'Remember The Lost, All The Good People:' Chester 9/11 Survivor

CHESTER, NJ — Will Jimeno plans to spend Sept. 11, 2021 much differently than what his day had been two decades before in New York City.

It’s a day he said will be at home in Chester with his wife Allison, daughters Bianca and Olivia, as well as close friends.

It was on that fateful day, three years before the family became Chester residents, that Will was one of many whose loved ones were left distraught wondering when - and perhaps even if - their family member would ever make it home from the World Trade Center, after terrorists drove two commercial airliners into the buildings the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

“It’s very overwhelming to know it’s 20 years,” Jimeno told Patch, with his plan on the upcoming anniversary to “remember the lost, all the good people, first responders and civilians.”

The horrific acts from that day would leave Jimeno, then a Port Authority Police Officer, buried under rubble for 13 hours before his rescue, after the Twin Towers crumbled, which left him with a greater purpose.

Jimeno said he feels he has a duty to educate new generations about what happened that September day, with the events similar to what the attacks at Pearl Harbor meant to previous generations.

Jimeno will take part in a pre-recorded webinar on the 9/11 Memorial & Museum for schools, that is launching on Sept. 10, on the website www.911memorial.org.

He is planning to be in New York on Sept. 10 to appear on Fox and Friends, he said, possibly as well on Sept. 11 for Fox and Today show segments.

He’s additionally part of a commemorative National Geographic program series, 9/11 One Day In America.

While Jimeno spends time with his family in Chester during that anniversary, he asks fellow residents in Chester to especially remember another Port Authority Police Officer that day, Gregg Froehner.

Froehner was 46 when he perished in the attacks, known in Chester as a family man and baseball coach, his career unknown in town, until he was lost that day.

Chester Borough and Township will be holding a joint remembrance event at Chubb Park’s Gregg Froehner 9/11 Memorial that day at 4 p.m.

Jimeno didn’t know Froehner personally, but one of his sergeants did and always spoke highly of him, Jimeno said, calling Froehner “a gentleman, brother-in-blue, who was well-respected.”

“Long before I was here in Chester, there was Gregg Froehner, an American hero and hero to Chester,” said Jimeno.

Helping Others Through His Books

Jimeno's story, which was cemented in cinema history in Oliver Stone’s 2006 film “World Trade Center," was not an end, but a beginning.

Not to say he didn’t struggle, because a struggle it was, not only from his physical injuries but the emotional scars from post-traumatic stress disorder, yet Jimeno turned those trials into triumphs and a way to help others.

He has done so as a book author most recently, the first with his book "Immigrant, American Survivor - A Little Boy Who Grew Up To Be All Three," co-authored and illustrated by Charles Riccardi, as well as "Sunrise Through The Darkness - A Survivor's Account Of Learning To Live Again Beyond 9/11," co-authored with psychologist Michael Moats.

Immigrant American Survivor is not just available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, but locally, there was a book signing on Sept. 4 at The Maple Shop on 105 Main Street in Chester, with books still available there, as well as Serendipity Toys & Books on 20 Main Street.

He thanked both of these local businesses for partnering with him by stocking his book, in what he called an “all American town, with great business owners.”

Sunrise Through The Darkness has a special offer on the website www.universityprofessorspress.com, until Sept. 11, Jimeno said, for 10 percent off with the discount code STTDau_9735.

The first book is for children, the second for adults, both about helping people overcome their obstacles with “Faith, Hope and Love,” the combination that has helped him throughout his life.

“I teach children that no matter what their race or financial status is, they always have faith, hope and love,” Jimeno added.

Faith he said comes from faith in oneself and above. Hope is something a person needs to have in all circumstances, Jimeno added. Love is essential, Jimeno continued, in that a person needs to love themselves, in order to be able to demonstrate love to others.

Jimeno’s life has been an example of persistence, even before he found himself at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, a boy who came to the United States and moved to Hackensack from Colombia with his family. He served in the U.S. Navy, attended college and started a family, before he became a police officer.

“I dreamed about becoming a police officer to help people and now I’m helping people with my books,” Jimeno said.

Both of his books, he said he’s been told, inspire and motivate children and adults to never give up.

Sunrise Through The Darkness, he said, which includes a photo taken by his daughter Olivia, could apply to any circumstance in an adult’s life that they may struggle with, from PTSD to addiction, to abuse to depression, to help bring people struggling through their issues.

Jimeno leaves people who are going through trying times, with a final message, “As Americans, we’re strong.”

“We have the will to survive,” Jimeno said. “We never give up, it’s in our DNA.”

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Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.