Officer David P Lemagne
Port Authority Police Department

When word of the September 11 attack came, Officer David Lemagne, twenty-seven, asked if he could respond to the emergency because he had paramedic training. He was last seen at the Twin Towers where he was part of a human chain evacuating the North Tower.

Lemagne was known for his sense of humour – he was always the one who told jokes and kept people laughing. He enjoyed cycling and playing softball and had recently traveled to Portugal and the Dominican Republic. He was also known as someone who pushed. “He pushed people to get the grades, to get moving, to get motivated,” his sister, Maggie, told the New York Times. “He pushed a lot of friends, and they went further in life because of him.”

When he was just eleven years old, he joined the Union City Volunteer Ambulance Corps as an Explorer. After receiving his EMT Certification while still in high school, Lemagne entered into service with the Union City Volunteer Ambulance Corps. After he graduated from high school in 1992, he then worked as an EMT for the Jersey City Medical Center and for the University Hospital EMS. In 1994, he received an associate’s degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and started working as a paramedic for the Jersey City Medical Center. From 1997 to 1998, he returned to his alma mater, Hudson Catholic High School in Jersey City, where he was an assistant coach to the football team and an athletic trainer. He became a Port Authority police officer in August 2000.