9/11 The Search for Justice Part One: The Day

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[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_04] I'm Kevin. Today we're going to begin a series of episodes on September 11th by focusing on the events of the day itself.

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_00] Content warning. This episode contains discussion of suicide, murder, terrorism. It includes the voices of victims of 9-11. This is going to be a pretty harrowing episode.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_04] This is the first of a series of episodes about the events of September 11th, 2001. It has been 25 years since 9-11. For many of us who were adults then, it seems as fresh as yesterday. But a quarter of a century is a long time, and so some of the details of that day may not be as top of mind as they once were.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00] For that reason, we are starting with an episode that is going to focus on the events and losses of that day.

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_04] Before we get started, we wanted to cite our sources. The 9-11 Commission report has been a huge resource. The Historical Office of the Secretary of Defense put out a terrific book called Pentagon 9-11 that also has a lot of great information. We've also relied upon some FBI documents that have been released on that agency's website. There's a website called FamousTrials.com that has a terrific section on the Zacharias Moussaoui trial. The exhibits from that trial have also been useful.

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_04] We've also consulted The Only Plane in the Sky, a terrific book by Garrett Graff. In other contexts, you may recall that we've been very critical of Reddit, but we have to give credit where it is due. And the 9-11 archive subreddit is an absolutely tremendous resource that has been a huge help during the preparation of these episodes. We've also relied upon CNN.

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_00] One more thing. Occasionally in these episodes, we will read from documents of some kind or another. Whenever we start or finish reading them, you will hear this sound.

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_04] One last note about something we are doing a bit differently in this episode. Once we start telling this story, we do not want to interrupt it for advertisements. In a moment, we will be playing our usual opening. Immediately after that, we will have an ad break. When we return from that, we will start the story and there will be no further advertisements in this episode.

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_00] My name is Anya Kane. I'm a journalist.

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_04] And I'm Kevin Greenlee. I'm an attorney. And this is Murder Sheet. We're a true crime podcast focused on original reporting, interviews and deep dives into murder cases.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_00] We're The Murder Sheet.

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_04] And this is 9-11, the search for justice part one, the day.

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[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_04] The day, of course, started normally.

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_00] In the Washington, D.C. suburbs, new U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson and his wife Barbara rose early. She had been scheduled to fly out to Los Angeles the day before to make an appearance on Bill Maher's show. But she had changed her flight. This was Ted's birthday, and she wanted to at least see him on his special day.

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_04] In New York City, an FBI agent put a wiretap on a man named Steven McArdle. He was cooperating with them on an investigation and was about to meet with a person suspected of taking bribes.

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER_06] This is Special Agent Ronnie Miller with the Public Corruption Squad of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Today's date is September 11th, the year 2001. The time now is approximately 736 a.m. Today we'll be doing a consensual body recording between Steven McArdle and Howard Habler.

[00:13:20] [SPEAKER_00] The two men would be meeting for a bite at the Marriott World Trade Center Hotel.

[00:13:25] [SPEAKER_04] The attacks started in the air. On American Flight 11, around 8.14 a.m., two hijackers who were sitting in the first-class section of the plane stabbed a pair of flight attendants and then somehow forced their way into the cockpit.

[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_00] Muhammad Atta and two other hijackers were in business class. After stabbing a passenger who may have tried to stop them, the trio made their way to their colleagues in the cockpit.

[00:13:52] [SPEAKER_04] At some point, the hijackers sprayed something like mace in the cabin.

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_00] A few minutes after the attack began, flight attendant Betty Ong called the American Airlines Southeastern Reservation Center to report what was going on. Here are some excerpts from that call.

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_14] Number three in the back, the cockpit's not answering. Somebody stabbed in business class. And I think there's mace that we can't breathe. I don't know. I think we're getting hijacked. Which one are you on?

[00:14:25] [SPEAKER_08] Ma'am, what seat are you in?

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_14] We just left Boston. We're up in the air. We're supposed to go to L.A. and the cockpit's not answering their phone.

[00:14:34] [SPEAKER_08] Okay, but what seat are you sitting in? What's the number of your seat?

