Officer Liam Callahan

PAPD

Officer Callahan's Act of Heroism

Over 400 first responders lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Heroically performing their sworn duty, these firefighters, members of the NYPD and PAPD, and numerous other rescue workers will forever be remembered for their sacrifice.

My Hero

Liam Callahan always made it out of dangerous situations. So it was fully expected that Mr. Callahan, a Port Authority police officer, would emerge from the trade center wreckage -- even if days later.

So his wife, Joan, waited. They were supposed to celebrate 20 years of marriage on Sept. 12. But his homecoming was going to be sweeter, a wedding anniversary combined with a hero's welcome at their home in Rockaway, N.J., where they were raising four children: Brian, 17; Bridget, 15; Ellen, 13; and James, 11. Officer Callahan, however, died in the line of duty.

Police work was the lifeblood of Officer Callahan, 44, a 22-year police veteran who got at least a half of a dozen citations for exemplary actions, including a group citation for "heroic efforts" during the first trade center bombing in 1993, the police said.

One of his first rescues as a rookie came on Sept. 9, 1982. A distraught 20-year-old man was threatening to jump from the roof of the Port Authority bus terminal. "Suddenly, he slid closer to the edge, and I grabbed him," Officer Callahan told The New York Post that day. "If I didn't get him then, he would have been gone."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on November 8, 2001.
Information courtesy of the Remember 9/11/2001 memorial site on legacy.com