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Trade Center custodian shares story
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Also by Carl Jaeger:
- 'Out of the box' ideas on AIDS research (May 6, 2009)
- Bus fare increase proposal shot down (December 10, 2008)
- Voice of the students (December 4, 2008)
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Sharing his story of bravery and courage, a former World Trade Center janitor spoke on the University of Wisconsin campus Saturday about how he came to be known as the "9/11 Key Master."
William Rodriguez, the last person out of the North Tower of the World Trade Center who has since been honored by the White House, spoke of his experiences on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, and his belief that explosives were detonated in the basement of the building, where he was that morning.
At 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, Rodriguez, who was two levels below ground, said he felt a large explosion that "pushed him upward into the air" seven seconds before the plane hit the building.
Once Rodriguez knew what was happening, he said his intuition was to save his friends who worked at the restaurant atop the North Tower — friends that provided him with a complementary breakfast daily, he said.
"If it was up to me, I would have gone up past the fire to help my friends," Rodriguez said. "Even though I saved hundreds of people, the people I wanted to help from the very beginning — my friends — I didn't save a single one."
As a member of the maintenance staff, Rodriguez was one of five people who had a master key to open any door in either tower.
Rodriguez said he led firefighters up the stairs to the 39th floor, unlocking doors that resulted in saved lives.
After helping a man in a wheelchair escape from the building, Rodriguez said he dove underneath a fire truck moments before the buildings fell and was rescued four-and-a-half hours later.
Rodriguez said that, through his presentation, he hoped people received a deeper understanding of the Sept. 11 attacks.
In addition, Rodriguez said he wants people "to understand the catastrophic event that 9/11 was, to feel the despair, to feel the pain and, at the same time, the hope that we can actually make a change by reopening the investigation and getting the answers that we need."
Rodriguez's visit to campus came after a March 20 visit by another 9/11 survivor, Earl Johnson, who spoke out against former UW lecturer Kevin Barrett, who supports theories that the U.S. government was responsible for the attacks.
"[UW] had an event where they brought a survivor prior to my visit that basically attacked Kevin Barrett, who has been asking hard questions about what happened on 9/11," Rodriguez said. "As a leader for the victims in New York, I wanted to set the record straight."
Barrett, who introduced Rodriguez, said Rodriguez is well known throughout the world, the United Kingdom, Malaysia and Venezuela.
"This guy is the No. 1 9/11 hero in the world," Barrett said. "But he's been blacked out [in the United States], and the reason is that he testified honestly about the explosives that destroyed the World Trade Center that he witnessed."
Barrett added Rodriguez's legacy would remain in history for many years to come.
"I think William Rodriguez is our premier national hero, and he will be remembered centuries from now," Barrett said.
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William Rodriguez and Kevin Barrett are both heroes.
The University of Wisconsin should be proud to be one of few institutions that has dared to allow the truth about 9/11 to be spoken without attacking the messengers.
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This story deserves attention. Think about it carefully.
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Awesome, glad to see this horrid, white-collar, racist, corporate crime finally starting to get exposed.
Wake up America, 9/11 was an inside job!
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Wake up, sheeple! Defend the Republic and our Constitution from the neo-cons who are destroying it.
Kudos to Barrett and Rodriguez for speaking out!
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it’s about time someone came to speak the TRUTH about what happened at the Towers, as opposed to Earl Johnson’s faux-patriotic drivel.
9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB! WAKE UP PEOPLE!
Look at what’s happening with Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch right now — it’s the EXACT same thing — a LIE used to justify MORE lies!
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Based on what evidence? Osama Bin Laden claimed responsibility for 9/11. Unless Kevin Barrett produces evidence as strong as Bin Laden’s confession, Barrett should shut up.
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This is insane. William Rodriguez capitalizes on September 11th and earns money from the deaths of thousands. He isn’t a hero, isn’t the last person out of the tower.
Anyone with brains and who bothers to read the evidence can easily see that conspiracy theories are utter nonsense propagated by people with too much time on their hands.
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Right on. Neither Kevin Barrett nor David Lee Griffin have produced a witness or documentation that supports their theory. I have watched both of them lecture on this several times. They just weave together a story with virtually no evidence at all. It’s nuts. It’s the worst kind of academic garbage out there. When confronted with this lack of evidence, they simply attack the person or persons questioning them. Both the Wisconsin legislature and Governor Doyle have told UW to fire Barrett. I agree: no more funding of these frauds with public money.
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“Based on what evidence? Osama Bin Laden claimed responsibility for 9/11. Unless Kevin Barrett produces evidence as strong as Bin Laden’s confession, Barrett should shut up.”
this is an example of the incredible ignorance we are fighting here.
gee, that’s strange, doesn’t this somehow competely ignore that bin laden also completely DENIED his role in the attacks on numerous occasions?
AND, didn’t khalid el sheikh mohammed just recently admit that he ‘masterminded’ the entire attacks, with the blessing of the CIA? to most intelligent, thinking people, that would call into question the ENTIRE ‘bin laden did it’ theory. obviously not for some people here, though.
those who deny these, and many other, fundamental realities are inevitably the ones who know the very least about the most basic of facts.
google and watch ‘loose change.’ it is time to wake up.