September 11: Howard Beach community comes together to pay tribute, honor those lost [Video]

HOWARD BEACH, Queens (WABC) — They are making good on a promise they made more than two decades ago – to never forget.

Dorie’s son, Richard Allen Pearlman helped a woman after terrorists flew planes into the Twin Towers. On September 11, 2001, the 18-year-old volunteer EMT rushed into the building twice – but did not make it out alive.

“It turned my whole life upside-down. At the same time, my mother was in the hospital dying of cancer. My mother and son died three and a half weeks apart. So where do you run? Look for your son, or stay with your mother?” said Dorie.The Pearlman family was in Howard Beach with many others, honoring those who died and survived the attacks.