AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – Tributes and testimony on this September 11th- an Augusta woman and former police officer with the NYPD told us what she witnessed on that day.

Angela Brown was living in Brooklyn. She had just dropped off her, then, 5-year-old at school. 

“95.5 WPLJ, Scott Shannon…he was a DJ, he was on,” said Brown. “He was like, ‘tower one of the World Trade Center has just been hit’.”

Before long, Brown found herself watching helplessly as the second tower was hit.

“When it hit, explosions like ‘boom, boom, boom’,” said Brown. “And then, all of the sudden, you see people, debris, parts of the building…”

With bridges closed and street lights out of service, Brown says she had to drive on the sidewalk.

Once she was at Ground Zero, she says a critically injured woman grabbed her pants while she was walking through the rubble. 

“She was able to say, ‘help’…like that,” said Brown. “And I couldn’t help her. And, so, the officers I was with, they were like, ‘You gotta keep going. Help who you can help.’ And I’m like, ‘This lady…’ And they were like, ‘You can’t do nothing for her’. And I was like, ‘oh my God…’.”

Brown spent nearly 24 hours with other first responders in recovery efforts at Ground Zero.

“I always had a picture of my daughter and my family in my hat – I would always carry that,” said Brown. “And I always carried, uh…it was a prayer – I always had it in my hat.”    

Brown tells us that, despite the lockdowns, she was able to get back to her daughter and take her home.

“I said, ‘God forbid if she’s gonna die, she’s gonna die with me’,” said Brown. 

Brown recently married Daryl Brown, son of the late Godfather of Soul, James Brown, and now has two daughters. 

She says it’s never easy thinking of this day, but prayer gets her through.

She wears her NYPD jacket every September 11th.

“It has its ups and downs but for the most part, you know, I know it’s something that you gotta try to go on with life,” said Brown. “But you will never forget.”