[00:14:38] [SPEAKER_14] Okay, I'm in my jump seat right now. Okay. At 3R.

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_08] Okay, you're the flight attendant?

[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_14] You're going to have to speak up. I can't hear you.

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER_07] Sure. What is your name?

[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_14] Okay, my name is Betty Ong. I'm number three on flight 11.

[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_07] Okay.

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_14] And the cockpit is not answering their phone. And there's somebody stabbed in business class. And we can't breathe in business class. Somebody's got mace or something.

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_08] Can you describe the person that you said someone is what in business class?

[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_14] I'm sitting in the back. Somebody's coming back from business. If you can hold on for one second, they're coming back.

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_12] Okay.

[00:15:26] [SPEAKER_14] Our number one is staff. Our person is staff. Nobody knows who's staffed who. And we can't even get up to business class right now because nobody can breathe. Our number one is staffed right now.

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_08] Okay.

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_14] And our number five, our first class passengers, our first class galley flight attendant, and our purser is in staff. And we can't get into the cockpit. The door won't open. Can anybody get up to the cockpit? Can anybody get up to the cockpit? We can't even get into the cockpit. We don't know who's up there.

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_07] Well, if they were shrewd, they would keep the door closed and they would be able to get up to the cockpit.

[00:16:10] [SPEAKER_14] I'm sorry?

[00:16:12] [SPEAKER_07] Would they not maintain a serial cockpit?

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_14] I think the guys are up there. They might have gone down their way up there or something. Nobody can call the cockpit. We can't even get inside.

[00:16:23] [SPEAKER_04] As the plane changed course and headed towards New York City, life there went on as normal. Stephen McArdle and the man the FBI was investigating were chatting idly. They had no idea what was about to hit them.

[00:16:38] [SPEAKER_05] Can you have some water please?

[00:16:40] Thank you.

[00:16:52] [SPEAKER_12] Who is that from New York?

[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_05] That was an explosion.

[00:16:57] Wow.

[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_05] That was an explosion.

[00:17:48] [SPEAKER_00] The noise you just heard was the sound of Flight 11 crashing into the north tower of the World Trade Center at 846 AM and exploding. Everyone on board was killed immediately. McArdle and his dining companion lived.

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_04] It is not clear how many people in the tower were killed in that initial blast. Those on the upper stories who survived the impact found themselves in a new reality that is horrifying to contemplate. Their offices became impossibly hot from the heat of the burning jet fuel. The air became so filled with smoke it quickly became a challenge just to take a breath.

[00:18:30] [SPEAKER_04] And being so high up in the sky they couldn't even be certain anyone would be able to get to them to offer any help.

[00:18:37] [SPEAKER_00] We will return to the people in the tower in a moment, but for now let's stay in the air. As we said, the north tower was hit at 846 AM.

[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_04] Sometime between 842 and 846 AM, hijackers took over United Flight 175. It appears as if they used similar tactics as what had been done on the earlier flight. Members of the flight crew got stabbed. Both pilots were killed. The flight began moving erratically as it headed towards New York, flying in such a jerky manner that some passengers began to vomit.

[00:19:13] [SPEAKER_00] As things got more and more out of control, a former Navy pilot named Brian Sweeney called his wife Julia and left a voice veil. He sounded amazingly calm.

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_02] Jules, this is Ryan. I live on an airplane that's been hijacked. If things don't go well, it's not looking good. I just want you to know I absolutely love you. I want you to be good. I'm so happy for your time. Same to my parents and everybody. I just totally love you and I'll see you in the future. Bye babe. What if I call you?

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_04] Peter and Sue Kim Hanson were on the flight with her two and a half year old daughter, Christine. They were taking her to Disneyland and she was pretty excited about it. Peter was able to reach his father on the phone. It's getting bad, Dad, he said. Passengers are throwing up and getting sick. The plane is making jerky movements. I don't think the pilot is flying the plane. I think they intend to fly into a building. Don't worry, Dad.

[00:20:16] [SPEAKER_04] If it happens, it'll be very fast. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_00] A moment later, Peter's father saw the footage of his son's plane striking the south tower of the World Trade Center at 9.03 and 8.00 a.m.

