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THOUSAND FROM THE PRIOR WEEK, WHEN 9700 CLAIMS WERE FID.LE SATURDAY, MARCH 20 YEARS — MARKS 20 YEARS SINCE THE TWIN TOWERS FELL IN THE TERROR ATTACK OF 9/11. AS WE REMEMBER THOSE WHO DIED AND THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN WHO RUSHED TO HELP, ONE LOCAL RESIDENT IS REMEMBERING THAT TRAGIC DAY. ERIN: OUR JOSSIE CARBONARE SPOKE WITH THE PART TIME LAKE WOHRT RESIDENT AND FORMER NYC COMMISSIONER WHO WAS JUST BLOCKS AWAY FROM WHERE THE WORLD TRADE CENTERS FELL. >> IT WAS A MOVIE. IT COULD NOT POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN REAL-LIFE. PEOPLE LITERALLY FALLING OUT THE WINDOW. JOSSIE: HEART WRENCHING MOMENTS JERRY CAMMARATA WILL NEVER FORGET. >> WE HEARD AN INCREDIBLE THUMP. WE THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A GBAARGE TRUCK GOING OVER A BUMP. JOSSIE: THE FORMER COMMISSIONER AND MEMBER OF NEW YORK CITY’S CENTRAL BOARD OF EDUCATION WAS IN HIS OFFICE BLOCKS AWAY WHEN HE AND OTHER CO-WORKERS LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW AND SAW SMOKE. >> I GOT IN MY CAR AGAINST TRAFFIC AND RODE ALL THE WAY TO THE WORLD TRE ADCENTER. JOSSIE: IT WAS THERE HE SAW PEOP LE JUMPING FROM ABOVE, A DETAIL DIFFICULT TO TALK ABOUT, BUT HARD TO FORG.ET >> AND THEN, TO HEAR THE THUMP, THAT PART WILL NEVER ESCAPE. JOSSIEDI: STRAUGHT BY WHAT HE HAD JUST WITNESSED, HE MADE HIS WAY TO A BUNKER USED BY CITY LEERADS IN EMERGENCIES. ALONGSIDE MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI AND OTHER COMMISSIONERS, THEY WERE ALL IMMEDIATELY TOLD TO EVACUATE AS THE SECOND PLANE HIT THE TWIN TOWERS. >> EVERYBODY KNEW THEY HAD TO DO SOMETHING, BECAUSE LIVES WERE IN JEOPARDY. FOR ME, THE IMEDIACY WAS, GET TO THOSE SCHOOLS. JOSSIE: THOUSANDS OF KIDS IN NEARBY BUILDINGS TAKEN TO SAFETY. SOME EVEONN OA BTS. AND WHILE JERRY CALLS THIS PART OF IT ALL A MIRACLE, THE LIVES THAT WERE LOST CONTINUES TO CARRY A HEAVY WEIGHT ON HIS HEART. >> MANY OF OUR FRIENDS DID NOT MAKE IT. IT WAS NOT NICE. JOSSIE: 20 YEARS LATER, HE SAYS THERE’S A LESSON. ,>> ALL PEOPLE CAN HOLD HANDS. ALL PEOPLE CAN GET ALONG. ALL PEOPLE CANOR WK TOWARD A COMMON CAU

‘Everybody knew they had to do something’: Former NYC education commissioner recounts 9/11

Jerry Cammarata reflects on the terrifying and heart-wrenching moments he witnessed, and what he did to save th0usands of lives 20 years ago.

There are images and heart-wrenching moments that Jerry Cammarata, a part-time Lake Worth, Florida, resident said he will never forget. “It was a movie. It could not have possibly been real life,” Cammarata said, recalling the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The former commissioner and member of New York City’s Central Board of Education was in his office, blocks away from the World Trade Center, when he and other co-workers looked out of the window and saw smoke. “I got in my car against traffic and rode all the way to the World Trade Center,” Cammarata said. It was there he saw people jumping from above, a detail he said is difficult to talk about and hard to forget. “And then to hear the thump — that part will never escape,” he said.Distraught by what he had just witnessed, he made his way to a bunker used by city leaders in emergencies.Alongside then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and other commissioners, they were all almost immediately told to evacuate.”We all ran down the stairs,” Cammarata said. “Rudy went out one door, I went out another door and tried to get as far away from the building, and, as we did, that’s when the second plane hit.”Everybody knew they had to do something because lives were in jeopardy,” said Cammarata.”At that point, there wasn’t the right thing. The only thing was to do what you instinctively were trained to do,” he said.”For me, it was, ‘Get to those schools,'” he said.Thousands of kids in nearby buildings were taken to safety, some even on boats. While Cammarata calls this part of it all a miracle, the lives that were lost continue to carry a heavy weight on his heart. “Many of our friends just didn’t make it, it wasn’t nice,” he said, tearfully.Twenty years later, he said there’s still a lesson to be learned.”I think what 9/11 really taught us was that all people can hold hands, all people can get along and all people can work towards a common cause,” Cammarata said.

LAKE WORTH, Fla. —

There are images and heart-wrenching moments that Jerry Cammarata, a part-time Lake Worth, Florida, resident said he will never forget.

“It was a movie. It could not have possibly been real life,” Cammarata said, recalling the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The former commissioner and member of New York City’s Central Board of Education was in his office, blocks away from the World Trade Center, when he and other co-workers looked out of the window and saw smoke.

“I got in my car against traffic and rode all the way to the World Trade Center,” Cammarata said.

It was there he saw people jumping from above, a detail he said is difficult to talk about and hard to forget.

“And then to hear the thump — that part will never escape,” he said.

Distraught by what he had just witnessed, he made his way to a bunker used by city leaders in emergencies.

Alongside then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and other commissioners, they were all almost immediately told to evacuate.

“We all ran down the stairs,” Cammarata said. “Rudy went out one door, I went out another door and tried to get as far away from the building, and, as we did, that’s when the second plane hit.

“Everybody knew they had to do something because lives were in jeopardy,” said Cammarata.

“At that point, there wasn’t the right thing. The only thing was to do what you instinctively were trained to do,” he said.

“For me, it was, ‘Get to those schools,'” he said.

Thousands of kids in nearby buildings were taken to safety, some even on boats.

While Cammarata calls this part of it all a miracle, the lives that were lost continue to carry a heavy weight on his heart.

“Many of our friends just didn’t make it, it wasn’t nice,” he said, tearfully.

Twenty years later, he said there’s still a lesson to be learned.

“I think what 9/11 really taught us was that all people can hold hands, all people can get along and all people can work towards a common cause,” Cammarata said.