| |
|
|
John McLoughlin ’75
(right) and Will Jimeno on the set of “World Trade
Center” |
Oliver Stone’s new movie “World Trade Center”
tells the story of a Port Authority policeman who is
not only a real-life hero, he’s a graduate of
SUNY Oswego.
Sgt. John McLoughlin ’75
led a group of Port Authority policemen into the World
Trade Center complex to rescue survivors. He and Officer
Will Jimeno ended up trapped inside the rubble. McLoughlin
was trapped for 22 hours and spent four months in the
hospital recovering. He lost function in his lower legs.
“But I’m up and around,” he told Newsweek
in an Aug. 7 article.
McLoughlin knew there might be danger. Still, he didn’t
hesitate going into the World Trade Center complex to
try and rescue any survivors. “I was familiar
with the equipment and knew what had to be done,”
he says in his matter of fact way.
He approaches the fame surrounding his connection with
the movie in much the same way. He and Jimeno were contacted
by the producers. “We told our story to the script
writer, who wrote the script out of our story,”
he explains. “They accurately portrayed everybody’s
story.”
A whirlwind publicity tour, gala premiere and even an
appearance on NBC’s “Today” show doesn’t
appear to have gone to McLoughlin’s head. He is
focused on a mission important to him. “We got
involved so that we could tell the story of the men
we lost that day, the heroism of the rescue workers.”
And while replaying his ordeal was difficult, he did
it for his fallen comrades. “It was tough to relive
it,” he says. “But we were committed to
try and get the information out, so we had to go through
the tough times along with the good times.”
The WTC hero has fond memories of Oswego, especially
the three years he spent in Scales Hall and the “tight
friends” he made there. “We had a good time.
I have a lot of good memories with a lot of fine people
at Oswego.”
He keeps in touch with many of them. “When I was
recuperating, I was getting cards and letters from people
all over the country from Scales. I haven’t had
the chance to thank them all,” he adds. |
| Back
To September 2006 E-Newsletter |
|
|
|
|
|
|
