Customer Reviews

Firehouse

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4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I would guess that I am not the only one guilty of taking firemen for granted before September 11. Sure, I knew that in between relaxing at the firehouse, they got to go out and have some excitement, and that they did good work, and it was all commendable in a very manly way. But with all the losses to the New York Fire Department (343 killed), and the vigil over the site of the World Trade Center as their bodies were finally unearthed, and the heartfelt mourning of their brothers at one funeral after another, my admiration for fireman has increased to something around the level it had when I was a kid and like all kids I wanted to be a fireman. David Halberstam lives on the West Side of Manhattan, and had a distant admiration "for firemen, for their courage, for the highly professional and immensely good-natured way they go about their jobs, and for the fact that they constantly have to deal with terrifying fires in the high-rises that surround us." He had, before September 11, never been in his neighborhood Engine 40, Ladder 35 Firehouse. The firehouse lost twelve of the thirteen men sent on the engine and ladder to the World Trade Center, and Halberstam, in _Firehouse_ (Hyperion) tells us of their lives and work. It is a small, graceful, moving, eye-opening homage to firemen and their values.

The values are a family matter. Not only are the members of a firehouse family to themselves, for they literally depend on each other for their lives. Significantly, however, firefighting runs in families. Some of the men lost that dreadful day were third generation firemen who, sometimes against the advice of their fathers, never wanted to be anything but firemen. Halberstam tells a good deal about the inner life of the firehouse, such things as the tension felt on both sides as a new firemen on a probationary period (a "probie") is assigned to the station, the refusal of some firefighters to take the steps that would make them officers, the deliberate distance and respect between officers and men. Among the stories here are many of firemen who had swapped shifts or just went off shift so that they were not among the ones to answer the first call. Halberstam gives brief biographical portrayals of all twelve men, the one who was an expert at putting up wallpaper and did it for the homes of all the others, the one who was a former auto mechanic who kept all their private vehicles running smoothly, the golfers, the cooks, the one who had just shown up for his first workday at the firehouse, suiting up among strangers for the run five minutes later.

Halberstam writes quietly, with admiration and even awe, but he describes his tale as one about "the nobility of ordinary people." He says that there "are very few stories that I have written in my 50 years as journalist that have been so personally rewarding," and the story shines because unlike his previous books on Vietnam, the American press, or professional sports endeavors, this is one on heroes in a profession anyone can unabashedly admire. "Even with elite combat units, when a soldier runs across a field of fire to carry off a wounded buddy, he is doing it for a pal;... [firefighters] perform acts of exceptional courage to save complete strangers." They were doing it before September 11, and they do it still, but we have more reason to be grateful, and less to take them for granted.

Anyone who has read David Halberstam knows he is a fine journalist. He certainly does not disappoint in this small memorial of some of the brave men who lost their lives on 9/11, the day of infamy. FIREHOUSE is the account of the thirteen firefighters of Engine 40, Ladder 35 who answered the emergency call to go to the World Trade Towers. Of the thirteen who left on the mission, only one returned.

Inside the front and back panels of the book is a reproduction of the actual list of firemen who were posted to answer the call on 9/11; their photographs are printed on the back cover. These become a makeshift memorial to these men not unlike the Vietnam Wall or the AIDS Quilt. I found myself looking back at their names and photographs as Halberstam introduces each of the thirteen.

These men's bios are sketchy as are the actual facts of what they faced on 9/11. They were overwhelmingly white, most of them married or about to be, many of them the sons or brothers or cousins of other New York firefighters. An interesting tidbit: most of these men were fine cooks as well.

There is hardly a negative statement about any of these men, a fact that shouldn't surprise anyone since Halberstam interviewed surviving relatives and colleagues shortly after 9/11. It is human nature to remember only the good of loved ones so recently after a tragedy. I did learn, however, that Jimmy Giberson, described as a natural leader, was separated from his wife. Certainly I, a complete stranger, do not need more details of his failed marriage. I'm much rather learn that in a video shot by a contract cameraman on 9/11 Giberson is identified as the man going into the south tower ahead of the captain, an unusual fact that at first puzzled the remaining firemen. But a close friend resonded: "Jimmy was always in front. Always. With those long legs, you couldn't keep up with him. And no one was going to stop him on something like this." We can reserve expose journalism for another day and another subject.

There are poignant facts: the fireman who would have been on that truck had he not had a medical appointment, the friend who filled in for him. Especially sad are the brand new firemen fresh out of school, one of whom had never gone to a fire before. There is finally the accounts of the memorial services, often two: one before the body is found, the other after, sometimes months afterwards when the body has been identified. The body of one of these twelve men, Steve Mercado, had not been found when Halberstam wrote this book.

I was so glad to see that Mr. Halberstam, no stranger to tragedy in his own life, did not take the view, so often taken by glib journalists, that the surviving friends and family of these brave men achieved "closure" by simply attending a service or identifying a body. Here is Halberstam's description of Jack Lynch, the father of Michael Lynch: "In the meantime, Jack Lynch understod that there was a void in his and his wife's lives, and in the lives of all their children, and that nothing else would be quite the same, that a part of them was missing. There would always be a part of them all that was missing.
The tragedy, he said, was the only thing in all his life that had truly challenged his faith."

