‘Extraordinary’ work of unsung heroes

FBI special agents, working under the motto of “Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity,” often are called on to do heroic deeds quietly and with little or no fanfare.

These unsung heroes routinely put themselves in harm’s way, making split-second decisions to save lives or complete missions.

Many of the heroic efforts of the bureau’s more than 12,500 agents go unnoticed. Take FBI Special Agent Richard B. Marx, for example.

For eight months he sat atop the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island, N.Y., working his way through nearly 2 million tons of debris, searching for the remains of those killed when al Qaeda terrorists crashed two hijacked jetliners into the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center.

Working out of a small, makeshift village known as the “City on the Hill” that he helped build, Mr. Marx was employed in a critical job: Find and identify remains of the crash victims and search for evidence to use against those responsible for the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

As site manager, Mr. Marx oversaw nearly 1,000 recovery specialists from 24 separate law-enforcement agencies who recovered more than 4,200 human remains and positively identified nearly 200 of those who perished when the buildings collapsed - men, women and children who otherwise would never have been found.

“We normally never let outsiders see a crime scene, let alone take photographs or touch anything. … We were here to find human remains. We were so focused we didn’t realize we were part of history,” Mr. Marx said of a New York Historical Society plan to document the recovery efforts.

Wearing white protective suits and respirator masks to protect themselves from the methane gas that rose from the stacked debris, they searched with rakes, shovels, sifters and, often, their hands. It was the biggest crime scene in history, a recovery site stretching over 175 acres with 17,000 tons of material processed daily.

For his devotion to the job, he earned the gratitude of the victims’ families, the respect of his peers and a nomination as the federal employee of the year.

Mr. Marx, 39, has been stoically silent about his time on the Hill, but summed up the effort in a letter to his FBI supervisors: “I come from a proud FBI family … and all I ever wanted to do was represent the bureau in a positive light.”

Twin Towers

FBI Special Agent Leonard W. Hatton was one of many who assisted in the evacuation of the Twin Towers in the immediate aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks. He was last seen helping a victim out of the North Tower and rushing back in to save more when the building suddenly collapsed.

Mr. Hatton’s 16-year FBI career included investigations into the first World Trade Center attack in 1993, the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and the attack on the USS Cole in 2000. He was an authority on al Qaeda and its founder, Osama bin Laden.

Assigned to the FBI’s New York field office, the agent was on his way to work when he saw one of the Twin Towers on fire. According to eyewitness accounts, he turned back to help. On his own initiative, he responded directly to the North Tower, where he assumed a position on the roof of the Marriott Hotel. From his vantage point, he reported that a second airliner had struck the South Tower.

Because of falling debris, he moved from the roof and joined with firefighters in evacuating the site. One survivor told investigators that Mr. Hatton guided him to safety and then went back into the building.

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