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National

HERO GONE: 9/11 Firefighter from Iconic Ground Zero Photo Passes Away

posted by Hannity Staff - 2.05.24

According to a New York Post report, Bob Beckwith, the retired firefighter who stood next to President George W. Bush in a now-iconic ground zero photo shortly after 9/11, has passed away; he was 91.

From The New York Post:

Former Long Island Rep. Peter King (R-NY) announced Beckwith’s passing on Facebook Monday, hailing the veteran first responder as “an American icon who personified the best of the FDNY, New York and America at our most perilous moment.”

“I was proud to call Bob my friend and extend my prayers and deepest sympathy to his wife Barbara and all his family members,” King, 66, added. “Bob Beckwith R.I.P.”

There was no immediate word on Beckwith’s cause of death. He is survived by his wife, their six children and grandchildren.

Beckwith, from Baldwin, New York, was 69 years old and retired for seven years after serving with the FDNY for three decades when on Sept. 14, 2001, he raced to Ground Zero to help with the search and rescue efforts — and inadvertently became a part of history, with his photo splashed across newspapers and television screens across the world, even making it onto the cover of Time magazine.

Beckwith once told the story of how he was approached by Bush aide Karl Rover prior to the iconic photo.

“Somebody is coming here. What you do, you help them up, and then you get down,” Rove instructed Beckwith.

A few minutes later, the firefighter saw Bush walking toward him and raising his arm.

“I said, ‘Oh my God.’ I pulled him up on the rig, I turned him around. I said, ‘Are you OK, Mr. President?’ He said, ‘Yeah,’” Beckwith recounted to NBC New York in 2023. “So, I start to get down and he said, ‘Where you going?’ I said, ‘I was told to get down.’ He said, ‘Oh no, you stay right here.’ And he put his arm around me.”