Remembering 9/11 on the 25th Anniversary
It’s been 25 years since 9/11. 2,977 people died that day, mostly American citizens. To put this into perspective, 2,404 Americans died at Pearl Harbor. This is not, “Some people did something.”
Alan Jackson, a country singer, debuted Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning?) in November 2001 at the Country Music Association Awards. Jackson immediately wanted to write something to express how he felt after 9/11, but it just wasn’t coming to him. He wrestled for weeks to write this song. Then, on Sunday at 4 a.m. on October 28th, he woke up with the melody and the beginning of the song. It was just a few lines, but he finally had a starting point. His wife and children went to church and Sunday school. He stayed home and finished the song. It released as a single in November and immediately topped the charts.
I think for a lot of us, this song vocalizes how we felt, maybe what we still wonder.
Where was I? It was a Tuesday, so we were hustling to finish stories and get them turned in at the magazine. My son Cody called. “Mom, are you watching TV?”
“No, it’s Tuesday. I’m finishing some edit on stories.”
“Go turn the TV on now.”
I did and watched the second plane hit. Then I sank to the couch in shock. “Is this true? Two planes just hit the towers?”
It was true. Then the Pentagon got hit and Flight 93 went down in a field.
I sat there staring at the TV and the phone rang. It was my editor at the magazine. “Did you see the news?”
“Yes, I’m watching it now. I can’t even believe it.”
“I know. I think everyone is in shock.” Then she had to put on her editor hat. “Where are you on the stories?”
“I already filed most of them. I have two left to finish editing.”
“Good, try to push through. I know we all want to stop, but the printer won’t wait.”
“Understood. Talk later.”
I finished my stories and filed them. Then I sat down, glued to the television. Shock, anger, sadness filled me. I spent the day crying. Videos of people running from the disaster. Iconic pictures. Stories from survivors. Stories of victims.
Then, over the days and weeks that followed, the stories came out of bravery, tragedy, and a few of hope.
Marcy Borders, The Dust Woman. She said later she despised that picture because all she saw was fear. She was traumatized for the rest of her life by tall buildings and planes. The fear so trapped her that she became addicted to drugs. In April 2011, she entered a rehab center. News that Osama Bin Laden was dead helped her recapture her life and get sober.
Unfortunately, that dust that made her famous also may have killed her. In August 2014, she was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Even before her surgery, she’d racked up $190,000 in debt and still needed more chemotherapy. She didn’t even have the money for her prescriptions.
In 2019, Congress set up the Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act that funded victims of 9/11 related illnesses and injuries. It is fully funded through 2092. It was too late for Marcy who died on August 24, 2015.
The Man in the Red Bandana. No one knew who he was at first. It was his iconic red bandana that helped identify him. His father always wrapped a comb in a red or blue bandana and tucked it in his hip pocket. “One for show,” he told his son Welles, “and one for blow.” A white handkerchief in your chest pocket and another for nose business. Welles’ dad gave him a red bandana when he was six and he carried one with him the rest of his life.
On 9/11, Welles was in the South Tower when flight 175 struck between floors 77 and 85 at 9:03. He was on the 104th floor and called his mother at 9:12. “Mom, this is Welles. I just wanted you to know I’m okay.”
Then, he made his way to the 78th floor sky lobby where he encountered a group of survivors including Ling Young who was badly burned. He picked her up and led them down the only intact stairwell several flights to where he found help. He dropped Young and the others off and headed back up. The smoke was bad enough that he had his red bandana on his face so he could breathe by the time he got back up to the 78th floor.
Young later recalled him telling the group, “I found the stairs, follow me and only help the ones you can help.”
Back on floor 78, he found another group of survivors and told people to help put out fires and get people up to descend. With the fire extinguishers exhausted, they started back down. He guided them back down to the street. Among them was Judy Wein who had suffered a broken arm, broken ribs, and a punctured lung. He helped her escape.
Then, remarkably, he headed back in. He didn’t make it out. He was last seen with a group of FDNY trying to rescue people. His body was found in March of 2002 with the group of firefighters.
His parents didn’t know what happened to him until Allison, his mother, watched an interview with Judy Wein who described a young man appearing out of nowhere with a red bandana. Allison contacted some of the survivors her son had rescued and they confirmed it was Welles.
