WTC survivor cop recounts hero's tale at film screening in Tokyo

Tokyo - Former police officer Will Jimeno wanted a Japanese audience to feel faith, hope and love when they walked out from a Thursday screening of World Trade Center, in which he is portrayed as a hero who survived the September 11, 2001 attack in New York City. 9/11World Trade Center survivor Will Jimeno talks to the press following a special premier showing of Oliver Stone's new film 'World Trade Center' in Tokyo, Thursday 10 August 2006. Stone's film was based on the real life events of former policeman Jimeno and his police colleague John McLoughlin who also surved 9/11. EPA/ANDY RAIN

9/11World Trade Center survivor Will Jimeno talks to the press following a special premier showing of Oliver Stone's new film 'World Trade Center' in Tokyo, Thursday 10 August 2006. Stone's film was based on the real life events of former policeman Jimeno and his police colleague John McLoughlin who also surved 9/11. EPA/ANDY RAIN'Walk home feeling faith, hope and love, and hug your family when you get home because you might just be gone tomorrow,' Jimeno said in Tokyo Thursday to promote the film directed by Oliver Stone. World Trade Center opened in the US Thursday, but won't premiere in Japan until October. The movie focusses on Port Authority police officers Jimeno, portrayed by actor Michael Pena and his boss John McLoughlin, played by Nicholas Cage, who were in the lobby of the south tower when it collapsed and were among the last survivors rescued alive from the rubble. Jimeno said that their experience of spending 22 hours buried and talking to each other to stay alive was used as a vehicle to tell what many other rescue workers and families went through during the attack. Jimeno, who volunteered to go into the Twin Towers to rescue people, said he was doing what he was supposed to do and asked to do as a police officer. 'Courage comes from having fear in doing something that's necessary,'said Jimeno. 'If people say they didn't feel fear, they'd be lying.' 'In the United States at least, to protect and to serve is to be a police officer,' the survivor said. He felt helpless when he saw people jumping from the buildings. 'Seeing hundreds die, you have to do something,' Jimeno said. Jimeno said the release of the movie before the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attack is 'appropriate and respectful.' 'I think it allowed time for healing,' Jimeno said, Jimeno, who served as a consultant to the film, said he felt the depiction was 95 per cent accurate. The set, he said, was reproduced in such detail that sometimes he thought 'it' was happening again when he heard the mock explosion. The now-retired Jimeno, as well as 30 other New York police officers, firefighters and port authority police, were extras in the movie, and for many it was an emotional experience to 'relive' the tragedy. Jimeno, whose leg is still affected by injuries sustained when the building collapsed, said he has made peace with what happened to him and has grown accustomed to the new view of the New York City skyline. What he cannot get used to is not being a police officer. 'If you took my heart out right now, it'll probably say 'Cop' tattooed on it,' Jimeno joked. Jimeno encouraged the Japanese audience to do the right thing because that's what he has always tried to do, even without the badge. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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BillAug 10th, 2006 - 13:57:22

I thought the film was morbid and sick and relives one of the worst days of American history. What little part there was at the end about 'hope' and 'heros' was by that point rendered cheezy by the heavy sobs and crying I already heard in the theatre from the horror of the reality of the situation. No one is ever ready to relive the worst day of their life. Do see this film if you feel like committing suicide...it will put you 'in the mood'.

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above posterAug 10th, 2006 - 16:15:35

The above poster who put the reply, spews nothing more then meaningless drivel and opinionated rant.

nuff said

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Just an American...Aug 10th, 2006 - 21:29:42

Focus on the words spoken by Jimeno. He's the one speaking the truth here. My heart and gratitude go out for humans just like him... Bravo Jimeno! - Al (Berkeley, CA)

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heyAug 12th, 2006 - 07:34:11

The movie looked at the real struggle and the good in Americans that happened at that time. It was not like Titanic which took a tragedy solely to entertain you by showing you top notch special effects of people dying. I'm like many of you when it comes to movies about such horrific disasters that really happened in the sense that I feel they should never be made, but with all the hate that rose from the ashes of 9-11, I'm proud of a movie that can make us remember a time when we reached out to one another and helped regardless of color,race, or religion. Bravo WTC.

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LynneOct 10th, 2006 - 06:10:43

Ignore the comments made by the miserable-at-heart BILL. He has no sense of what is right and good and healing. It is good for us to see what those poor people went through. It is respecting what those who both died and survived went through. What Bill said is very disrespectful and ignorant. He just wants to bury his head in the sand and ignore reality. Good luck Bill..moron!

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shazzMar 9th, 2008 - 17:55:23

Dear all,
The poor guy,Bill..he was probably born with no heart.
True,nobody really likes to relive the worst horror in modern
humankind.The movie and everything that memorialises the collapse
of the World Trade Centre serves to remind us, indeed just
'what evil human beings are capable of.'
I live in Malaysia,thousands of miles away from NYC but my heart went
out to people who lost their loved ones at the WTC 9-11 collapse.
That day, i wept for them.,i felt an acute, desperate ache.A crazy rage consumed me.I realised that something in me died.
My sense of worth,my dignity as a human being- died that day.I was so ashamed to be a member of this species.
...How did we come to this!!?
No, Bill,i didnt get suicidal watching the movie.Instead,I felt uplifted to see the comraderie,the human bond,the resilience of these survivors.
I am so sorry you didnt see that,Bill.
The movie commemorates a great gash in human history and even as itr heals,the movie becomes something of a scar..to remind us that it DID happen and we do not want history to repeat itself.
so,Thank you Mr.Oliver Stone.

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