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September
24,
2001
BY
ELLIN
MARTENS
Time
Magazine
CAPTAIN
PAT
BROWN,
48,
ALWAYS
SAID
THE
New
York
City
fire
department
had
saved
his
life.
He
came
home
to
Queens
from
Vietnam
in
1973
covered
with
medals
but
angry
and
choked
up
on
adrenaline,
daring
anyone
to
knock
the
chip
off
his
shoulder.
Not
good
qualities
for
most
jobs-unless
you
need
to
suit
up
every
day
against
an
adversary
like
fire.
He
made
some
spectacular
rescues,
including
a
courageous
save
as
a
lieutenant
in
1991
on
the
roof
of
a
midtown
office
building:
Brown
and
two
of
his
men
held
an
inch-thick
rope
in
their
bare
hands
and,
straining
and
skidding
toward
the
parapet,
lowered
two
fire
fighters,
one
at
a
time,
down
into
black,
billowing
smoke;
each
man
grabbed
a
panicky
victim
from
a
windowsill
perch.
The
lunchtime
crowd
below
went
wild
with
relief
Brown
eventually
became
one
of
the
most
decorated
members
in
the
history
of
the
department.
Women
were
attracted
by
the
face,
the
Cagney
voice
and
the
"hero"
who
made
the
papers-including
the
time
he
chased
down
a
mugger
in
Central
Park
during
his
workout.
But
he
was
restless.
Brown,
who
never
married,
gave
up
drinking
and
late
nights
to
read
up
on
religion,
get
a
black
belt
in
karate,
learn
yoga.
He
volunteered
as
a
self-defense
teacher
for
the
blind.
The
honors
and
citations
didn't
mean
what
they
once
did,
as
he
watched
mentors
and
protégés
die
in
fires.
Still,
he
loved
fire
fighting.
Last
Tuesday
his
company
got
the
call
to
go
to
the
World
Trade
Center.
Fire
fighter
Brandon
Gill
says
someone
yelled,
"Don't
go
in
there,
Paddy!"
but
Brown
called
back,
"Are
you
nuts?
We've
got
a
job
to
do!"
and
rushed
up
the
stairs
of
the
north
tower
with
his
men,
past
the
engine
companies
with
their
hoses,
to
look
for
trapped
office
workers.
Said
Gill:
"One
of
the
newspapers
called
him
'the
gallant
Captain
Pat
Brown.'
That’s
exactly
what
he
was."
-By
Ellin
Martens
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