Mike Colón Media

In Episode 427 of Mic’d In New Haven — The Best of The Bravest: Interviews with The FDNY’s Elite (Volume 89) — retired FDNY Captain Paul Brown shares the heartbreaking story of a rescue effort that unfolded between the collapses of the Twin Towers on September 11th, 2001.

Following the collapse of the South Tower, Battalion Chiefs Joseph Marchbanks and Fred Scheffold, along with Lieutenant Robert Nagle of Engine 58, were trapped inside the wreckage of the Marriott World Trade Center.

Among those sent in to reach them was Brown’s brother, then-Lieutenant Ray Brown of Ladder 113. Firefighters tunneled through the debris and came agonizingly close — close enough to communicate with the trapped men and even pass them a bottle of water.

And amid that desperate effort came another extraordinary act of selflessness: Nagle reportedly told his rescuers to get the chiefs first.

They kept digging.

But time ran out. Before they could free the three men, the North Tower collapsed.

Brown’s recollection is a haunting reminder of just how many acts of courage and sacrifice took place in those brief hours — including rescues that came heartbreakingly close to succeeding.

Battalion Chief Joseph Marchbanks. Battalion Chief Fred Scheffold. Lieutenant Robert Nagle. Never forgotten.

VIEW INTERVIEW HERE: