A Stamford firefighter shared his experience of being in Israel during the Israel-Hamas war.

"As soon as I woke up on Oct. 7, I saw the headlines and got text messages from relatives and friends of mine from overseas...I knew we were at war. My entire family is over there. Mom, dad, sister, nieces," said Moshe Sameach.

Sameach was born and raised in Israel and moved to the United States 10 years ago.

"My history is there, my roots are there, I love my country," said Sameach. 

Three years ago he became a Stamford firefighter. Following the Oct. 7 attack, Sameach said he did the only thing he knew how to do.

"It was time to go to work, so I went to work," said Sameach.

Sameach was part of a group of first responders from the U.S. deployed to Israel by the Emergency Volunteer Project.

The organization was created so that Israeli and American firefighters could help in times of crisis.

Sameach said nothing, including his time serving in the IDF, could have prepared him for what he witnessed.

"The kind of thing, you don't want to see nor smell, nor hear. I participated [in] battles, different military operations but I will admit even that has not really prepared me to witness and see and especially to sense what I experienced during my deployment over there," said Sameach.

Sameach was on the ground for four weeks. He described his experience as physically tough, he now has to overcome the mental stress of survivor's guilt.

"It was odd for the first few days. It took me a few days to remind myself that I'm back in the greatest and safest country in the world," said Sameach.

Two months later, Sameach has settled back into his routine, despite now being on high alert.

"I hope that I made some difference at the end of the day as a firefighter, as a first responder. For me it was just a call. It was a call for me to go to work," said Sameach.