Officer Nathaniel Webb

PAPD

Officer Webb'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

He died while responding to the terrorists attacks on the World Trade Center.

Letters

In the garden was an apple tree, and they were forbidden to eat of the fruit of that tree.

Nathaniel Webb and his cousins picked his grandfather's still-green apples anyway.

When the old man saw that the apples were missing he demanded to know who had disobeyed him. "We didn't tell the truth," said Delores Matthews, Mr. Webb's cousin. "But when he was cornered, Nathaniel always got teary-eyed and told the truth. Then we all got punished, but he never did."

From that almost biblical beginning, Mr. Webb remained on the side of authority for the rest of his life. He was a Port Authority police officer for 28 years and, said Mrs. Matthews, "he was always trying to keep everyone else on the straight and narrow."

His friends and colleagues knew Officer Webb as a righteous and generous man. He took care of his housebound mother, stopping in several times a week to spend time with her. Sometimes, when a few officers went out for drinks or dinner after work, he would pick up the tab.

Officer Sharon Feoktistov, who worked with Officer Webb at the Holland Tunnel, said that once when she was stuck in Brooklyn with a flat tire, he drove from his home in Jersey City just to sit with her and wait for the tow truck. "And the thing was," she said, "I didn't even have to ask."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 16, 2001.
Information courtesy of the Remember 9/11/2001 memorial site on legacy.com