9/11 museum's placement of remains troubles FDNY firefighter who lost brother-in-law

FDNY Lt. James McCaffrey spent the initial hours and days after the 9/11 attacks digging through the pile, searching for life.

On his days off he raked through the rubble -- finding hundreds of wallets, shoes and family photos that had been on the desks of those who were killed. He also found body parts and bunker gear that belonged to fellow firefighters who perished that day.

These personal belongings would be cherished by grieving loved ones. Today they are artifacts -- several thousand on display inside the National September 11 Memorial Museum -- a place McCaffrey says he will never set foot in.

Working on the pile "was horrible and hard -- but an honor," McCaffrey, of Yonkers, said. He continued working throughout the nine months of the 24-hour, seven-day-a-week collaboration of first responders, construction workers and volunteers who performed recovery and cleanup efforts at Ground Zero.

The remains of McCaffrey's brother-in-law, FDNY Battalion Chief Orio Palmer of Valley Stream, were never found. "Nothing," he said.

Palmer's emergency radio dispatches from the 78th floor of the south tower during his rescue effort have been preserved. They are among hundreds of voices recounting the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center that can be heard in museum exhibits.

"Orio's dispatches are famous," McCaffrey said. "You hear him call for help, reporting what he saw and where to lay down hose lines. He was a professional . . . they went into the Twin Towers knowing, especially the experienced ones, that they would never come back.

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"They unselfishly did their jobs despite the carnage that was swirling all around them," McCaffery said.

This act of bravery and commitment sustains McCaffrey as he speaks out against the city and the museum for placing unidentified human remains behind a memorial wall with a quote from Virgil: "No day shall erase you from the memory of time."

Placing the remains at the bottom of the museum is "almost as if they want to forget," McCaffrey said. "These remains are essential. They should be on the memorial plaza above ground entombed with an eternal flame. A place of reverence," McCaffrey said.

"This is a David and Goliath fight with the city, the museum and [former Mayor Michael] Bloomberg, who try to marginalize us," McCaffrey said. "It is a constant struggle but I'm proud to stand with the Davids because we're speaking for the people who cannot speak for themselves."

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Museum officials have argued that the families they interviewed supported placing the human remains inside the museum. However, opponents maintain they were never consulted.