A Single Photograph Gives Family Closure And Peace Many Years After 9/11

Judson Box never knew exactly what happened to his son Gary on September 11, 2001. However, years later, an unforeseen discovery provided him with a brief glimpse of his son's final hours.

Gary was 35 years old at the time and had been working in the fire department in Brooklyn as a firefighter for five years. On the actual day of 9/11, Judson did not receive any news about his son, and after the terrorist attack, he was never recovered.

Christine, Gary’s sibling, was visiting the Homage Facility on September 11, 2009, when an employee asked if she was looking for a particular person. She mentioned her brother Gary, and the worker showed her a photograph of a firefighter at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel with a caption that included the name Gary.

The firefighter in the photo turned out to be Brian Bilcher and not Gary. He was another member of Gary’s fire crew.

This discovery motivated Gary’s father to investigate further and dig a little deeper. He hoped to find a similar picture that could lead to discovering what happened to his son. Judson went through the National 9/11 Gallery's archives and also checked the memorial’s website, which allows people to submit their personal pictures from 9/11 directly on the platform.

One evening, Box spent more than 5 hours looking through photos but never found anything helpful.

So he decided to call it a night, as he felt mentally and physically exhausted.

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The next morning, his partner, Helen, asked him to come to the living room while he was eating breakfast.

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Helen then revealed a photo of a firefighter running through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel while vehicles were blocking traffic.

Box immediately recognized that firefighter as his son.

“I ran out of control, mentally,” Box said. “Thanking God, being so delighted that I had something to see.”

After this incredible discovery, Box was eager for more answers and contacted the National 9/11 Gallery and Memorial to find the photographer who took the photo.

A few months later, the museum shared the photographer's name and email with him. The photographer's name is Erik Troelson, a Danish businessman who was stuck in the tunnel on his way to a meeting and decided to randomly take that picture.

At the time, Troelson was completely unaware of what was happening outside the tunnel.

The National 9/11 Gallery scheduled a surprise meeting between the two men at the yearly fundraising event.

The moment they shared on stage was quite emotional, and they even had time to talk privately and in detail.

“I believe I said thank you about 300 times and God bless you, that’s all I can say,” Box said. “I think I told him I love you, and I don’t tell anyone that.”“I desire everybody might obtain what I got.”nycgo

A single photograph managed to bring closure and peace to a whole family who always wondered what happened to their son on that day. It's one last glimpse of the person you love, and even though you know it was one of their last moments, at least you got to see it.