Women Heroes of 9/11

Of the 2,753 people who died one decade ago this September 11th, nearly 950 were women. “Watching the coverage, you might not know that women had any role as first line responders,” CNN’s Soledad O’Brien told PINK after interviewing women for her Beyond Bravery: The Women of 9/11 special airing this week.

Female rescuers want to set the record straight. “Women played a role in every job at ground zero. That they had to sue for the right to have a career that is so dangerous you can lose your life is remarkable,” says O’Brien.

Capt. Brenda Berkman of the New York City Fire Department knew 250 of the 342 firefighters who died that day. She was among the first 42 female firefighters hired in NYC after winning a gender discrimination lawsuit. Since retiring in

2006, Berkman now gives tours of the 9/11 Tribute Center. “I’d like to feel that history is going to be remembered accurately,” she says.

Firefighter Regina Wilson says, “It felt like a warzone.” Today, fewer than 5 percent of U.S. firefighters are female. “People want to say we’re part of the brotherhood: we’re not. We’re sisters, we’re women,” she tells CNN.

NYPD Deputy Inspector Terri Tobin was beneath the twin towers on 9/11, sustaining serious injuries to her head and upper body. “All you heard was people screaming,” she says. “I grabbed someone’s hand and said ‘I’m with the NYPD, I’m not going to let go.’” Women currently make up 17 percent of the national police force. Tobin’s department lost 23 officers that day, and nearly 100 retired later due to PTSD. “I don’t think there was any task performed down there that was not performed by women,” Tobin adds.

CNN profiles these and other women heroes in Beyond Bravery: The Women of 9/11, hosted by Soledad O’Brien and airing Sept. 11 at 9 p.m. ET.

Bonus PINK Link: These women showed heroic courage on 9/11. Here’s how to find your own courage.

By Caroline Cox

“I shall not die of a cold.  I shall die of having lived.” Willa Cather