the FBI
Academy in Quantico, Virginia,
for training.
When the planes hit the twin
towers in New York, Walton
and other officers at the academy
stopped like many other
Americans to watch the news on
television in horror at what was
unfolding.
Then, news broke that another
plane had hit the Pentagon.
UCFPD officer Eric Walton
“We were scheduled to go to
the Pentagon probably an hour
before the plane hit it,” Walton
says. “When the plane hit, they
asked for all first responders to
come because they needed assistance.”
Once they reached the scene,
Walton says none of his training
could prepare him for what he
saw.
“The building kind of looked
like a dry cake,” says Walton.
UCFPD Officer Eric Walton
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