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9/11 stories: Listen and share yours
As the twin tower tribute lights illuminate the sky in memorial of the September 11 terrorist attacks, a group stands in a candle vigil September 11, 2004 in Brooklyn, New York.
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For our series this past week on the 10th anniversary of September 11th, we've tried to get a grasp on the economics of it. The costs -- real and perceived -- to our society and our lives.
We talked to an economist who said September 11th wasn't really about the economics or the costs. It was about our souls. We examined its effects on technology, our security, and our personal lives.
Today on the show, we decided to focus on that last one and present the stories of seven people who lived through that day in New York, to hear how it changed them.
You can hear more from each of these 9/11 survivors and others on our special series page. Just click on the images of each survivor to listen to their full account.
On our sister program Marketplace Money this weekend, we feature another collection of people who tell us how 9/11 changed their perspectives on the role of career and money in their lives.
And on our website, Marketplace producer Megan Larson writes about her experience living and working in Manhattan during 9/11. Her husband worked across from the World Trade Center and shared his 9/11 story with her.
We're sure some of you have your own stories to tell. We'd love to hear them. Use the comments section below to tell us how your life changed with 9/11.
And share your story about how 9/11 changed your life with our Public Insight Network: Be a source and share your insights.
leesha coleman IF you want to remember, then remember the day we attacked Afghanistan and Iraq or how WE as a great nation did not interfere in the Chechnyan war when tens of thousands could have been saved. Dont just look at your own country but look outside your borders and see how many innocent people our troops have killed and how many countries we brought down to rubble for our greed and anger.
3000 is not as great at 30000 who died in Afghanistan and over 50000 who died in Iraq. THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK NEXT TIME.
well i think you are wtong america should remember the twin tower so many children and parents died and you should not disrespect the twin towers it is an upsetting memory of who died and all the heros that could have saved so many people!
Im from the uk, so the timing was obv different here. As i worked nights, i was in bed when the first plane struck. I remember my dad ringing me, waking me up and said "quick turn on the news" i did so, he was still on the phone. I was watching for maybe a minute, trying to understand what had happend.. When the second plane plunged into the second tower!
I could not believe what i just saw! I was 18 at the time & a single mum to a 1 year old. I didnt understand terrorism and it just never entered my head that it may be that what was happening.
I didnt move from the tv all day. I watched as people clung onto windows, throwing themselves out to escape smoke and flames i guess. Normal people like me, having to make a decision to throw yourself from a tower because the heat forces you out. Making a decision to leave your children, your family.
I remember the feeling like it was yesturday, the most sickly feeling ive ever felt to this day! my stomach tore as i watched people die! watching the towers collapse on so many people.. those in the tower, those outside and all those incredible people who were trying to save others.
For those who saw this, it will never leave our memory. Because we watched a city, a country and the world change. So many countries have been affected from that day onwards. So many people changed, i definately did! I saw the world for what its capable of. I am sorry for every last person who has lost their lives againt this battle with the people capable of this.. but i am also glad that countries have united to fight this and to show that although one snivvleing rat (osama) thought he could play god, he most certainly did not get away with it!
We all wish for a world of peace.. but it will never happen. Theres always too many people wanting to be in charge of somthing.. companies, people, cities, countries.. the world!! Which is why we will never not protect out countries by going to war.
10 years on and its still as gut wrenching as the day it happened. There will never be any justice for this terrible tragedy, because its just too deeply scared into us.. But we can strive to unite and to keep the love and peace flowing..
R.I.P to those who perished and my prayers go to all those affected x
I think America should get over 9/11, it has been far too long and far too much emphasis being placed on 9/11. If you are a true American like I am then you should go do your research and find the real terrorists who were behind the attacks. It was an INSIDE JOB and if you do not see this then you do not need to vote because you will defiantly vote for the wrong party.
We might have lost 3000 souls but we have also taken TENS OF THOUSANDS ON INNOCENT LIVES OVERSEAS for our greed and ego.
What have we achieved by chasing after a rat (Osama) or by bringing down a nation (Iraq)?? Nothing but a great loose in our economy and our stands of living.
