HSI Special Agent shares September 11 memories

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent James (Jamie) Deboer will never forget that Tuesday morning when his phone rang.

On the other end of the line was his mother, calling from his native Brooklyn, New York, telling him to turn on the television as soon as he could. What he saw was the aftermath of American Airlines Flight 11 having just flown into the north tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan.

America was under attack.

"I remember that phone call vividly," Deboer recalls.

Deboer was working as a U.S. Customs agent at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Sept. 11, 2001. As soon as it was clear that an organized attack was underway, Deboer had to report to work to help secure the airport as there remained an uncertainty of what landmarks were at risk.

Once the Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights over or bound for the United States, Deboer's mission at the moment was at a standstill. His thoughts quickly returned to the terror that was taking place in his hometown. Two of his brothers were New York Police Department officers. Friends he knew from his old neighborhood in Belle Harbor worked in the towers. Colleagues he's befriended over the years were some of the first responders at Ground Zero. 

"I was really angry watching it unfold on TV," Deboer said. "I kept getting calls from my mother who was giving me updates. I knew a few people who worked for [financial services firm] Cantor Fitzgerald, so once I found out what floors were impacted, I knew we'd lost them."

Over the next couple of days, Deboer would eventually hear from his two brothers and other friends. Some friends he never heard from again. As a result, Deboer had to go to what he describes as "many memorials and funerals."

When the announcement went out for volunteers to help out at Ground Zero, he jumped at the chance to return home to help. For the next two months, Deboer helped in the recovery efforts and clean up. He spent one month at Ground Zero and one in Staten Island, looking for evidence and searching for human remains.

"The television coverage didn't do it justice," Deboer said. "It was just an eerie feeling when I first came up out of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. And the smell…I'll never forget that."

Fourteen years later, Deboer still vividly remembers that day. Over the years, he has made a point to attend annual memorial ceremonies, however he prefers not to dwell on the sad memories too often. Having been back in New York at the SAC office for the past 12 years, Deboer passes Ground Zero daily.

That commute and the work he does daily for ICE is a constant reminder of his duty to help protect the homeland and ensure a day like 9/11 never happens again.