Apparently these men were just ordinary men doing what firemen routinely do: answering emergency calls that put them in harm's way. This sparse account of their walking into the south tower will break your heart.

Firehouse is a wonderful moving tribute to 13 of the firefighters who responded to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Of the 13 who responded that day, only 1 survived, and this is the story of their lives.

Writing about the fire service can be a difficult thing, especially for those who have no connection to firefighters or the culture. Here, David Halberstam has been able to get the feeling of one of New York's fire stations, in this case Engine 40 and Ladder 35, and bring the outside world into this little seen world where few ever enter. The only other book I have read which even comes to getting the sense of what it is like in the fire station was with Dennis Smith's "Report from Engine Company 82", and Mr. Smith was a firefighter to boot. I certainly tip my helmet to Mr. Halberstam for getting it right. If you have been a firefighter for 1 day or 30 years, or someone who just wants to read a great book which offers incredible insight into the FDNY and fire service at large, then buy "Firehouse".

I met and spoke with David Halberstam at the L.A. Times Book Fair and he said this would be his next work and he was happy of the effort the publisher had made to get this book to print. And we, as readers, should be happy too that this book is now available.

There will be volumes written about the events of 9/11, what makes this book special is that it gives us insight into the character of the men who gave their lives that tragic day. Of the 13 men who left the firehouse on 9/11, only one would survive. Halberstam makes no mystery of who dies, all you have to do is look at the back cover to see the pictures of the twelve men who passed away when the World Trade Center towers came down. What Halberstam does do is make us have a feel for who these brave men were, as well as their families and friends who most now go on without them.

As always with Halberstam this is is very well written book.

This book is almost a coda, another chapter, of his latest major work, "War in a Time of Peace" which was published just weeks before 9/11 and mentions on the last page that the new threat to the United States will not come from some super-power or established nation but rather from terrorists and extremists.

To understand the loss we as a country truly paid on that tragic day read this book.

This is a touching book and slim though it is it is very special. It will touch your heart.

Engine 40/Ladder 35 leave their firehouse, near Lincoln Center, the morning of September 11th. 13 brave men head for the World Trade Center. Only one shattered survivor returns. "Firehouse" by David Halberstam is a short and emotional journey into the lives, families, culture and backdrop of this tragic event. The author effectively blends the events of the 11th with personal glimpses of each victim. What is most interesting is the perspectives of their families and their colleagues from the firehouse that were not on call that terrible day. The reader gets a sense of the extreme emotions of pride, anger, sorrow, guilt and loss by those remaining in this terrible void.

David Halberstam is a gifted reporter and writer who uses simple prose to effectively describe a complex and horrible situation. Hundreds of fireman were among the thousands lost at the WTC. By personalizing this small team, Halberstram enables us to better appreciate all of the heroes and victims of the attack. His best description about them is ". . . acts of uncommon courage by ordinary people."

As a veteran reader of 20th century history books, I've long considered David Halberstam to be one of the best and brightest of the contemporary historians publishing today. He is also, not so coincidentally, one of the most prolific, as well, having produced a steady stream of works covering such myriad historical and cultural subjects as a study of how both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations stumbled and blundered their way into the quagmire of Vietnam to more whimsical studies of pop-cultural aspects of American life such as major league baseball and the effects of the seasons on residents of the island of Nantucket off the Massachusetts coast. In this book, "Firehouse", Halberstam focuses on a subject more timely and more local than ever before, describing the lives and death of the men and women of the local fire station a few blocks from his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, people who figured so fatefully in the events of last September eleventh.

As Halberstam so powerfully describes, only one of the thirteen men answering the first response for assistance at the World trade center survived the events of the day. This book deals with the specific nature of that response, the natural history of that day as events unfolded, and the fate of the men as well as the aftermath of their deaths for their families, friends, fellow workers, and the community at large. One of the most admirable qualities of this superb book stems from the fact that Halberstam is a "local", someone involved and participating in the day to life of the community. Consequently, he can authoritatively describe the rich and momentous history of the firehouse itself, and the centuries of tradition and community support that made it and the community of firemen and women so important in the life of the local area.

For Halberstam, the Firehouse represents a kind of large and amorphous type of informal second family both for the firefighters as well as for the more general population at large. He writes convincingly of the ways in which the inner workings of a firehouse, with its own unique and interesting traditions, routines, and complex social structure provides support and succor for the whole community, becoming a vibrant, inviting, and warm environment for all involved. At the same time, he details the ways in which all those tensions that the job itself makes unavoidable spills out and adds an edgy dynamic to the social atmosphere. He also helps us to understand just why it is that men and women with other choice and other opportunities prefer to opt for this kind of life, despite the obvious risks and dangers, despite the relatively low wages and the stress and physical demands associated with the profession.

