SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Dozens of people from San Diego answered the call the help when 9/11 changed the course of history.
"We were anxiously ready to go—locked and ready,“ Doug Nakama said.
Doug Nakama was at Ground Zero after the attacks.
At the time, he traded in his duties at the San Diego Fire Department to work on a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue team.
"Our main focus was to identify an area that needed to be searched for hopefully live victims if possible," Nakama said.
He said he worked night and day for nearly two weeks recovering people’s bodies and providing families peace.
Nakama said returning from his recovery work came with mixed emotions.
"While you were there working in a pile, you were just very focused on what you were doing," he said. "But when you came back, you just really understood the enormity and gravity of the situation.”
If you ask Nakama if he thinks he’s a hero, he’ll say "absolutely not."
"I think anyone who is in the fire service would trade places with me in a heartbeat,” said Nakama.
