Joe Bell, a lieutenant at the Noroton Heights Fire Department, says he was surprised when he heard the news about Osama bin Laden's death late Sunday night. "I didn't know about it until all the news reports. I was shocked. I didn't know they were still looking for him."
Bell was in high school on Sept. 11, 2001, when the father of one of his best friends was killed during the attacks. "I was actually in one of my classes with the kid, and to hear it was heartbreaking. This was a guy who we would go with every weekend to play baseball games. Everyone liked him, he was a great guy. It was just very, very unfortunate," he said.
Though he was glad that the United States military finally stopped the man who caused thousands of civilian deaths, Bell says extremists may retaliate. "I just hope nothing else comes from it," he said.
He also thought that some of the celebrations following the release of the news were excessive. "I thought it was good that they got him, but to see people in Times Square popping champagne bottles and celebrating, I thought that was over the top. To have a public show like that, I think, was the wrong thing to do."
Bell feels camaraderie with the firefighters who died in the attacks. "It's a brotherhood, definitely. When you hear somebody go down like that, you just sit down and think about it all day. My heart goes out to them."
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