Episode 2: Tommy

Episode DescriptorThe most haunting 9/11 stories are not the ones everyone already knows. They are the small, human moments that reveal what courage, grief, and duty actually look like in real time.Philip and Tim revisit one of those moments from the first 15 minutes at Ground Zero, where a young firefighter named Tommy becomes the lens for understanding the burden carried by so many that night.Tim shares how the smell of smoke at St. Paul’s Chapel reopened a childhood memory of a house fire in Quito, Ecuador, and why that sensory flashback shaped the way he responded to trauma at Ground Zero. From there, the conversation opens into the deeper questions behind his work: what it means to stand with the dying and the living, how first responders carry the weight of other people’s losses, and why the real challenge begins after the immediate crisis is over.You’ll hear how Tim reads people in moments of shock, why Tommy’s anger was never the point, and what it means to help someone prepare for the decades of questions that come after tragedy. Philip and Tim also connect the story to the larger moral aftermath of 9/11, the meaning of service, and the stories that still need to be told if we want to understand what that day did to a generation.In this episode we explore:the first encounter with Tommy and why it matteredhow trauma hides behind anger, duty, and adrenalinewhy fire, smell, and memory are inseparable in crisiswhat clergy and first responders share in moments of disasterhow 9/11 changed the way a generation thinks about war, service, and survivalShow NotesPhilip’s perspective as a friend and storyteller keeps the conversation personal, while Tim brings the lived experience of a pastor, trauma responder, and witness to one of history’s most devastating mornings. The result is an intimate, sobering, and deeply human account of how people keep going after the unthinkable.Essential listening if you want more than the headlines - if you want the untold history, the emotional truth, and a story about finding purpose in the shadow of catastrophe.Grace At Ground ZeroHosted by The Reverend Timothy Dobbins with Philip Patrick.A Jonsan Media Production.Websites⁠Grace At Ground Zero Website⁠⁠Jonsan Media Website⁠CreditsPodcast Producer: John McBlainCreative Director: Barbara BrunsClinical Advisor: Anne Freund, Ph.D.Website Production: Matthew DobbinsClip Photographer: Antonio LittlesMusic: Air des Musettes by Andre Campra.Recorded by Barbara Bruns and Thompson Brass Ensemble.Copyright © 2014 Barbara Bruns and Philip Swanson.All photos Copyright © 2026 Timothy DobbinsExcept "A Priest at Ground Zero" and "Churchyard" by Harald Franzen Copyright © 2026 Harald Franzen. Reproduced with permission.Thank you: Molly Coffin, Allison Miller Dobbins, Bill Bruns, Dan Dobbins, John Dobbins.The Grace at Ground Zero Podcast is produced by Timothy Dobbins and Philip Patrick. Copyright © 2026 by Timothy Dobbins and Philip Patrick. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this audio is strictly prohibited.