The Stories & Faces of September 11, 2001

“May the lives remembered, the deeds recognized, and the sprit reawakened be

eternal beacons, which reaffirm respect for life, strengthen our resolve to preserve freedom, and inspire an end to hatred,

ignorance, and intolerance.”

The National September 11 Memorial Mission Statement

The Stories of September 11th

Read and listen to the following stories of those impacted by the events of September 11, 2001.

Bruno Dellinger – 9/11 Survivor, 47th Floor, North Tower

“You had in this building people from all over the world, all religions, all colors of skin. All

everything. All social backgrounds and they lived in harmony. Everybody was very proud to be a World Trade Center tenant, one way or another, working in the World Trade Center. And for me those flags that were in the lobby of the Trade

Center represented a utopia that only can exist in New York.”

Sekou Siby – A Kitchen Worker at Windows on the World at the World

Trade Center

“When Moises Rivas was hired, I was assigned to train him.”

Click to listen to Sekou Siby’s story:

http://storycorps.org/?p=54726

Alice Hoagland – Voicemail to Her Son, Mark Bingham, Aboard Flight

93

“The news is that it has been hijacked by terrorists. They are planning to probably use the plane as a target to hit some site on the ground. If you can, try to overpower these

guys…Do everything you can…Call me back if you can…I love you sweetie.”

Stacy Thedans - Remembers her last phone conversation with her mother,

who died at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

“She said, 'Stacy, I've gotta go,' and she hung up on me.”

Click to listen to Stacy’s story: http://storycorps.org/?p=24945

Keating Crown - 9/11 Survivor, 100th floor,

South Tower

“A number of the elevator doors had been blown off. Fire was coming up through the shaft. It was just very difficult to see. There was not much sound…There was a couple of other people calling out to try and help or find someone. Ceilings collapsed and marble walls crumbled. As it turns out I had a broken leg and other pretty severe cuts and lacerations to my body…I ran into a colleague and we

decided to go down. As we were about to turn, a woman was calling out our names. I started to pick her up and put her on my back. My colleague said, ‘Keating, we have 78 flights to go, you’re not going to carry her down.’ So we carried her between us as if we were carrying her off a

football field or a sporting event.”

NYPD Lieutenant Bill Cosgrove – Remembers Carrying Father Mychal

Judge, Franciscan friar, chaplain to the New York City Fire Department

“He's always been on my mind ever since then...”

Click to listen to Bill’s story: http://storycorps.org/?p=12744

On September 11, Captain William F. Burke, Jr., of Engine Company 21, led his men down to the World Trade Center. He was in the North Tower on the 27th floor, just after the collapse of the South Tower.… He ordered, by radio, the

safe evacuation of his men and they and the civilians they saved all survived. Billy stayed behind to assist two civilians Abraham Zelmanowitz and Edward Beyea, a quadriplegic, who was wheelchair-bound.… Billy had followed the credo of an FDNY leader taught by his father: rescue the civilians and take

care of your men. He would continue to radio his men…and they would radio back saying, "We'll wait for you here. Wait for you here." Billy said, "No, keep going. I'm right behind you. Meet at the rig." Captain Burke stopped on the 21st floor and each called family and friends. Billy reportedly told his friend,

who begged him to be safe, “This is my job. This is who I am.”

And all of his men survived and got out. The collapse of the North Tower killed Abraham Zelmanowitz, Edward Beyea, and Captain Billy Burke of Engine 21

perished with the other 2,746 innocents on September 11th at the World Trade Center. Captain Burke stands as the embodiment of heroism and

sacrifice of the first responders"

Captain William Francis Burke, Jr. (Billy)

Retired FDNY John Vigiano Sr. - Remembers his sons, John Jr., FDNY, and Joe, NYPD, who both died at the

World Trade Center.

“Both of the boys would call me when they were working.”

Click to listen to John’s story:http://storycorps.org/?p=14896

FDNY LT. Mickey Kross – 9/11 Survivor, One of 14 to Survive

together in a Piece of the North Tower Stairwell

“You’d relieve another unit. They would go home and you would report. You would just start your digging and searching. Sometimes you would find somebody.

Sometimes you would find a friend.”

NYPD Officer Joseph Lutrario – Remembers Responding to the

Attacks on September 11, 2001.

“We got to the World Trade Center in a matter of minutes.”

Click on Joseph’s story:http://storycorps.org/?p=12849

Ronaldo Vega – NYC Dept. of Design and Construction during Recovery

“Ground zero itself was sort of like the magnet. People got up and they said I’ve got to be

there…We set aside our egos…our titles…we set aside whatever it is that makes people think they’re different, and we decided to

work together.”

The Faces of Ground Zero

Photographer Joe McNally put together a photographic collection of individuals involved in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. His “Faces of Ground Zero, Portraits of the Heroes of September

11, 2001 during the first devastating weeks after 9/11. Look at the images and read the words of some of those heroes highlighted.

Minoru Yamasaki, Chief Architect World Trade Center, 1964

“The World Trade Center should, become a living representation of man’s belief in humanity, his need for individual dignity, his beliefs in the cooperation of men,

and through this cooperation his ability to find greatness.”