Six years ago today, Americans saw the World Trade Center collapse, the image searing itself into the minds of those who watched the events unfold on television. Before the government revealed the attackers' identities or officials guessed at a casualty count, before anyone could determine if the attacks were over, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was on camera, covered in dust and reassuring a terrified city and a stunned nation.

The moment made Giuliani an icon - "America's Mayor" - a portrait of steady leadership in the face of chaos. Giuliani continues to benefit from the spotlight 9/11 offered him, and he remains the top Republican presidential contender in most national polls.

But in recent months, Giuliani critics have sought to puncture what they deem the myth of his 9/11 legacy. Families of 9/11 victims have decried Giuliani's appearance at a 9/11 memorial service today. A book released this year faults Giuliani for inadequate preparation that the authors say left New York City more vulnerable to confusion in an attack.

And this summer, the International Association of Fire Fighters, which represents 281,000 firefighters nationwide, produced a video that blames Giuliani for the deaths of more than 100 firefighters on Sept. 11, 2001. The union says because Giuliani did not replace radios known to be defective since the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, firefighters didn't hear evacuation orders before the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed.

If Giuliani wants to win the presidency, he'll have to do it despite dogged opposition from some New York City firefighters and the nation's largest firefighters union. The IAFF posted the video to deter its members from supporting Giuliani - many firefighters had received calls from the campaign asking for help, IAFF President Harold Schaitberger said.

The union may have more attacks planned for Giuliani.

"He has created this myth; he has created this whole alleged legacy on the back of this horrific event," Schaitberger said. "We will not be shy in going after Mr. Giuliani."

So far, the video hasn't affected Giuliani's poll numbers, but it also hasn't helped his reputation with the tight-knit community of firefighters. If the New York City firefighters don't like Giuliani, that means something to firefighters everywhere, said Cory Clark, president of the Concord firefighters' union.

"We have some of our own members right here in Concord who were sent down there on 9/11," Clark said. "So it doesn't take long for word of those types of actions to get around."

'His own personal tragedy'

Giuliani's critics say he takes too much credit for the aftermath of 9/11. "He's cashing in on 9/11 like it's his own personal tragedy," Jimmy Riches, a deputy fire chief whose firefighter son was killed at ground zero, told the Associated Press. "It's a photo op on a campaign swing for him."

Giuliani himself admitted that he misspoke at a campaign stop in Cincinnati last month when talking about 9/11 and the toxic dust that has sickened many first responders who worked at ground zero.

"I was at ground zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers," Giuliani had said. "I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I'm one of them."

In an interview the following day, Giuliani said he "could have said it better."

"I wasn't trying to suggest a competition of any kind, which is the way it came across," he said. "You know, what I was saying was, 'I'm there with you.' Gosh almighty, I was there often enough, even though they were there, people there more and people there less, but I was there often enough so that every health consequence that people have suffered, I could also be suffering."

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