Peter Bitwinski (Surviving Both Attacks on the World Trade Center) - Episode 1005

Behind The Shield

James Geering

Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Fitness

4.9 • 667 Ratings

🗓️ 14 November 2024

⏱️ 110 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Peter Bitwinski spent a full career working for the New York Port Authority. He was present during the 1993 bombing and carried a disabled coworker from the 69th floor on 9/11. We discuss his journey into accounting, what it was like to work in the North Tower, the safety changes after the first attack, the heroism of New York's first responders and civilians, continuing their legacy through storytelling, 9/11 cancer and so much more.

"After first working in Pharmacy and in Temporary Accounting positions, I began my 42-year accounting career working for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. My first 23 ½ years were spent working at One World Trade Center 69th Floor in New York. I survived both the 2/26/93 terrorist bombing and the 9/11/01 terrorist plane attacks. Thereafter, I worked at Port Authority offices at Journal Square and Montgomery Street in Jersey City, New Jersey. My accounting specialty was Accounts Payable. I reside in Bayonne, New Jersey. My interests are British Rock’n’roll and ice hockey. If I have cared for and given more to others in my lifetime than to myself, I will have fulfilled my life’s mission."

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is sponsored by Beaver Fit. And as always, this is another company that I have not only been aware of for several years, but I also completely trust and I know is a great fit for this audience.
0:11.1	Having not only been a firefighter my career, but also a strengthening coach, I've seen the challenges that we have getting the tactical athlete fit when it comes to budgets, when it comes to space.
0:22.3	And Beaver Fit has solutions for so many of our challenges.
0:26.2	When it comes to space, they have the gym box, for example, which is literally the size of a
0:30.5	foot locker that when you open it up and build it becomes a squat rack, a pull-up bar,
0:35.9	a box, and even a warball target. So you can get a full
0:39.5	workout for a crew purely on that one box. Expanding out, they have storage containers that
0:45.3	become entire gyms. You store everything in the inside, and you can then deploy racks and pull-up
0:50.2	bars on the outside. They have gyms on trailers you can take from station to station.
0:55.6	They have tactical boxes with breaching props and collapse props. And then on the flip side,
1:01.0	the durability is another issue that we see. So often departments by the low bid, the cheapest they
1:07.0	can find. And ultimately, that hard-earned wellness budget gets wasted in equipment
1:11.6	that rusts and falls apart. Beaver fits gear is designed to be used in the most extreme
1:17.0	environments, whether it's the deserts of the Middle East or simply on the deck of a naval ship,
1:22.4	so they are designed to not only be outside but to be beaten up by some of the most elite
1:27.4	operators on the planet.
1:29.0	If you want to hear more about this company, and I'm sure you do, listen to episode 477 with
1:34.8	the original founder Tom Beaver from the UK, or the founders of BeaverFit USA, Alex
1:40.9	Roodhouse and Mike Taylor on episode 457 or visit BeaverFit USA and click on the military and tactical tab.
1:51.5	Welcome to the Behind the Shield podcast. As always my name is James Gearing and this week is my absolute
1:56.2	honor to welcome on the show former Port Authority accountant and survivor of the 9-11 attacks,
2:04.0	Peter Bitwinsky.
	...

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