I think we should get over 9/11 because we have created many 9/11s around the world ourselves and have lost many soldiers on the way. Fighting against an enemy which we cants even see nor do they have a nationally recognisable army.
We should concentrate on the reasons as to why our government goes to war, I mean we are the greatest country in the world but thanks to George Bush we act like rats ourselves. Being scared of Islamist. What a joke. Why dont we go and do our research on these muslims and see what they really believe in and over all, they are not even allowed to attack any nation, It is against their religion. So why don’t we think twice before we vote for another war against a muslim nation.
I just want to say that i have had enough of us Americans being idiots and we should start to concentrate on how to create peace between countries rather than imposing democracy in their homeland.
I had a courier business in central Pennsylvania that on 9/11 required me to deliver in Jamaica,Queens. As I drove towards the city, I heard on the radio that a plane had flown into the Trade Center, and there was still little information. I switched to an all news station and listened to their pilot talk about how this was a perfect flying day, and this made no sense. I started up the access to the Verrazzano Bridge and looked over to see the twin towers, with the smoke rising from North tower. I also noticed a dark grey plane, flying low and banking around and thinking "What is this guy doing, giving the passengers a better view??" and I watched in horror as this plane slammed into the South tower. In shock I continued out to Jamaica to make my delivery at the LIRR station, and watched on TV as the first tower fell. I then headed back towards PA, but wound up sitting on Staten Island in traffic for about 2 hours, and since I had a good signal for my phone, I passed it around for people to call their families. I did call to check on my brother, as he still did business up there. In speaking with my sister-in-law she informed me that he was safe at home and had cancelled the meeting on the 110th fl the night before. Having worked in the construction of the North Tower, I took this very personally.
I was awoken as the first plane hit a tower. At first I thought "This can't be real. It must be something Spielberg put together". Then more and more factors came into being and I realized it WAS all too real.
When I saw the images of people clinging to the upper floors I suddenly felt sick and then angry - not at the perpetrators (we didn't yet KNOW who did it) but at Mayor Dinkins, his staff and the brass at the FDNY.
You see - immediately following the parking garage bombing (in 1993) I'd written to Dinkins offering to retrofit the towers with a device which would enable the occupants to escape on their own - without blocking the firestairs (allowing firefighters their exclusive use).
Dinkins sent my letter to the 'FDNY Chief of Operations' (Ken Burns) who promptly rejected my offer - bragging about their 'Command and Control' (radio) system and some device known as a 'Lorenzo's Ladder'.
We ALL learned how ineffective the FDNY radio system proved that fateful day and I learned (from FDNY ground troops) that 'Lorenzo's Ladder' never HAD been used and never would be.
I had proposed installing a system of fabric chutes from the top floor to the street (INSIDE fire-hardened shafts).
These chutes were already proven effective in other high-rise evacuations AND could've saved thousands in THIS disaster.
Unfortunately the inventor's proposals had already been dismissed BY the FDNY brass so I figured by-passing them and going straight to the Mayor a better option. How niave of me.
Today another high-rise is being built on the same property and the same people are blocking the installation of ANY self-escape system in THIS tower.
When will American officials abandon their practices popularized by the first 2 of the 'Three Little Pigs'?
If you build a house of straw or twigs it's bound to fail come a strong wind.
HOPE for the best - but PLAN for the worst!
I was alone in the elevator when the first plane struck and did not hear the explosion. It wasn’t until, as I stood on line waiting to pay the cashier, I saw a young woman huddling against the wall sobbing and shaking. I asked the cashier what was wrong with her.
The cashier replied nonchalantly. “I guess some plane crashed into the Trade Center just now and she saw it.â€
I paid for my coffee and left. In my mind, I excused it with a mental image of a single engine prop crashing into the side of the tower, and dismissed it with the thought I would hear about it that evening on the eleven o’clock news.
But the guard at the gate wouldn’t let me return to my office. “There’s been some sort of incident next door,†he said. “They’ve shut down the elevators.â€
From the lobby of Seven World Trade Center, I could see through a wall of glass across a causeway into the heart of Tobin Plaza, the fountain in the center of the Trade Center. On a day bright, clear like today, by noon there would be crowds would gather in that plaza to eat their lunches and perhaps enjoy a little music, part of a whole summer of lunch time programs. Looking over now, I saw pieces of paper drifting down and what appeared to be thin white wisps of smoke.