This book is somewhat of a departure for Halberstam in the sense that it one more fraught with emotional overtones than his usual subject matter. Yet when dealing with the provocatively intense subject of these thirteen souls who answered the call last September, in describing their immediate fate, the exhausting search for their bodies, and the efforts on the part of their families, both individually and collectively, to come to terms with their loss and their grief, it is hard to avoid such intensity. He also deals thoughtfully with the issue of survivor's guilty on the part of the surviving firefighters in the firehouse, and the complex ways in which their conflicting feelings of guilt and relief are being handled and discussed.

Indeed, this is a riveting book, one that well deserves the wide reading it will certainly enjoy. Halberstam's treatment is so personal, so well documented, and so meticulously narrated that one finds himself swept along with the tide of events of that day last year when the world seemed to stand still, when all of us watched in horror as the massive evil manifested on that day came to full fruit. The book carries the signature trademark qualities of all of Halberstam's work, being meticulously researched, powerfully narrated and beautifully described. It focuses on an aspect of one of the most profoundly memorable days in contemporary history, and gives powerful testimony to the power of care, compassion, and sacrifice and why we must continue to honor and appreciate those who fell in the line of duty both on that fateful day, and in the days that followed and will continue to do so as we continue to prosecute the war against terrorism. I highly recommend this book!

This is a story of men who live in a good, but rather strange world of their own. The firemen whom Halberstam writes about have their own rules of honor, of conduct, and of loyalty. In describing the twelve men from one New York City firehouse who died at the World Trade Center last Septmeber, Halberstam does more than tell us about their personalities and loves and ambitions. He lets us enter the small world of the place where they worked. Oddly enough, while the whole city of New York admired these firemen for the good they did and the risks they were willing to take, the firemen set themselves apart from the rest of New York,insulating themselves from the strife and disloyalty of daily life through the brotherhood of the firehouse. Because you know from the first page that the main personalities all died heroically, this is a grim book, but if you want a glimpse into a world where men depend on each other to stay alive each and every day, read FIREHOUSE.

Actor/director/writer Mel Foster gives an appropriately subdued and reverential reading of the story of Engine 40, Ladder 35 and the firemen who lost their lives on a day America will never forget - September 11, 2001.

As Frank McCourt commented, "If you have tears, prepare to shed them." I would add you may have difficulty stopping those tears.

In this particular firehouse, which was dealt the most severe blows following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Towers, as in other firehouses the men live, work and eat together. Halberstam writes: "....they play sports together, go off to drink together, help repair one another's houses andmost importantly, share terrifying risks; their loyalties to each other must, by the demands of the dangers they face, be instinctive and absolute."

Few could have dreamed of the danger in store. On that terrible morning two rigs carrying a total of 26 men left the firehouse; only 14 men would return.

We are with the families as they wait for news of their loved ones and, in part, come to understand why men undertake such a perilous profession.

"Firehouse" is history, a moving narrative of an earth shattering day.

- Gail Cooke

This is an immensely read-able book. The only thing that will slow you down is the compulsive need to flip to the inside cover to study the faces of these brave men.
Halberstam did an admirable job of capturing the spirit of the NYFD.
I have only one complaint for his editor and it is about this sentence:
"Two days after the attack, Jack visited the site with an old friend of his named Mike Dolan, a senior project manager for Turner Construction in Chicago,who had flown in when he learned that Michael had been at Ground Zero and was missing."

Of course, there were no planes in the sky two days after the attack. Nit-picking? Probably. But it sure was distracting.

Mr. Halberstam, known well for his books about history, has written a little book about 9/11 that will hopefully remain long after most of the other 9/11 novels are ancient history. This novel tells the story of Engine 40, Ladder 35 in Midtown Manhattan, a firehouse that lost 12 of 13 men who went to the World Trade Center.

Each fireman is described - what role he had in the firehouse and how he came to be a fireman. The story of the 13th fireman, Kevin Shea, the one who lived, is also told. Some have criticized this story because it leaves out any negatives, character flaws, etc. that these men had. I dispute this as one in particular is characterized as a "human cactus". And why, I ask, should we want to learn the things people disliked about the men who died? They did die as heroes, even though this book illustrates that heroes is probably the last thing that any of these men would have wanted to be called. They were just doing their jobs.

The book also goes into some detail about the families of these men and how they reacted after the tragedy when they came to realize that their husband/son/father would not be coming home.

Out of all the books written about September 11th, this is one that deserves to stand the test of time. It wasn't written in a hurry so that it would sell tons of copies and make lots of money - instead it was published in May 2002, long after many books had been out and the publishing craze seemed to be over. It also serves as a reminder of what happened that day. Eventually, 9/11/01 will be just another date, hard as it seems to believe right now. Eventually it will be like 12/7/41 and children will learn of it, but not fully understand and appreciate the tragedy that occurred that day. If this book is still around, I will recommend it be read by everyone who doesn't remember that day, so they can understand that lives were lost that day - lives of real people.