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_04] Before we go to the towers, let's stay in the air. American Flight 7-7 left Dulles Airport for Los Angeles at 8.20 a.m. This was the flight that Barbara Olson was on. A group of 11-year-olds was also on the flight. They were going to take an educational trip to a marine sanctuary. One of those 11-year-olds was the child of an officer who was on duty at the Pentagon.

[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_00] The hijacking started around 8.51 a.m. At about 9.16 a.m., Barbara Olson called her husband Ted. By this time, of course, he knew about what was happening in New York. And so when she told him that her plane had been hijacked, he knew immediately how serious the situation was. She wanted her husband to tell her what she should tell the pilot to do.

[00:21:18] [SPEAKER_04] The Pentagon was only five stories high, making it a much smaller target than the World Trade Center towers. The hijacker piloting the plane, Hani Hanjer, needed to get close to the ground. This must have been terrifying both for the people in the plane and those outside. Witnesses described the plane flying so low that its underside reflected buildings below. The plane also hit several light poles along Route 27.

[00:21:47] [SPEAKER_00] The plane hit the Pentagon at 9.37 a.m.

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_04] Although we did not know it at the time, there was only one more plane. United Flight 93 ran late that morning. It did not take off until 8.42 a.m., about 25 minutes later than scheduled. And of course, that was also about four minutes before Flight 11 hit the North Tower.

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_00] The hijackers attacked around 9.28 a.m., storming the cockpit. Incredibly, a portion of this was broadcast to air traffic control.

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_04] The man yelling, Mayday, has been identified as First Officer Leroy Homer. About 35 seconds after the first call, there was a second transmission.

[00:22:43] [SPEAKER_00] Cockpit voice recorder data also suggests that the hijackers were holding a woman in the cockpit. She fought back and appears to have been killed.

[00:22:53] [SPEAKER_04] Meanwhile, in the back of the plane, the passengers began making phone calls. Not everyone was able to reach their loved ones, and so some had to leave voicemail. Here is a message Flight Attendant Cece Lyles left for her husband.

[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_10] Tuesday, 9.47 a.m. You have to listen to me carefully. I'm on a plane that's been hijacked. I'm on the plane. I'm calling from the plane. I want to tell you I love you. Please tell my children that I love them very much. And I'm so sorry, babe. I don't know what to say. There's three guys that have hijacked the plane. I'm trying to be calm. We're turned around, and I heard that their planes have been flown into the World Trade Center.

[00:23:38] [SPEAKER_10] I hope to be able to see your face again, baby. I love you. Bye. Bye.

[00:23:53] [SPEAKER_00] And here is a message Linda Grunlund left for her sister. Linda and her boyfriend were flying to California for a trip to the wine country to celebrate her birthday.

[00:24:03] [SPEAKER_09] We have a minute. I'm on United 93, and it's been hijacked by terrorists who say they have a bomb. Apparently, they have flown a couple of planes into the World Trade Center already, and it looks like they're going to take this one down as well. So, mostly I just wanted to say I love you. And I'm going to miss you.

[00:24:26] [SPEAKER_09] I love you. And I just wanted to tell you that. I don't know if I'm going to be able to tell you that it got her. The safe is in my closet in my bedroom.

[00:24:50] [SPEAKER_09] The combination is you push C for clear, and then it should, and maybe pound, and then it should unlock. I hope I can talk to you soon.

[00:25:06] [SPEAKER_04] The passengers who were able to reach their family and loved ones learned from them about what had happened at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They realized then the great danger they were in. That the men who'd hijacked their plane were likely planning to crash it into another building.

[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_00] Unless they did something, they were all doomed to die.

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_04] They came up with a plan. They would storm the cockpit and seize control of the plane from the hijackers. This passenger revolt began at 9.57 a.m.

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_00] The hijacker pilot had one of his associates block the door and meanwhile started rolling the plane back and forth in a frantic attempt to disrupt the passengers.

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_04] While this was going on, passenger Edward Felt was in the plane's bathroom. He called 9-1-1. As he speaks, he might hear background noise of the plane making sudden movements.