His family has since started a charity to help youth named the Red Bandana Project.
There are so many heroes from that day that it could make a book, and has…several times over.
Gwyneth Paltrow narrated a movie about him.
Then there was The Rev. Al Braca was a deeply devoted man who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald at the World Trade Center. His co-workers nicknamed him “Rev” because he declined going out drinking with the others after work and headed home to be with his family. When the plane struck the tower, he was on the phone and the other person on the line heard him yell, “Evacuate!” The intense fire blocked any escape route.
Braca called the fifty people near him together. He led them in prayer and tried to calm them. They formed a circle and prayed. People called home to say goodbye. Then, Braca said, “I’m going to be with Jesus today. Who’s going with me?” It’s reported that several people accepted salvation before the tower collapsed.
All 658 members of Cantor Fitzgerald in the building died on that day.
Reverend Father Mychal Judge was the first named victim of the attack, receiving the tag 0001. He was the FDNY chaplain and rushed to the towers following the strikes. Mayor Rudy Giuliani was already there and asked Father Judge to pray for New York and the victims. He prayed over the wounded and dead before going into the lobby of the North Tower to help at the command center. He continued offering assistance and prayers for the rescuers and victims.
When the South Tower collapsed, debris flew into the lobby, killing several instantly. Father Judge was among them.
Todd Beamer and the others on flight 93 didn’t make it to their destination. Another operator transferred Beamer’s call to Lisa Jefferson, a GTE operator. She didn’t tell him about the World Trade Center because she wanted him to have hope. He was calm when he talked to her as he related what was happening. He told her three hijackers had taken over the plane and already killed one passenger. Then, when the plane jerked violently, the passengers realized it was heading toward DC. They were going to try and take back control of the plane.
He didn’t try to call his wife because she was pregnant and he didn’t want to worry her, but he asked Lisa to tell his wife how much he loved her and his family. He told Lisa they had two boys and were expecting a third baby. At the end, he asked Lisa to pray with him. They recited the Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”
Then he said to the others in the plane, “Are you guys ready? Okay. Let’s roll.”
They nearly had control back when the plane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Back in New York, thousands of people were stranded without a way to get out. Lower Manhattan was cut off. Boats started showing up for what would become known as The Great Boat Lift of 9/11. Ferries, Coast Guard, tugboats, fishing boats, private boats. Anything that could transport people showed up without formal organization. Over nine hours, approximately 500,000 people were transported to safety.
Rescue crews and dogs flooded into the city to help. Genelle Guzman‑McMillan was the last person to be pulled alive from the wreckage twenty-seven hours after the attack. Due to the heavy dust and her injuries, she’d been unable to call for help. Through it all, she said, a man named Paul held her hand and comforted her. This man and thoughts of her daughter sustained her while she lay hopelessly trapped.
There was no man named Paul found in the rubble near her. She later came to call him her angel.
She underwent four surgeries, and had to relearn to walk during her months in the hospital.
Part of the miracle of Genelle was due to the amazing rescue dogs who worked tirelessly to find victims. After a while, the strain and disappointment of only finding bodies began to wear on the dogs and they were visibly depressed. Handlers started stashing people playing rescue victims so the dogs could experience a success.
Over 300 rescue dogs participated in the efforts. It quickly turned from a rescue operation to a recovery effort. On May 30, 2002, the authorities closed Ground Zero.
Dr. Cynthia Otto, the executive director of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center and a University of Pennsylvania professor was there for a week. She and her team observed and cared for the dogs. Once, she mentioned the dogs aren’t therapy dogs, but just their presence had a calming effect on the workers.
“One of the things that has really stuck with me is that the dogs provided so much more than just the scent detection,” Otto said. “They provided some sort of source of comfort for all of us that were working there, and it really made a difference.”
She also noted a time when three firemen were sitting exhausted on a beam among a pile of debris. They reached out and petted Logan, one of the premier working dogs at the site. They went from blank stares to a light coming back on in their eyes as they petted the dog.
It was one of those moments when people realized, “We’re going to make it.”
The U.S. came together in those days. The world came together with us. Several countries around the world donated or erected memorials for 9/11. More recently, Japan lowered its flags to half-staff on 9/11.
Are we going to make it? Yes, we’re Americans.
Have we forgotten? I fear many have and the world is a poorer place for it.