Repost from Sept. 11, 2011...

Joeseph Angelini, Sr., 63, Firefighter, FDNY Rescue Co. 1 and son Joseph Angelini, Jr., 38, Firefighter, FDNY Ladder Co. 4 died at the World Trade Center working to rescue people trapped in the towers on Sept. 11, 2001. The Fire Department of New York City lost 343 members that day.

Here are some audio recordings of heroic firefighters at work. The calm among the chaos is surreal.

• Manhattan Fire Dispatch gets the first alarm.

• Dispatch receives report that a second plane has struck.

• Dispatch responds to first tower collapse.

• A civilian takes refuge in a fire truck and calls for help.

• Dispatch responds to second tower collapse.

• Captain Al Fuentes, FDNY Marine Division Battalion Chief, was crushed by a falling steel girder while helping rescue firefighters from the collapsed North Tower. He survived, but suffered serious injuries and was in a coma for weeks. Here is his call for help. Note that the dispatcher is unable to raise several command units to assist.

• Captain Orio Palmer, Battalion 7 Chief, age 45, was one of the last FDNY heroes heard from at the WTC. On learning that the operating elevators only went to the 40th floor, he is heard in one transmission saying "We'll have to hoof it." He was leading a team up the stairs, reporting back to command what he saw. He had made it to the 78th floor alone when the South Tower collapsed. Recordings of firefighter mobile radios from a Port Authority radio repeater were found in the rubble. Here are some of Captain Palmer's final transmissions.

On the 10th 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, we pay tribute to the first responders who gave their lives and salute first responders everywhere who risk their own lives to save others.