6. “have you seen my wife?”: World Trade Center Task Force interview with Kevin Barrett, January 17, 2002, p. 4.
7. “I shall impersonate a man”: From the 1965 Broadway musical Man of La Mancha, book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion, music by Mitch Leigh.
8. loudly quoted scripture: Renea Henry, “9/11 Survivor Gil Weinstein Speaks to Community Synagogue,” New York Patch, September 10, 2011.
9. “Let’s go for it!”: Interview with Gerry Gaeta, October 23, 2017. Also Murphy, p. 52.
10. trapped on higher floors: The heroism of Frank De Martini, Pablo Ortiz, and others is covered at length by Dwyer and Flynn in 102 Minutes. Their account is based in part on a narrative record assembled by Roberta Gordon, an attorney and friend of the De Martini family. Their story also is featured in the Discovery Channel documentary Heroes of the 88th Floor.
11. “We are going to die”: Interview with Gerry Gaeta, October 23, 2017. Also Murphy, p. 53.
12. 56-inch-wide: NIST NCSTAR 1-7 report: Occupant Behavior, Egress and Emergency Communications, http://ws680.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=101046, p. 27.
13. “Only another ten floors”: Interview with Gerry Gaeta, October 23, 2017. Also Murphy, p. 53.
14. “What do you suggest?”: Transcripts of World Trade Center radio transmissions, Channel 24, Phone Clerk, pp. 6–7. Also see Dwyer and Flynn, pp. 123–25.
15. accountant John Abruzzo: September 11 Memorial Memo Blog, “Colleagues Use Special Chair to Save Quadriplegic on 9/11,” www.911memorial.org/blog/colleagues-use-special-chair-save-quadriplegic-911.
16. “Oh my god . . . Jennieann is there”: Interview with Andrea Maffeo, February 1, 2017.
17. belonged to Dave Bobbitt: Dennis Cauchon and Martha T. Moore, “Elevators Were Disaster Within Disaster,” USA Today, September 11, 2002. The investigation by USA Today provided a complex and authoritative look at the failure of elevators in the World Trade Center after the planes hit the Twin Towers. Chris Young was among the scores of people interviewed by Cauchon and Moore.
18. blowing out doors and walls: NIST NCSTAR 1, WTC Investigation, p. 24.
19. Jan Demczur: Jim Dwyer, “A NATION CHALLENGED: OBJECTS; Fighting for Life 50 Floors Up, with One Tool and Ingenuity,” New York Times, October 9, 2001. Also see Victoria Dawson, “Handed Down to History,” Smithsonian, July 2002, Vol. 33, Issue 4, p. 40.
20. never systematically checked: Dennis Cauchon and Martha T. Moore, “Elevators Were Disaster Within Disaster,” USA Today, September 11, 2002.
21. four men and three women: Young didn’t recall their names, but their story is included in Dwyer and Flynn, pp. 179–81.
22. “lock release order”: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 294.
23. returned to the lobby: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 299.
Chapter 16: “They Done Blowed Up the Pentagon”
1. sixty years to the day: Steve Vogel, The Pentagon: A History (New York: Random House, 2007), p. 126.
2. 71 feet tall: Details about the building’s design and construction come from numerous sources, primarily Vogel. Also see Goldberg et al., pp. 2–4.
3. 6.6 million square feet: Goldberg et al., Pentagon 9/11 (Washington, D.C.: Historical Office of the Secretary of Defense, 2007), pp. 2–4.
4. Pentagon lore: Steven Donald Smith, “Pentagon Hot Dog Stand, Cold War Legend, to Be Torn Down,” American Forces Press Service, September 20, 2006.
5. salute their superiors: Official Pentagon tour brochure, https://pentagontours.osd.mil/Tours/documents/Self.Guided.Tour.pdf.
6. puttering around: Details about Dr. David Tarantino’s actions come primarily from an interview on July 12, 2017, with telephone follow-ups, as well as from transcripts of accounts he gave shortly after 9/11, confirmed with him for accuracy. The accounts of David Tarantino and David Thomas differ slightly in terms of sequence, but overall matched closely and were confirmed by Jerry Henson in an interview July 14, 2017. This account is based on a combination of those accounts, confirmed by the participants, as well as on contemporaneous news stories and official Navy accounts of the aftermath of the Pentagon strike, cited where appropriate.
