Brenda Berkman

As we all know, on September 11, 2001, America was under attack when 19 terrorists from Al-Qaeda hijacked four of our commercial airplanes intending to hit the World Trade Center's twin towers. With the terrorists following orders from Osama bin Laden, they went on a suicidal attack, killing themselves along with 92 passengers and around 2,996 firefighters and civilians in and outside of the Twin Towers. And now, in 2023, many people who initially died in the attack have recently passed due to toxic debris intake years later.

       Today, countless memorials for the victims who died in the attack allow all the heroes to be remembered even decades after the event. But in reality, this isn't the case. As in many other important historical events, women are cut out of the memory and erased by time.

        There is still a large group of women who aided in 9/11 who society, the media, and history has left out. If you look at any 9/11 memorial website, establishment, or movie and read the names of the firefighters who went to help during the attack, all of the names headlining the media are men. There is a dramatically low number of books, shows, interviews, and articles about 9/11 that showcase a woman's perspective although nearly a quarter of the firefighters were women. The articles written to tell the story of women who risked their lives to help the attack are lost and buried in the media.

       One inspiring woman who spent weeks after the attack looking for survivors is Brenda Berkman. Brenda was born in 1951 and was 50 years old in 2001. By the time she retired in 2006, she had become one of the highest-ranking women in the FDNY over her 25-year career. On September 11, Berkman operated as a fire officer, remaining at Ground Zero until the end of rescue and recovery efforts in May 2002. The morning of September 11, 2001, when Brenda went in to help people during the attack, she had 20 years of experience and had already made many improvements in accepting female firefighters. She paved the way for women to join the FDNY – winning a federal discrimination lawsuit against the City of New York that made it possible for women to become New York City firefighters for the first time in history. Brenda went into the flaming Twin Towers with a small group of her fellow firefighters with the mission to save as many people as she could, despite knowing that she could possibly die. To Brenda, her sacrifice would be worth it if she could help save even a few people from this attack. Brenda received many awards throughout her career, including the Susan B. Anthony and Women of Courage awards. She was also the first firefighter to be a White House Fellow. She retired in 2006 with the rank of Captain. To this day, she remains an outspoken advocate for gender equality.