I was irritated that my breakfast routine was being affected by some looser out to make the evening news, but there was nothing I could do, and my coffee was getting cold, so I went across the lobby to the conference center and found a comfortable seat in a lounge where I could sit. I was soon joined by a few people from another company. We were all sitting there when we heard a tremendous explosion. No one said anything but we all looked at each other. Then someone they knew stuck his head in the door. “Another plane just hit the other tower,†he said.
The impossibility of that statement hadn’t quite sunk in when he added, “It’s a 757. They’re evacuating the building.â€
My coffee mates were quick to comply with the evacuation order. I, on the other hand, had just about had it! All I wanted was a cup of coffee. I stayed right there and leisurely finished my coffee and Danish.
When I finally returned to the lobby, it was nearly empty. Now looking across to Tobin Plaza I could see what appeared to be the wreckage of a jet engine belching flames and thick black smoke in a place where the huge bronze statue had stood. I went up to the two security guards at the desk and asked if there was anything I could do. They said no and directed me to get out of the building through the loading dock. On my way out I passed the front glass doors of the building, the very heavy green glass doors I always used to enter the building every morning, and where I’d come through about an hour earlier. All the glass was shatter and broken. Out on the street, smoke hovered over parked cars.
I was guided down to the basement of 7 World Trade and out the loading dock. As I came into the morning air, I looked up and saw, directly overhead, a black yawning chasm near the top of the north tower; flames and thick black smoke poured from the wound. At that moment, I understood the seriousness of it, realized many people had died.
I moved on quickly, walking north a few blocks. The sidewalks were filled with people standing quite still and looking up into the bright morning sun trying to comprehend what they were seeing. I did not look back. I knew now that I would be seeing this on television for weeks to come.
I walked north up Greenwich Street and as I did, I passed an army of people walking and running the other way and I marveled at man’s insatiable appetite for disaster, pain and carnage. I, for one, wanted none of it. I suppose because I was a Vietnam vet I was not surprised at the act, only at the capacity of Americans for spectacle.
I was ten blocks along when I ran into a guy from my office. Marc was standing in the middle of the street trying to make his cell phone work. I asked if I could use his cell phone to call my wife. I dialed the number and listened but there was no ring. I hung up and tried again. As I waited for a ring, the south tower, tower number 2, began to crumble and implode. My back was to it. Marc, who was facing it was saying look, look, the tower’s falling. “The tower’s falling,†he kept telling me. I could not turn to look. I had worked in that tower for many years before taking this new job a year earlier and the first thought that ran through my head was the faces of those co-workers.
He looked at me incredulously. “You didn’t see it!†he said.
“Come on, let’s find a bar that’s open,†I replied. “I think we both need a drink.â€
We walked several blocks before we found a restaurant with a lounge. Above the bar, the television was showing rerun after rerun of the collapsing tower. At first they told us the bar was closed. I pointed to the television. “We just walked out of that,†I said. A few minutes later, a young man appeared at the bar and ask what we would like to drink. I ordered a whiskey.
Marc and I were sitting at a table watching the television and sipping our drinks when the second tower collapsed. I finally got up and went to a pay phone by the restrooms and called my wife.
She was hysterical. “You told me you were going back in!†she screamed. “I thought you were dead.â€
I started dating a man in my office in August 2001. On the Tuesday of September 11, we walked in to our office on 14th Street together (the first time we had been brave enough to do that) full of optimism -- it was such a beautiful day.
Later that day, he helped organize a group of panicky employees to walk home to Brooklyn over the Manhattan Bridge. We held hands, looking at the smoking towers as we tried to get home. I was so grateful he was there.
We've now been married for four years and are expecting a baby. I'll never be able to forget just how long it's been since 9/11 -- those ten years are the story of our lives together.
On the evening of 9/11, my band had a show scheduled at House of Blues in Las Vegas (we thought about canceling but then the terrorists would have won). After we played our show, I saw a woman at the bar with a "weird" look. I asked her if she was OK. She said that she worked in the World Trade Center and was on vacation in Vegas for a week. A temp was taking her place in the tower.