7. a distracted Jerry Henson: Interviews with Jerry and Kathleen Henson, July 14 and July 31, 2017. Also see Tom Philpott, “Remember This Name,” Washingtonian, November 2001.
8. Lieutenant Colonel Marilyn Wills: Interview with Lieutenant Colonel Marilyn Wills (Ret.), June 8, 2017. Details about the events in ODCSPER also come from multiple interviews conducted by the U.S. Army Center of Military History for the Noble Eagle oral history project, including an interview conducted with Marilyn Wills by ACMH Historian Steve Lofgren on July 12, 2002. Also see Robert Rossow III, Uncommon Strength: The Story of the U.S. Army Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel during the Attack on the Pentagon, 11 September 2001 (Washington, DC: Department of the Army, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, 2003).
9. Dilbertville was humming: The actions and locations of OCDSPER staff are detailed by Rossow in Uncommon Strength and also in oral histories conducted by the U.S. Army Center of Military History.
10. Max Beilke: Biographical listing of Master Sergeant Max J. Beilke, Retired, Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, http://pentagonmemorial.org/explore/biographies/msg-max-j-beilke-usa-retired.
11. last American combat soldier: Robert A. Rosenblatt and Richard T. Cooper, “Last Soldier to Leave Vietnam Is Feared Dead,” Los Angeles Times, September 16, 2001.
12. “Quick meeting”: This dialogue, confirmed in interviews with Marilyn Wills, appeared in a newspaper series: Earl Swift, “Out of Nowhere: Sept. 11 at the Pentagon, Part 1,” Virginian-Pilot, September 7, 2002.
13. “Honey, do me a favor”: Interview with John Yates, U.S. Army Center of Military History, oral history project, March 21, 2002.
14. startled facilities manager George Aman: U.S. Army Center of Military History interview with George P. Aman, part of Noble Eagle oral history project, December 12, 2001.
15. 530 miles per hour: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 9; NTSB Flight Path Study, American Airlines Flight 77, p. 2.
16. 5,300 gallons of fuel: This is an estimate from the American Society of Civil Engineers, Pentagon Building Performance Report, p. 12.
17. twenty-five feet up the outer wall: Vogel, p. 432.
18. superheated, superdeadly shrapnel: Arlington County After-Action Report on the Response to the September 11 Terrorist Attack on the Pentagon, p. A-8. www.floridadisaster.org/publications/Arl_Co_AAR.pdf.
19. an angled path: American Society of Civil Engineers, Pentagon Building Performance Report, p. 12. Also see Goldberg et al., pp. 17–19.
20. Grunewald . . . disobeyed: Interview with Lieutenant Colonel Robert Grunewald (Ret.), June 8, 2017. Grunewald’s account is also included in his oral history interview with the U.S. Army Center of Military History and in Uncommon Strength. Also see interview with Martha Carden with the U.S. Army Center of Military History, October 29, 2001.
21. about twenty people: Goldberg, p. 20.
22. Navy Captain Dave Thomas: Interview with Retired Admiral David M. Thomas Jr., August 2, 2017. Elements of Thomas’s account, confirmed with him, also came from Captain David M. Thomas Jr., “Everyone helps in some capacity. It’s automatic,” National Journal, August 30, 2002; transcript of CSPAN interview, August 10, 2001, www.c-span.org/video/?300993-1/rear-admiral-david-thomas-september-11-2001; and Tom Philpott, “Remember This Name,” Washingtonian, November 2001.
23. Wounded and blinded by a bomb: Obituary, “Capt. Donald K. Ross, 81; Won Medal of Honor,” New York Times, June 1, 1992.
24. Both perished: Goldberg et al., p. 42.
25. John Yates: Noble Eagle oral history interview with John Yates, March 21, 2002. Also see Earl Swift, “Out of Nowhere: Sept. 11 at the Pentagon, Parts 1–4,” Virginian-Pilot, September 7–10, 2002.
26. blown out of a cannon: Interview with Major Regina Grant, U.S. Army Center of Military History, oral history project, February 26, 2002.<
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27. snatched her by the skirt: There exist relatively minor differences in the various accounts of the escape from the OCDSPER cubicle area and conference room, as described in interviews and Noble Eagle oral history transcripts from Marilyn Wills, Robert Grunewald, Martha Carden, Lois Stevens, Regina Grant, John Yates, and others. The differences mainly involve the sequence of events and discussions along the route from the conference room to the C Ring windows or the central courtyard. This account relies primarily on Marilyn Wills’ version. There is no disagreement on the most essential elements of their accounts, particularly in terms of the heroism of Wills, Grunewald, and others.
