9/11: 20 Years Later
WTC collapse at Marriott Hotel
he and Karen, a widower at the
time, are now married and living
in East Hampton.
Brown’s family also became
involved in the rescue operations,
including his brother Paul,
a fi re captain in Manhattan, and
his other brother Tom, who was
already retired and living in Arizona,
came back to help.
His older sister Laura Brown-
Amodeo, a year older than him,
was a cop in the 101st Precinct
in Rockaway, Queens at the time
of 9/11 and was then sent to the
Fresh Kills landfi ll on Staten
Island, referred to at the time as
“the pile” to search through debris
removed from the World Trade
Center, where small bits were
searched for human remains.
Brown-Amodeo worked several
weeks at the landfi ll and like
many others, contracted cancer,
believed to be from her exposure
to the many toxins deposited
there.
FDNY Lt. Raymond Brown hugs his wife Karen Kluglein,
Aug. 29, 2021, in Sag Harbor, N.Y. Approaching the 20th
anniversary of Sept. 11 he recalls how he survived the
terrorist attack at the World Trade Center. ‘This helmet saved
my life. Debris hit the back of my head knocking me out. It was
almost 344.’ Referring to the 343 firefighters killed that day.
“It was absolutely brutal,”
Brown remembered when his
PHOTO BY DEBBIE EGAN-CHIN
sister became ill. “She got sick in
the beginning of July 2019 – may
be two or three weeks it was in
her liver and spreading. She was
going to Sloan Kettering, but we
knew she was dying. It was devastating
for me – I’ve never been
in such pain – everything was in
slow motion – she’s survived by
three kids – I’m close with her
two oldest boys they are like my
sons.”
Today, Brown says he has
become “spiritual” and spends
time with wife, his daughter
Molly who is now a grade school
teacher, and his step-daughter
Lilly, who is now in her third
year of law school – currently
doing internships processing
visas for Afghans fl eeing the war
torn nation. Despite continuing
health issues from his injuries including
a double hip replacement
and what he said was recently a
minor stroke, he is thankful for
being alive.
“There is no way I can think
why I was spared – I don’t know,
I don’t question it – it’s God’s universe
and while I grew up Catholic
I consider myself a recovering
Catholic and so now God for me
is not God I grew up with. It’s
now about the spirit and nature.”
He also bemoans the current
divisions in society, including
some of his own brothers who
he says are overly critical of political
opposition — reminding
fellow fi refi ghters that “it was a
Republican President, a Republican
governor and a Democratic
senator who worked together
that we are all benefi ting from
now.”
“Whenever a fi refi ghter criticizes
Hillary Clinton, I ask them
to name one politician that did
more for us,” he said, referring
to the 9/11 World Trade Center
Health and Compensation Act.
“To me, that is what we should
never forget – how people in
this country came together and
I hope we can learn that lesson.
Last year was a very sad year – a
lot of people died of COVID and
I have friends denying there was
COVID.”
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