Our Presidents

“To me, George Howard’s Port Authority police badge #1012, with its bent metal and scarred plating, symbolizes the United States of America as a nation battered but not broken.”

This post is part of a series on September 11. The George W. Bush Library holds many documents related to the events of September 11. In this series, our staff share some of their memories of the day and their thoughts on the records that are part of their holdings.

Tuesday, September 11, 2001, dawned bright and beautiful in Vicksburg, Mississippi. I started the day with a visit to my friend Neil Brun’s coffee shop, across the street from the museum where I worked. Neil had a new big screen TV. When I walked into Neil’s place, the first tower was already burning. A moment later, the second plane hit. Next, the Pentagon was on fire.

I watched CNN until it was time to open the museum. I got updates throughout the day from people as they came into the museum; first about the towers collapsing, then about Shanksville. I do not remember any of the folks I met that day being scared or sad. I remember anger.

I remember being angry myself. I do not remember dwelling on what had happened as much as I wondered what was going to be done about it. I remember the expressions on the faces of the FDNY guys as they carried their gear toward the towers; but what I saw was indifference to fear.

On September 20, 2001, President Bush addressed a Joint Session of Congress. He talked about our grief turning to anger and anger to resolution; he said that justice would be done. He told the Taliban to hand over the terrorists or share their fate; and he told the world, “either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.”

Toward the end of his speech, the president held up a battered silver badge and said, “I will carry this. It is the police shield of a man named George Howard who died at the World Trade Center trying to save others. It was given to me by his mom, Arlene, as a proud memorial to her son. It is my reminder of lives that ended and a task that does not end.”

Today, 10 years later, I work as a National Archives museum technician at the George W. Bush Presidential Library, where I work with thousands of historically significant records, including 9/11 artifacts. The Ground Zero bullhorn is certainly special, but for me, the Howard badge is number one.

For me, George Howard’s Port Authority police badge #1012, with its bent metal and scarred plating, symbolizes the United States of America as a nation battered but not broken. It is a poignant physical reminder of the heroism and sacrifice of so many individual Americans on that September day and the days that followed.

Dan Richardson is a museum technician at the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

The George W. Bush Presidential Library will be located in Dallas, TX, on the campus of Southern Methodist University. The permanent facility is expected to open in Spring 2013.

George W. Bush Presidential Records are not yet available to the public under the requirements of the Presidential Records Act. The records will become available toFreedom of Information Act requests on January 20, 2014. The images contained in this series were previously released.