28. “I am too tired”: Interview with Lois Stevens, U.S. Army Center of Military History, oral history project, December 13, 2001.
Chapter 17: “I Think Those Buildings Are Going Down”
1. “I think we should break the window”: Dwyer and Flynn, pp. 185–86. The call is logged on an EMS document obtained by New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/EMSLog.pdf.
2. three minutes and seventeen seconds: Brian Clark timed his recorded call to 911 when it was played for him three months later by a 9/11 Commission investigator. In the investigator’s notes, she reports that “staff has located Mr. Clark’s 9-1-1 call and found it to be almost precisely as he described it.”
3. seek out Stairwell A: NIST NCSTAR 1, WTC Investigation, p. 44.
4. “How can you have a big building”: FDNY 911 Calls Transcript, EMS Part 2.
5. rooftop rescues: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 292.
6. “It’s just me and the sky”: Keith Elliot Greenberg, Risky Business: Window Washer at Work above the Clouds (Woodridge, CT: Blackbirch Press, 1995), p. 18.
7. called his wife: Jenny Pachucki, “Remembering WTC Window Washer Roko Camaj,” The Memo Blog, National September 11 Memorial & Museum. www.911memorial.org/blog/remembering-wtc-window-washer-roko-camaj.
8. “big smoke”: Transcript of WTC Radio Channel 28, Radio Channel Y, p. 24.
9. When Brian Clark made his 9-1-1 call: These evacuation numbers are estimated for 9:37 a.m., NIST NCSTAR 1, WTC Investigation, p. 42.
10. not to leave the floor: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 295.
11. “You have to wait”: Jim Dwyer, “City Releases Tapes of 911 Calls from Sept. 11 Attack,” New York Times, Nov. 30, 2005. Numerous calls to 911 operators were released in response to a lawsuit filed by the New York Times. Also see 9/11 Commission Report, p. 295.
12. first fatality: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 300. Also see “He Kept Everyone Safe,” New York Times, September 20, 2001.
13. “Let’s make this quick”: World Trade Center Task Force Interview with Captain Paul Conlon, January 26, 2002, p. 7.
14. “small glimmer of hope”: World Trade Center Task Force Interview with EMT Richard Erdey, October 10, 2001, p. 9.
15. bursts of smoke: NIST NCSTAR 1, WTC Investigation, p. 43.
16. department’s fitness award: FDNY Division 7 Training and Safety Newsletter, September 2016, courtesy of Jay Jonas.
17. functioning freight elevator: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 299, among other sources and radio transcripts of Battalion Chief Orio Palmer in the South Tower.
18. FDNY’s radio repeater channel: As discussed elsewhere, questions remain whether the repeater was properly activated at the North Tower command desk. It isn’t known how Chief Palmer learned that it worked inside the South Tower, and it’s notable that he was considered an expert in the system’s use and was among the FDNY officials who tried to activate it when he first arrived in the North Tower.
19. “a lot of bodies”: FDNY 9/11 dispatch transcript. Radio transmissions from Battalion Chief Orio Palmer and other firefighters in this section also come from this tape. Also see Dwyer and Flynn, pp. 196–199, 204–206, and 208–209.
20. the Flying Fireman: Michael Daly, “The Flying New York Fireman Who Shined on 9/11,” The Daily Beast, September 11, 2014.
21. “We need EMS”: World Trade Center Channel 15, EMS Direct line, transcript p. 49. Robert Gabriel Martinez’s identity was confirmed by Dwyer and Flynn, pp. 209–10.
22. Kevin Cosgrove: A recording of Kevin Cosgrove’s 911 call was played at the 2006 trial of Zacarias Moussaoui. Also see the trial testimony of his widow, Wendy Cosgrove, pp. 3283–88, and New York Times, “Portraits of Grief: Kevin Cosgrove,” October 17, 2001.
23. down to the 79th floor: Dwyer and Flynn, p. 207.
24. another person he didn’t name: Although Kevin Cosgrove said he and the others were in the office of Jon “Ostaru,” it was in fact the office of Jon Ostrau, who wasn’t there.
