Review: 'Ground Zero' a dramatic, important book

(CNN) -- "A plane crash in the World Trade Center? What firefighter would miss that job ...?"

The answer to that question, posed in Dennis Smith's book "Report from Ground Zero," is obvious. The attacks of September 11 were precisely the type of "job" New York City firefighters are trained to do. Each would feel an immediate and overwhelming impulse to get to the scene as quickly as humanly possible. Hundreds of those who raced into the World Trade Center that day never came out.

"Report from Ground Zero" is their story, told by their friends, relatives and colleagues, as compiled by Smith, a retired firefighter. It is a haunting first-person account of the events on that awful day. It's a story of dedication and heroism on a grand scale. It's also a story of grief and loss on a small scale, repeated again and again.

Smith, author of "Report from Engine Co. 82," is a familiar face in New York firehouses. As such, he has free access to the emergency crews that rushed into lower Manhattan on September 11. In the first section of the book, he allows them to recount their experiences in their own words.

'There is nothing above us'

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Captain Jay Jonas and Ladder Company 6 were inside the Trade Center when the towers collapsed. They were tapped in a stairwell, unable to determine exactly what had happened to the buildings.

"And then," Jonas tells Smith, "about three to three-and-a-half hours later, all of a sudden a ray of sunshine breaks through the smoke and the dust. Once we see that, I say, 'Okay, guys, there is supposed to be 106 floors above us, but now I see sunshine. There is nothing above us.' "

"Report from Ground Zero" doesn't end on September 11. It chronicles the first months of the recovery effort as well. Smith spent a lot of time at the scene, helping search the ruins for fallen comrades and other victims.

Day 15

It is a busy night at Ground Zero, and I am struck by the eerie timelessness that the artificial lighting with its constant 4 p.m. glow lends the site. I head directly to the corner of Liberty and West streets, but find that Liberty Street is closed, and patrolled by National Guard members sitting indecorously in swivel chairs. A crane has been set up, and is beginning to pull at the south cathedral wall [Smith's name for a section of the Trade Center facade that was still standing], attempting to snap it into two parts. It bends a little at the top, but the bottom remains firmly planted, not surprisingly since these walls go straight down for another seventy feet.

Fitting tribute

He spent a lot of time attending funerals, too. During a lifetime working in and around firehouses, Smith has developed a wide network of friends and acquaintances. He knew many of the emergency services workers who died at Ground Zero. He had known some of them virtually all their lives, since firefighting is a profession that attracts generation after generation in some families.

The stories Smith collected in the immediate aftermath of the attacks are vital historical records of September 11. That they are conveyed in the simple, straightforward words of firefighters and police officers makes them all the more powerful. Smith's own experiences at Ground Zero are related in the penetrating narrative style that earned him a reputation as "the poet laureate of firefighters."

"Report from Ground Zero" stirs deep emotions in the reader -- terror, sorrow, anger, pride. It serves as a testament to "The Brave Souls Who Went in to Help Others Get Out" and is dedicated to the 403 emergency services personnel who died at the World Trade Center. Smith lists every one of them by name.

He has given us a moving tribute and a fitting memorial to their bravery and their sacrifice.