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wenty-five years ago, New York City Police Department detectives Barry Anfang, Joe Costa and John Tucci responded to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and spent the days and weeks that followed searching for survivors, recovering remains and collecting evidence at and around the World Trade Center.       Here is Part II of their story about the Terrorist Attacks.

At Ground Zero, whenever workers found remains, the machinery stopped. Police officers, sanitation workers and construction crews formed two lines as the remains were carried from the site to an ambulance.

Anfang said recovering remains at least allowed some families to bury their loved ones. Others received only fragments. Some received nothing.

He recalled the rivalry that traditionally existed between New York City police officers and firefighters. That rivalry fell away as he considered the firefighters and NYPD Emergency Service officers who entered the towers.

“They knew they were going to die,” Anfang said.

Tucci and Costa agreed.

Costa, 64, was assigned to the Brooklyn North Warrant Squad. He had spent the morning practicing at a shooting range in the Bronx with his partner and sergeant.

Afterward, they drove to his partner’s home in Hicksville, where his partner’s mother ran outside and told them a plane had struck the World Trade Center. They went inside and watched the second plane hit.

The officers drove to Brooklyn, collected their equipment and continued toward City Hall. One of the towers collapsed as they arrived.

“You couldn’t see your hand two feet in front of you,” Costa said.

People emerged through the dust covered from head to toe, appearing to him “like ghosts.” He helped those fleeing the area before being assigned to search for survivors and recover remains.

Officers converted a damaged clothing store beside a firehouse into a temporary morgue. Bodies and partial remains were brought inside, where Costa and others searched for identification that might help authorities notify families.

He worked for close to 12 hours before sleeping on the floor of the neighboring firehouse. He later searched the pile for driver’s licenses, identification cards and other evidence.

Several weeks after the attack, Costa worked at a bereavement center where relatives of the missing provided DNA samples and brought belongings that could assist in identifying remains.

One child approached Costa and his partner holding a photograph.

“Could you find my father?” the girl asked.

“She lost it,” Costa said, “She ran out crying.”

“[For weeks] we had to deal with so many poor little kids coming and showing us pictures of their family, their mother, their father, their brother,” Costa said, “That was one of the hardest things we did.”

The dangers did not end when the rubble was cleared.

Costa moved from Long Island to Damascus in 2011. About a year later, he began developing bronchitis repeatedly despite having suffered from it only a handful of times before Sept. 11.

Doctors found pulmonary nodules and scarring in one lung. A CAT scan in May revealed additional nodules that will require continued observation. He sees his pulmonologist every three months, undergoes breathing tests every six months and receives an annual CAT scan.

When another bout of bronchitis begins, he takes antibiotics and Prednisone and sometimes relies on a nebulizer. The episodes now last longer and hit harder than they once did. Every two weeks, he receives an injection intended to help him breathe.

“It’s a constant battle,” Costa said. “You get your good days and your bad days.”

He was also diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder last year. The World Trade Center Health Program covers all treatments related to 9/11 related injuries, which Costa said would otherwise cost thousands of dollars each month.

His respiratory condition prevents him from performing strenuous work, but he remains active with the Lake Huntington Fire Department as captain of its fire police. Including his previous service on Long Island, Costa has spent about 45 years as a volunteer firefighter.

Tucci has had basal-cell skin cancer and has a stable lung nodule. He recently underwent testing after a possible sign of blood cancer, but said his follow-up numbers were good.

Anfang has also had skin cancer and another cancer that required invasive surgery. A lung nodule found during medical testing has not grown.

The three men praised the World Trade Center Health Program for monitoring their conditions, arranging examinations and covering treatment for certified illnesses. They also credited the staff at CVS in Honesdale with helping local responders navigate their prescriptions.

Anfang brought attention to an Aug. 31 New York Post analysis of World Trade Center Health Program data. The newspaper reported that cancer certifications increased from 3,204 in 2015 to 57,044 in 2026, a rise of 1,680 percent. The increase reflects both illnesses emerging after long latency periods and growth and aging among the program’s enrolled population.

Despite their illnesses and the losses they witnessed, Anfang said responders would answer the call again.

“We took an oath to the city and the country,” he said. “Most guys take that seriously.”

The three men belong to a wider community of former New York City police officers, firefighters and other Sept. 11 responders who settled in northeastern Pennsylvania and Sullivan County. They check on one another, gather for memorials and assist when someone needs help.

They worry that the attacks are receding from living memory. Costa noted that many adults today were either children on Sept. 11 or had not yet been born.

The three planned to join approximately 25 other former responders for a Sept. 11 memorial ceremony at the Wayne County Courthouse. They said remembrance does not begin and end with an annual ceremony.

“All gave some,” Anfang said, repeating the words responders adopted after the attacks, “and some gave all.”