[00:25:58] [SPEAKER_03] Hijacking in progress. Excuse me? Hijacking in progress. What? Sir, I'm losing you. Where are you at? United Flight 93. Wait a minute, wait a minute. United Flight 93. United Flight 93. Okay, where are you out of? Where are you out of? I'm in the bathroom. United Flight 93. Okay, where are you at? Okay, where are you at? Where are you at? I don't know where the plane is at work. Where did you take off at? Newark to San Francisco.

[00:26:25] Newark to San Francisco. United Flight 93. I got it. Okay, stay on the phone with me, sir. I'm trying to. At the bathroom.

[00:26:31] [SPEAKER_03] Okay. Hey, somebody get the FAA. Newark to San Francisco, they're going to hijack in progress.

[00:26:37] Hijacking in progress.

[00:26:39] [SPEAKER_03] You're in progress. Okay. Yeah. Get somebody from the airport on the line. This is a hijacking in progress. Are you still in there, sir? Yes, I am. What's your name, sir? Edward Felt. Edward Felt. What's your phone number, sir? 732. Go ahead. 241. Go ahead. 6974. How big of a plane, sir? It's a 757. This is a 757.

[00:27:04] It's a 757.

[00:27:05] [SPEAKER_03] It's a 757. Sir? Sir?

[00:27:11] Yes.

[00:27:11] [SPEAKER_03] Okay, how many people's on the plane? It was pretty up. Sir, can you still hear me? Dude, there's no one.

[00:27:39] [SPEAKER_03] They said the plane's going down. It's over Mount Pleasant Township somewhere. Sir?

[00:27:48] It's over Mount Pleasant Township somewhere.

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_03] It's going down. They're making an announcement on D6. It's over Mount Pleasant somewhere. Hello? Hello?

[00:28:15] [SPEAKER_00] In the front of the plane, it is unclear if the passengers succeeded in getting into the cockpit. But, according to the 9-11 Commission report, the hijackers must have judged that the passengers were only seconds from overcoming them. And so they took the plane down, crashing into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

[00:28:35] [SPEAKER_04] Everyone aboard died immediately.

[00:28:37] [SPEAKER_00] It was 10.03 a.m. There would be no more plane crashes that day. But of course, the suffering on the ground continued.

[00:28:46] [SPEAKER_04] As a Pentagon, much of the death happened quickly. 189 people were killed. Most of those lost their lives in the moments after the impact.

[00:28:57] [SPEAKER_00] But let's focus now on some lives that were saved. We would like to tell you about Lieutenant David Tarantino. He was a Navy flight surgeon whose office was in a part of the Pentagon that was not affected by the plane hitting. Instead of evacuating for his own safety, David decided to try to save people. And so he plunged into the smoke. It soon became too thick for him. And so he fell to the ground and started crawling towards the destruction.

[00:29:26] [SPEAKER_04] He soon encountered Navy Captain David Thomas, a man he had never met before. Thomas was searching for his commanding officer, Captain Robert Dolan. He did not realize that Dolan was already dead.

[00:29:38] [SPEAKER_00] The two men went into the Navy command center. Thomas told the authors of Pentagon 9-11 what happened next.

[00:29:46] [SPEAKER_04] At this point in this area, there were live electrical wires. I got shocked twice. It's so hot that the debris is melting and dripping off the ceiling onto your skin. And it would sear and melt your uniform. We went a little farther, turning a corner and came into this bombed out office space. There was a roaring inferno of destruction and smoke and flames and intense heat you could feel searing your face.

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_00] They discovered office chief Jerry Henson buried in rubble and debris. Thomas continues his story.

[00:30:21] [SPEAKER_04] There is this face, almost like a caricature of a face. It appeared to be floating in space. Just this face at an angle, cut up. It looked like a Halloween thing. It was just sitting there. It looks like it's floating. Then I focused a little further in and it's actually a guy's head squashed between furniture and his desk.

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_00] The men struggled to free Henson, but the weight of the debris was too much. Tarantino ended up getting on the floor and pushing the weight off Henson with his legs, while Thomas struggled to raise it with his shoulders. They were finally able to lift it a few inches, enough for Henson to free himself. Once they were all safely outside, Thomas looked at Tarantino, a man he didn't even know.

