Then-President George W. Bush is proven with New York City firefighter Bob Beckwith on a burnt hearth truck in entrance of the World Trade Center throughout a tour of the devastation, Sept. 13, 2001.

Doug Mills/AP

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Doug Mills/AP

Then-President George W. Bush is proven with New York City firefighter Bob Beckwith on a burnt hearth truck in entrance of the World Trade Center throughout a tour of the devastation, Sept. 13, 2001.

Doug Mills/AP

NEW YORK — Bob Beckwith, a retired firefighter whose probability encounter with the president amid the rubble of floor zero grew to become a part of an iconic picture of American unity after the Sept. 11 terrorist assaults, has died. He was 91.

Beckwith died Sunday evening in hospice care after coping with most cancers in recent times, his spouse, Barbara Beckwith, mentioned Monday.

Wearing his outdated firefighter helmet from Ladder Company 164 in Queens, the Long Island resident stood with President George W. Bush as he delivered a rousing speech to weary responders three days after hijackers crashed airplanes into the dual towers of the outdated World Trade Center, killing 2,753 folks.

“He was just lucky. He was at the right place, at the right time, and that’s why he’s famous,” Barbara Beckwith mentioned Monday by cellphone from the couple’s house in Baldwin, a suburb about 30 miles from Manhattan. “But he was a regular guy. Well-liked and quiet. Just a regular Joe.”

Beckwith was 69 years outdated and retired for seven years following a 30-year profession when he rushed to assist with search-and-rescue efforts as scores of different present and former first responders did within the hours and days after the assaults.

Beckwith mentioned he was merely on the lookout for vantage level to see the president as he surveyed the destruction. But Bush made an surprising detour and hopped aboard the crushed Engine Co. 76 truck the place he was standing, Beckwith recalled to the AP on the tenth anniversary of the assaults in 2011.

Barbara Beckwith mentioned her husband helped the president rise up on the hearth truck and was about to let himself down when Bush intervened, assuring his spot in historical past.

“The president said to him, ‘Where are you going?'” she recounted. “‘You’re going to be right here with me.'”

Bush addressed firefighters, law enforcement officials and others by way of a bullhorn, his arm draped round Beckwith at one level.

“I can hear you, the rest of the world hears you, and the people who knocked down these buildings will hear all of us soon,” the president mentioned as the gang chanted, “USA! USA!”

The second, which was captured in video and images by The Associated Press and different information retailers, grew to become a permanent picture of resilience following the deadliest terrorist assault on American soil. It even landed Beckwith on the duvet of Time journal, a souvenir he proudly displayed at his house for years.

Beckwith’s wake will likely be Friday, and he will likely be buried Saturday on Long Island, the place he raised a household that features six youngsters, 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Bush, who remained in touch with the household through the years and even checked in as Beckwith’s well being worsened, was amongst those that known as Monday morning to ship condolences, his spouse mentioned.

In a press release, the previous president mentioned Beckwith’s “courage represented the defiant, resilient spirit of New Yorkers and Americans” following the assaults.

“When the terrorists attacked, Bob suited back up and, like so many brave first responders, raced toward the danger to save and search for others,” Bush wrote Monday. “I was proud to have Bob by my side at Ground Zero days later and privileged to stay in touch with this patriot over the years.”

New York City Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh known as the well-known picture “both inspiring and heartbreaking” and mentioned efforts by Beckwith and different former first responders was a “testament to their devotion” to the division.

“Bob is one of the heroes of 9/11 who stood tall for America, New York City and all New Yorkers,” the Uniformed Firefighters Association, a union representing NYC firefighters, wrote on X, previously Twitter, on Monday. “He spent many hours searching for the members we lost on that fateful day in 2001.”