BUCKWHEAT
REMEMBERING 9/11 - MY FIRST COUSIN
Sunday, September 12, 2021, 11:04

Robert B. Nagel Lieutenant Fire Department City of New York New York Age: 55 Year of Death: 2001 Robert B. NAGEL 55‚ lieutenant‚ FDNY‚ Engine 58. Nagel‚ an Army veteran who served in Vietnam‚ spent 28 years with the FDNY. He grew up in Richmond Hill‚ Queens‚ and attended Archbishop Molloy High School. He earned his undergraduate degree at St. John’s University. Nagel‚ who lived in Manhattan‚ was a history buff who enjoyed reading science fiction in his spare time. He is survived by his wife and daughter.

Nagel survived the collapse of the South Tower as did the seven other members of E58. But Nagel was trapped under and behind a wall of debris in the Tall Ships bar on the ground floor of the Marriott hotel on the SW corner of the South Tower. Although he was out of sight, they were talking to him and managed to pass him water through the debris which consisted of aluminum studs and BMX cable. He asked where the men were and were they all safe. He “seemed annoyed that he was stuck and couldn’t do anything.” They got a Sawzall to cut through the debris to rescue him. They had tied off a rope to a column and passed it through to Nagel. Then they heard another rumble. It was the North Tower coming down. After several minutes, when it was over, they “found the rope ended at the wall of debris…. it just ended… We followed the rope from the pillar to where it was originally placed. Now there was another 20-30 feet of debris” between them and where Nagel had been.
The men of Engine 58 worked until 9pm and began again at that spot the next morning. “Finally one day we were digging and removed all the debris and hit the floor. The floor just ended. The concrete was cracked off. Nagel was gone. He could have been 10 levels down. That was a bad day. We never found him.”