[00:31:06] [SPEAKER_04] I don't know what the hell is motivating this guy, but he's just as insane as I am. He might not make it and I don't even know who the hell he is.

[00:31:15] [SPEAKER_00] Thomas then suddenly yanked Tarantino's name tag off his shirt. He explained why.

[00:31:21] [SPEAKER_04] In case one of us doesn't make it, at least if I do, I'll know who you were and I'll tell your parents.

[00:31:28] [SPEAKER_00] Fortunately, Thomas and Tarantino both survived.

[00:31:31] [SPEAKER_04] Meanwhile, in New York, people were going through their own version of hell.

[00:31:37] [SPEAKER_00] This situation was very different from what happened at the Pentagon. Both World Trade Towers had 110 floors. Flight 11 hit the North Tower between the 93rd and 99th floors. Flight 175 hit the South Tower between the 77th and 85th floors.

[00:31:57] [SPEAKER_04] That meant there was an unknown number of people on the floors above the impact points. People who were not killed in the crash. People with no obvious way of escape. People who clearly needed help.

[00:32:10] [SPEAKER_00] We don't believe that any of us can ever fully understand what it was like for the people in the upper floors of those towers.

[00:32:17] [SPEAKER_04] One way to try to imagine the horror of it all is this. The first plane hit at 8.46 a.m. Within just a few minutes, people can be seen falling out of the building. These are people who had been living an ordinary, routine, normal work day just five or ten minutes before. And now they are tumbling from the tower.

[00:32:36] [SPEAKER_00] These people are often called jumpers. And we will use that term since it seems to be the accepted term. But we are not sure if it is entirely accurate. It suggests that the people who fell from the building were making a conscious choice to do so. For some, that is certainly true.

[00:32:54] [SPEAKER_04] In some of the footage, some of them are holding hands, getting what comfort they can from one another as they do the only thing they can do to end their suffering. Think of how nightmarish it was inside the towers if jumping feels like the better option.

[00:33:10] [SPEAKER_00] Some, though, may have fallen accidentally or inadvertently. There was smoke everywhere, making breathing a constant struggle and also making it challenging to see anything. And then there was the heat. The intense, scorching heat. At least one survivor said the heat melted his contact lenses to his eyes. People also spoke about the heat melting the bottoms of their shoes.

[00:33:34] [SPEAKER_04] When a person encounters that kind of heat, their natural instinct is to pull away from it. We believe it is possible at least some people just rushed blindly away from the smoke and the heat and ended up going through a broken window.

[00:33:48] [SPEAKER_00] In any case, one thing we want to stress is that whether these so-called jumpers made a decision to end their suffering or not, none of them committed suicide. They are all murder victims.

[00:33:59] [SPEAKER_04] Let's hear directly from someone inside the towers. This is a call from Melissa Doy, who is on the 83rd floor of the South Tower.

[00:34:08] [SPEAKER_13] Good morning, Mother's God. 8695, good morning, have a good day. Hi, what's going on again, please? 8695. I'm on the 83rd floor. 86 what? I'm on the 83rd floor. Ma'am, I'll tell them the 86 what? 8695. 8695. She had to watch for a sister. Someone having difficulty breathing on the 83rd floor. Ma'am, how you doing? Is it, is it, are they going to be able to get somebody up here? Of course, ma'am, we're coming up to you. Well, there's no one here yet and the floor is completely engulfed. We're on the floor and we can't breathe. Okay.

[00:34:37] [SPEAKER_13] And it's very, very, very hot. It's very, is all the lights still on? The lights are on, but it's very hot. Ma'am, ma'am. Very hot. We're all the way on the other side of Liberty. And it's very, very hot. Any lights, do you think you can turn the lights off? No. No, the lights are off. Okay, good. Now, everybody stay calm. You're doing a good job. Please. Ma'am, listen. Damn it, everybody's calm. Everybody knows. Everybody knows what happened, okay?

[00:35:03] [SPEAKER_11] Sure.