25. The forces of catastrophe: Although criticized by some structural engineers, the NIST NCSTAR 1, WTC Investigation Report remains the authoritative account of the towers’ collapse. For the South Tower, see pp. 37–46. http://ws680.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=909017.
26. a minor earthquake: Kevin Krajick, “A Morning That Shook the World: The Seismology of 9/11,” State of the Planet: General Earth Institute, Columbia University, September 6, 2016. http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2016/09/06/a-morning-that-shook-the-world/.
27. eight thousand people: NIST NCSTAR 1, WTC Investigation, p. 42.
28. Welles Crowther: Tom Rinaldi, The Red Bandanna: A Life. A Choice. A Legacy (New York: Penguin Press, 2016). Also see Jane Lerner, “Bandanna Links Acts of Courage,” Journal News, June 10, 2002; and Jim Dwyer, Eric Lipton, et al., “Fighting to Live as the Towers Died,” New York Times, May 26, 2002, which was the first media report that mentioned the mysterious man in the red bandanna on the 78th floor. The story of how the survivors came to identify Welles as their rescuer, a remarkable effort initiated by his parents, was first reported by Lerner and is told elegantly in Rinaldi’s book.
29. Police Officer Moira Smith: Susan Hagen and Mary Carouba, Women at Ground Zero (Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002), pp. 311–13.
30. John O’Neill: Lawrence Wright, “The Counter-Terrorist,” New Yorker, January 14, 2002. Also see Robert Kolker, “O’Neill Versus Osama,” New York magazine, December 17, 2001, and Murray Weiss, The Man Who Warned America: The Life and Death of John O’Neill, The FBI’s Embattled Counterterrorism Warrior (New York: William Morrow, 2003).
31. “A lot of these groups”: Robin Pogrebin, “John O’Neill is Dead at 49; Trade Center Security Chief,” New York Times, September 23, 2001.
32. Brian and Stan became separated: This is one area where their accounts diverge. In Stan’s account, he gave Brian his business card as they ran, and then separated.
Chapter 18: “To Run, Where the Brave Dare Not Go”
1. “Burn victim!”: Interview with Gerry Gaeta, October 23, 2017. Also Murphy, p. 54.
2. By one estimate: NIST NCSTAR 1, WTC Investigation, p. 26.
3. “Emptiness is the only way”: Andrew Fredericks, “Father’s Day,” Fire Nuggets, August-November issue, 2001.
4. To dream the impossible dream: From the 1965 Broadway musical, “Man of La Mancha,” book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion, music by Mitch Leigh.
5. “I’m missing my partner”: World Trade Center Task Force interview with Roberto Abril, January 27, 2002, p. 7.
6. “Listen, man”: World Trade Center Task Force interview with Manuel Delgado, October 2, 2001, p. 12.
7. blinding dust and debris: McKinsey Report: FDNY 9/11 Response, 2002, p. 39.
8. Chief Hayden stumbled: Daly, pp. 338–39.
9. “evacuate the building”: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 306.
10. roughly eight hundred people: NIST NCSTAR 1, WTC Investigation, p. 32.
11. “Start your way down”: World Trade Center Task Force Interview with Firefighter Michael Byrne, January 21, 2002, p. 4.
12. to help two other men: Dwyer and Flynn, pp. 219–20. Also Sean Kirst, “Capt. Billy Burke and a Choice Made on Sept. 11: ‘This Is What I Do,’” (Syracuse) Post-Standard, September 11, 2011. Also see Kirst, “Fourteen Years After September 11, 2001: A Bu
rning Tower, a Friend He Loved, ‘The Way He Always Was,’” (Syracuse) Post-Standard, September 11, 2015.
Chapter 19: “Remember This Name”
1. possibility for deliverance: Tom Philpott, “Remember This Name,” Washingtonian, November 2001.
2. spit fire: Interview with Lois Stevens, U.S. Army Center of Military History, oral history project, December 13, 2001.
3. She rose to her knees and hung on: In multiple interviews, including discussions with the author in the summer of 2017, Marilyn Wills maintained that Lois Stevens accepted her offer to carry her on her back. In Lois Stevens’s oral history interview with the U.S. Army Center of Military History, she acknowledged that she gave up hope and said Wills offered to carry her on her back, but she said she declined. In her account, Stevens said she instead hung onto Wills’s belt as they crawled toward the AE Drive windows. However it occurred, Lois Stevens has consistently credited Marilyn Wills with guiding her through the wreckage and saving her life.
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