CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Former Clarksburg FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Section Chief Tom Bush says September 11, 2001 reached a new level.
“As much evil as I have seen and as much evil as the FBI has been involved in–that was raised to a different level,” Bush said Friday at the FBI’s 9/11 remembrance service in Clarksburg. “It almost renders you speechless when I think about that day.”
Gov. Patrick Morrisey also addressed the crowd in Clarksburg Friday. He thanked the first responders, many who gave their lives at the Trade Center.
“The firefighters, the police officers, the medics and all of those who ran into collapsing buildings just to help their fellow man—think about that,” Morrisey said.
Bush was in his office in Clarksburg when he heard a plane had hit the one of the World Trade Center towers. He turned on the TV and saw the second plane hit the second tower. Bush said everything changed at that point. It wasn’t long until teams from Clarksburg office were on their way to New York City, the Pentagon and the crash site near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
“We sent teams out. We were helping the identification of people at those crash sites,” Bush remembered.
He said those teams played a key role in the weeks and months following the terror attacks.
Bush, who served as assistant director in Clarksburg from 2005-2009, said FBI CJIS changed forever on that day 25 years ago. He said pre-9/11 the operation focused a lot on helping local and state police agencies identify criminals but post-9/11 there were new duties.
“Not only do we have to keep doing what we were doing but now we have to pick-up supporting DOD (Department of Defense), we have to work with the (State Department), we have to work with Homeland Security,” he said.
Morrisey called for everyone to look out for each other, protect their communities and honor the memories of the “brave men and women who came before us.”
“Above all else, let’s never forget 9/11, let’s never forget,” Morrisey said.