‘I’ll never forget’ – New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Ryan Meara remembers 9/11, his father’s firefighting heroics, honors victims with MLS club

More than two decades later, Meara says that his father still struggles to talk about Sept. 11. Details of what followed after Jack returned to the scene of the attack later that day are rarely brought up, Meara says, rather only a description from his father of the moment still lingers in his head: “Hell on Earth.”

Meara recalls that due to the number of students in his school with parents working downtown, the staff initially tried to limit information.

“They wouldn’t tell anyone, because a lot of kids had family members, aunts and uncles, parents that work downtown,” Meara said. “They didn’t want to get anyone, any of the kids, too scared. So we were just leaving school, and we were thrilled to be leaving school, and then I remember seeing my mom… she was upset, crying, and I knew instantly something terrible must have happened.”

Meara’s father was not present in NYC when the attacks occurred. Looking back at it, Meara says “thank god” knowing that his father wasn’t in the area, but shared that his father lost “countless friends” that day. It remains a difficult time to recall.

“You know, he didn’t talk about it too much for a long time. I think as me and my brothers have gotten older, we’ll ask him here and there about it.,” Meara said. “Luckily, he had just gotten off that morning. Thank God, but he knew countless friends he worked with, really good people who unfortunately lost their lives that day.”

Weeks after the attacks, emotions were still raw in the city and around the country. Meara remembers how there was a struggle to return to reality at first. However, there are moments he remembers, moments that gave the city courage, gave the people hope, moments that provided the optimism of New York needed at the time.

“I’ll never forget. I was 10 years old at the time, and President Bush threw out the first pitch at the Yankees World Series game,” Meara said, recalling out the first pitch of game three, a moment that culminated a very difficult month and a half for the New York. “And it was unbelievable. So uplifting. It kind of, you know, gave us hope that everything was going to be OK.”

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  Remembrance

  Meara and the Red Bulls are among the many who are commemorating 9/11 and honoring the victims of the tragedy.

  “This many years later, on Sept. 11, every day or every year, how the city really comes together again, to remember all those who are lost,” Meara said. “It’s nice to see everyone coming together to remember these people,”

  That’s why Meara is passionate about the Red Bulls’ 11 Days of Service initiative.

  “The premise behind it and how it got started, 11 days of service in September to honor and remember Sept. 11, it’s an amazing thing that they do,” Meara said. “I feel very fortunate to be part of a club that just cares that much about Sept. 11 and trying to give back to the community. It’s really cool to be a part of, and I’m one of – probably the only guy, maybe – at least the only American guy on the team who really remembers Sept. 11.”

  Meara’s personal connection with the tragedy comes from his local ties to New York. One of the few professional soccer players who are true hometown kids, Meara was born and raised in New York, attended Fordham University in NYC and was drafted by the New York Red Bulls in 2012.

  His entire life, he’s been surrounded by the vibrancy of the city, seen it at its highs and its lows, and represented it proudly. It also makes him understand what so many who were affected by tragedy still go through.

  “Fortunately, no one in my family was lost, but I know so many families who can’t say that, and not to speak for them, but I’m sure it makes them feel good that all these years later, that their loved one isn’t forgotten about,” he said. “The tragic events of 9/11 aren’t forgotten about, and that almost, over time, it turns into more of a celebration of their life, maybe more so than mourning.”

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    A day with real-life superheroes

    Meara holds one of the Red Bulls’ initiatives from 11 Days of Service close to his heart. On 9/11, Meara and some of his Red Bull teammates are visiting a Harrison, New Jersey firehouse to meet with a crew of firefighters.

    Some of Meara’s most fond childhood memories were in the firehouse with his father and his comrades. It was a place in which he found himself exploring as a kid, and he was surrounded by those he looked up to.

    “I have such unbelievable memories of growing up in the firehouse, me and my brothers going to visit my dad and running around the place, going up and down the pole and on the fire trucks,” he said. “And I feel very fortunate to have grown up in the firehouse in the sense of it was like we had 50 extra uncles. You know, these guys were superheroes to us as kids, and almost larger than life characters.”

    Describing the firehouse as a “sacred place,” Meara knows what the comaraderie between the firefighter themselves is like.

    “These guys trust each other with their lives, there’s a lot on the line,” he said.

    The 33-year-old player and his and teammates will commemorate the occasion at the local station, and with an afternoon of remembrance.

    “I’m really looking forward to that,” he said, “to get over to the Harrison fire department and just hang out and talk, have a couple laughs, a meal, and especially on September 11, it holds a little extra special feeling.”

    Alex Labidou contributed reporting to this story.