[00:35:03] [SPEAKER_13] But no, no, they have to take time to come up here. You know that. You've got to be very careful. It's very hot. I understand. You've got to be very, very careful how they approach you, okay? All right. So when they come upstairs, it won't be worse than it is. Now, you stay calm. How many people where you're at right now? There's like five people here with me. All up on the 83rd floor? 83rd floor. With five people. Five patients. Everybody's having trouble breathing? Everybody's having trouble breathing. Some people are worse. Some people are unconscious.

[00:35:34] [SPEAKER_13] Everybody's awake? So far, yes. Listen, listen. Everybody's awake? Yes, so far. Conscious. And it's very hot there, but no fire, right? I can't see because it's too hot. Very hot. No fire for now. And no smoke, right? No smoke, right? Of course there's smoke. Ma'am, ma'am, you have to stay calm. There is smoke. I can't breathe. Okay, you stay calm with me, okay? I understand you. I think there is fire because it's very hot. Okay. It's very hot everywhere on the floor. Okay.

[00:36:01] [SPEAKER_13] I know you don't see it, and I know, but I'm going to document what you say, okay? And it's very hot. I see no fire, but you see smoke, right? It's very hot. I see any air anymore. Okay. All I see is smoke. Okay, dear. I'm so sorry. Hold on. Stay calm with me. Stay calm. Please. Listen, listen. The call is in. I'm documented. I'm going to let those. Hold on one second, please. I'm going to die, aren't I? No, no, no, no, no, no. Say your prayers. I'm going to die. Ma'am, ma'am, ma'am. Ma'am, say your prayers. I'm going to die.

[00:36:31] [SPEAKER_13] You're going to think positive because you've got to help each other get off the floor. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm. Please, God. You're doing a good job, ma'am. You're doing a good job. It's so hot. I'm burning up. Okay. If you don't, the floor is hot and everything is hot. They're all their deaths. When you go up high, you get too close away from the smoke. Okay. I know you know. Hold on a second. 83rd floor. Three people trapped. Where? Very hot on the 83rd floor. Three people trapped. Having trouble breathing.

[00:37:01] [SPEAKER_13] Very hot. Wait, wait. We're here, boys. That's what I'm doing. I'm just letting you know. Hello, ma'am? Hello. Stay calm. Ma'am? Ma'am? Just don't move. Oh, my God. They coming through with you now? Find out if there's anybody here on the 83rd floor. Ma'am, don't worry. You stay on the phone with me and we're... Can you find out if there's anyone on the 83rd floor?

[00:37:31] [SPEAKER_13] Because... Ma'am, I already... Excuse me. I already notified this lieutenant. Okay? Uh, 8-0 I notified. 8-0? Yes, Lieutenant 8-0. I already notified the lieutenant that there's five people on the first floor, right? Very hot and smoky. So they will overlook you. Okay, dear? Can you... Can you... I already did that, ma'am. Can I align with you, please? Yes, ma'am. I am going to stay with you.

[00:37:51] [SPEAKER_11] Are they behind you?

[00:37:52] [SPEAKER_13] Listen, this is... Uh... They're here? Are they inside with you yet, dear? No. Okay, stay calm till they get inside. Can you find out where they are? Ma'am, stay... Ma'am, stay calm till they get inside. Karen! Am I? What's the job you have? I have 727. 727? Yes.

[00:38:10] [SPEAKER_00] That is where the publicly available version of the call ends. But the call went on longer. Melissa asked the operator to tell her mother that she loved her. As the call went on, Melissa stopped speaking. The operator made a comment that it sounded as if Melissa had gone to sleep and was snoring.

[00:38:29] [SPEAKER_04] What had likely happened was that Melissa had lost consciousness due to smoke inhalation. The snoring-like noises were agonal breathing, which is a sign of the nearness of death.

[00:38:41] [SPEAKER_00] Let's talk about the people who were there to help. Let's talk about the firefighters. They arrived at the scene quickly and almost immediately began paying a steep price. As they arrived at the site, 37-year-old firefighter Danny Sir was struck and killed by someone falling from one of the towers. He is considered the first FDNY fatality of the day.

[00:39:03] [SPEAKER_04] Other firefighters rushed into the towers and started going up the flights of stairs, trying desperately to reach the people who needed them.

