Franklin native donates his dust-covered, 9/11 shoes from Ground Zero to hometown

FRANKLIN, Mass. — Franklin native Paul Faenza will never forget the two weeks he was assigned to Ground Zero.

Faenza is a retired New York City Police sergeant now living in Vermont.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Sgt. Faenza headed up the Manhattan South Narcotics Squad for NYPD.

He and his team arrived on scene at Ground Zero soon after both World Trade Center Towers collapsed and spent the next two weeks digging through rubble, providing security, and protecting the dead.

Recently, Faenza located the shoes he wore at Ground Zero. They were wrapped in plastic, stored in a shoe box in his home. When he opened the box, he saw the shoes were still covered in Ground Zero dust.

On Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021, Faenza will officially present those shoes to the Town of Franklin at a special event at the Franklin Historical Museum.

“I wanted people to remember what happened on 9/11. And know that there was a local connection to it,” Paul told me in a Zoom interview. “We can’t forget the people we lost that day. We can’t forget the people we lost since then.”

Paul and I are lifelong friends; we grew up across the street from each other in Franklin. After attending Northeastern University, Paul made his way to New York City where he fulfilled his dream to serve as a police officer.

As fate would have it, on Sept. 11, there was a last-minute schedule change and Paul and his squad began the shift at 11 a.m., rather than their typical 8 a.m. start.

“If I had been working, our office was in downtown Manhattan, I’m sure we would have responded immediately,” Paul remembered.

When the planes hit the World Trade Cener, Paul was home playing with his twin daughters, Mary and Alice.

And then, it all changed.

“There’s no way a plane like that would (make a) mistake hitting a tower,” Paul said. “I packed my clothes, said ‘Goodbye’ and jumped into the car and headed south into the city.”

On the drive to work, Paul could see smoke rising from Ground Zero.

“We got to the temporary headquarters and they said, ‘Listen there’s 500 police officers and firefighters missing,’” he recalled.

“I remember the dust and debris in the street was almost as high as my knee. It was like (I was) walking through snow,” Paul said.

Little could prepare Paul and the squad for what they saw next.

“We came around the corner and Ground Zero was right in front of us. And, I hate to describe it this way, but it really looked like a fire in a junk yard,” Paul said. “These raging fires, everywhere you looked. Fire hoses that just disappeared under debris. It was just unbelievable. I never expected to see something like that.”

Paul took photos of Ground Zero with a disposable camera. The images capture the horror all around him.

The twentieth anniversary of 9/11 is stirring the memories of many Americans.

But for Paul Faenza, 9/11 is not a distant memory.

“It isn’t like something that happened 20 years ago, and we’re just remembering it now,” Paul told me. “It’s in our lives every day. Since 9/11, I’ve lost a dozen friends to 9/11 illnesses. We can’t forget them.”

Paul Faenza will speak to the Franklin Historical Museum on Sunday, Sept. 12 at 1 p.m.

For more information, visit the museum’s website.

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