March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Rudy Giuliani, who has parlayed his identity as the hero of Sept. 11 into a front-running presidential candidacy, was himself attacked by the nation's firefighters union for rushing to remove debris at New York's World Trade Center site before many remains had been recovered.

The International Association of Fire Fighters union said it wants its 260,000 U.S. members to know the ``real story'' of the former New York mayor, contending that Giuliani sought to curtail search-and-recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, that claimed the lives of 2,752 people, including 343 union fire fighters.

``Mayor Giuliani's actions meant that fire fighters and citizens who perished would either remain buried at Ground Zero forever, with no closure for families, or be removed like garbage and deposited at the Fresh Kills Landfill,'' said union President Harold Schaitberger in a draft letter to affiliates.

Giuliani, 62, leads the Republican presidential candidates in many polls and is favored in a match-up against Democratic frontrunner Senator Hillary Clinton of New York in the swing states of Pennsylvania and Florida, according to a Feb. 25-March 4 Quinnipiac University poll.

``Many people consider Rudy Giuliani `America's Mayor,' and many of our members who don't yet know the real story, may also have a positive view of him,'' Schaitberger wrote. The union wants ``to make all of our members aware of the egregious acts Mayor Giuliani committed against our members, our fallen on 9/11, and our New York City union officers following that horrific day,'' the letter said.

Giuliani Response

In response, a Giuliani spokeswoman released a statement from Tim Brown, a former fire fighter working with the campaign and head of ``Firefighters for Rudy.''

``We are honored by the support of so many first responders from across the country and are appreciative of their continued enthusiasm for Mayor Giuliani's candidacy,'' Brown said. ``We look forward to future events and an ongoing conversation with America's firefighters.''

The union said Giuliani decided on Nov. 2, 2001, to cut the number of fire fighters who could search for the remains of their fallen brethren and other victims to no more 25 at one time, down from more than 300 involved in the search and recovery effort.

Before Giuliani's decision, 101 bodies or remains of fire fighters had been recovered, the union said.

Giuliani also began a ``scoop-and-dump'' operation to speed clean-up of the site as opposed to removing debris piece by piece ``in hope of uncovering more remains,'' the union said.

More Bodies Found

The Washington-based union said that local union presidents tried to meet with Giuliani to stop the action, and the mayor refused to see them. It also said 15 protesting fire fighters were arrested on Giuliani's orders. The union said public outrage ultimately compelled Giuliani to reverse his position.

``Our protests were later proven justified as more bodies were ultimately recovered and those families given a chance for some closure and a decent burial,'' the letter said.

The union said Giuliani was more concerned about the removal of gold, silver and other assets of the Bank of Nova Scotia that was buried beneath the rubble than he was of human remains.

``He valued the money and gold and wanted the site cleared before he left office at the end of 2001 more than he valued the lives and memories of those lost,'' the letter said.

To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Kim Chipman at kchipman@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 9, 2007 00:12 EST