[00:39:11] [SPEAKER_00] Civilians on the street also stepped up and did what they could to help. We could give many, many examples of this, but here is one that stood out to us. It's the story of Ron Clifford. He told that story on RTE's Late Late Show. And we are going to read some of what he had to say.

[00:39:29] [SPEAKER_04] I had a little bit of time on my hands, and so I walked around the lobby. While I was in the lobby, the initial explosion happened. And I thought it was maybe a ruptured fuel tank in the basement. I had no idea that a plane had crashed into the tower. And after a while, I spotted through a haze this woman who was badly burned. This Italian woman needed some help. So I sat her down in the lobby, and I knew she had been on fire. So I went in to douse her.

[00:39:57] [SPEAKER_04] So I ran in, got a plastic bag, and filled it with water and doused her. She was still very alert, but in a lot of pain. I couldn't get over the fact that we weren't getting any support or help. Nobody was running to us to help us. And after quite a while with her on the floor, she told me she was a Catholic. So I said, let's say the Lord's Prayer. While saying the prayer, there was another incredible explosion, and the whole building shook.

[00:40:22] [SPEAKER_00] Later, Ron would learn that the second explosion was Flight 175 hitting the South Tower. He would also learn that his sister, Ruth McCourt, and her four-year-old daughter, Juliana, were on that flight, on their way to Disneyland.

[00:40:38] [SPEAKER_04] The woman Ron helped and comforted would die of her injuries about six weeks later.

[00:40:43] [SPEAKER_00] Meanwhile, the firefighters kept climbing those steps.

[00:40:47] [SPEAKER_04] Let's get ahead of them for a moment and go up to the 84th floor of the South Tower. Let's check in on a man named Brian Clark.

[00:40:54] [SPEAKER_00] Flight 175 hit the building between floors 77 and 85. Brian survived that, as did a small group of his co-workers. They found a stairway and started heading down. But a woman stopped them. She said there was fire and smoke. She said the only thing that made sense would be for them to head up to the roof and wait for a helicopter rescue.

[00:41:18] [SPEAKER_04] Even without the benefit of hindsight, those people must have realized what we all know now. If in that moment they made the wrong choice, it would likely cost them their lives. But how could you possibly know in that moment exactly what the right decision was?

[00:41:37] [SPEAKER_00] As they were going back and forth about it, Brian heard someone on the 81st floor call for help. That more or less made his choice for him. He stepped out onto the 81st floor. The group he had been with headed up the steps.

[00:41:52] [SPEAKER_04] None of them would survive.

[00:41:53] [SPEAKER_00] Brian found a man named Stanley Premath trapped under some wreckage. Brian freed him and the men returned to the steps. They headed down.

[00:42:02] [SPEAKER_04] If more people had known there was an open and passable stairway, then perhaps more people would have been saved. But even Brian and Stanley did not seem to recognize the danger they were in. When they reached the 31st floor, they discovered a working phone and took the time to make a few calls.

[00:42:20] [SPEAKER_00] When they reached ground level, a rescue worker told them to run, and they did. Three minutes later, weakened by the damage caused by the crash and the intense heat of the fires, the tower collapsed, killing virtually everyone inside.

[00:42:36] [SPEAKER_04] In the minutes before the collapse, a man named Kevin Cosgrove phoned for help from the 105th floor of the South Tower.

[00:42:44] [SPEAKER_12] All right, sir, what's the telephone number waiting for us to see the pick-up? What's the telephone number you pick? You can do AC. You can do AC. 441-26-23. 441-26-23. I'll be right back. We're going 105th floor in the northwest corner, right? Right. At number 2 World Trade Center. Right.

[00:43:14] [SPEAKER_12] There's two of us in this office. We're not ready to die, but it's getting bad. I want you to help me. We can do it. All the AC. I'm trying to let them know where you are.

[00:43:26] [SPEAKER_04] It may have been difficult to understand, but near the end of that clip, Kevin said, there are two of us in this office. We are not ready to die, but it's getting bad.

[00:43:37] [SPEAKER_00] Here is a moment a bit later in the call.

[00:44:11] [SPEAKER_04] He said, we're young men. We are not ready to die.

