Bob Beckwith, the former New York City firefighter who famously stood alongside President George W. Bush atop a charred fire truck in the rubble of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, has died, according to the union representing New York firefighters and former US Rep. Peter King. He was 91.
The cause of Beckwith’s death was not immediately released. He had malignant skin cancer, along with other health problems, he told Focus on the Family last year.
Beckwith was already retired when terrorists hijacked two commercial planes and crashed them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, killing 2,753 people. Another hijacked plane crashed that day into the Pentagon, killing 184 people, while 40 passengers and crew aboard a fourth hijacked plane died when their plane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.