[00:44:16] [SPEAKER_00] Let's play the conclusion of the call. We want to warn you. The call ends with the collapse of the building and the death of virtually everyone inside, including Kevin Cosgrove. Cosgrove.

[00:44:34] [SPEAKER_12] I don't know. You're going to get my ass down. I need oxygen. They're going to be. They have a lot of acrobatics. I think I'm going to see you like it, lady. You get them in from Ohio. They're going from Jersey. I don't give you a lot of time. I'm going to be. Mine's Cosgrove. I must have called about a dozen times already. Cosgrove.

[00:45:03] [SPEAKER_12] C-O-S-G-R-O-V-E. My wife thinks I'm all right. I called her and said I was leaving the building. I was fine. I'm bang. So, so, so. That's right. And I want you to hear it. It's not better. It's not better. It's not true, man. Dead Kelly. You know that? Yeah. Dead Kelly is next to me. It's not 105. That's right. That's right. Who's office? That's right. John Astro's office.

[00:45:33] [SPEAKER_12] Okay. That's what you said? That's the office? We're at John Astro's office. What's that? O-S-T. O-S-T. O-R-U. O-R-U. O-R-U? Right. That's the office. There's three of us in here. O-S-T-O-I-U. O-S-T-A-R-U. Hello. Hello. We're looking at the financial center. To three of us. Two broken windows.

[00:46:04] [SPEAKER_11] Oh, God! Oh!

[00:46:09] [SPEAKER_04] It was 9.59 a.m. The South Tower had been on fire for 56 minutes.

[00:46:15] [SPEAKER_00] The North Tower was still standing, but everyone now realized it, too, was in danger of collapse. At 10 a.m., FDNY Battalion Chief Joseph Pfeiffer ordered all FDNY personnel to evacuate. But there were communication problems, and it is not clear if everyone received the order.

[00:46:34] [SPEAKER_04] The North Tower collapsed at 1028 a.m. It had been on fire for 102 minutes.

[00:46:40] [SPEAKER_00] After the buildings fell, in some ways, the worst of it was over, though some people would continue to suffer and even die from their injuries. There were still people to rescue and a city to rebuild. And everyone wanted justice.

[00:46:55] [SPEAKER_04] When all was said and done, nearly 3,000 people died as a result of the attacks of September 11. The survivors and those who loved the dead now needed to figure out some way to process their enormous loss.

[00:47:10] [SPEAKER_00] We are reminded of a quote we have read before on this program, Something from the End of The Bridge of San Luis Rey, a novel by Thornton Wilder. It is a story about a friar trying to find meaning in the deaths of five people who perished in a bridge collapse.

[00:47:27] [SPEAKER_04] But soon we shall die, and all memory of those five will have left the earth. And we ourselves shall be loved for a while and forgotten. But the love will have been enough. All those impulses of love return to the love that made them. Even memory is not necessary for love. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead, and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.

[00:47:56] [SPEAKER_04] On the evening of September 11, when Ted Olson returned home and made his way to his bed, he discovered that before heading to the airport, his wife Barbara had written a note to him and left it on his bed.

[00:48:10] [SPEAKER_00] Ted, I love you more than I ever thought it possible to love. You are my best friend, lover, everything to me. Happy 61st birthday, and know that I am thinking of you as you read this.

[00:48:23] [SPEAKER_04] Some found the losses of September 11 to be just too much to bear. Pendula Vamsi Krishna, or Vamsi, was on Flight 11, the plane that hit the North Tower. His widow, Krasana Kalihasti, took her life a few weeks later. She left a note.

[00:48:43] [SPEAKER_00] I am extremely sorry for what I have done. I have tried my best to be the other way, and I find it is very hard. I loved Vamsi too much, and he was the only hope for me. He always spoke about how to deal with tough times, but never did, I think. I will be left alone without him. I love Vamsi too much, and the pain is excruciating. I am not able to deal with it. If there exists any form after this life, I will be with him.

[00:49:10] [SPEAKER_00] If not, at least it will relieve me from the deep pain. I need to be with my loving hubby, Vamsi. He means a lot to me, and I know I am being selfish, but try to understand I can't live without him. Goodbye.