Damon DiMarco - Tower Stories: An Oral History of 9/11 (20th Anniversary Commemorative Edition)

20th Anniversary Commemorative Edition

AN ORAL HISTORY OF 9/11

by Damon DiMarco

Foreword by Governor George Pataki

Original Foreword by Governor Thomas Kean

Chairman of the 9/11 Commission

Copyright 2021 by Tower Stories, Inc. and Damon DiMarco

All rights reserved.

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part or in any form or format without the written permission of the publisher.

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ISBN-13 978-1-59580-102-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tower stories : an oral history of 9/11 / [edited] by Damon DiMarco. [20th Anniversary Commemorative ed.].

p. cm.

ISBN-13: 978-1-59580-102-9

1. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001Personal narratives. I. DiMarco, Damon.

HV6432.7.T69 2021

974.71044dc22

2021015199

Cover and interior design and production by Future Studio

For all those people sung and unsung who worked to help others in ways large and small on that day and all the days that followed.

by Governor George Pataki

by Governor Thomas Kean

Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing I do know: that we are here for the sake of each other, above all, for those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends, and also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of others, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received and am still receiving.

Albert Einstein

by Governor George Pataki

TWENTY YEARS after the horrible events of September 11, the stories are still fresh in my mind and the minds of many who were there. But for millions who did not have such an immediate experience, the heroism and sacrifice of that day have begun to fade.

People still remember the numbers. Three hundred and forty-three firefighters. Sixty Port Authority and NYPD officers. In total, almost three thousand innocent souls were killed that day. But the story amounts to so much more than numbers, for each of those figures represents the heroism of someone who reacted courageously on that tragic day.

Tower Stories allows these individuals to share their experiences in their own words. There is no better way for us to hear these tales than through the voices of those who were there. The testimonies gathered by Damon DiMarco include people inside the Towers; first responders who charged into the Towers; eyewitnesses and the bereaved; plus the thousands and thousands of volunteers, both from New York and around the country, who responded so courageously and generously on that day and for weeks and months thereafter.

These are stories that must be told. But, to memore importantlythese stories must endure.

The story of September 11 contains three different plotlines. Yes, it is a story of the tragic loss of so many wonderful people. But it is also the tale of the tremendous courage with which people from every walk of life responded that day, and ultimately, it is the story of how Ground Zero rose from burning ashes to become a vibrant, active memorial and community.

Today, that community is overseen by the Freedom Tower. Soaring 1,776 feet tall, it shows the world that New York and America will not bow down to those who threaten our way of life. It reminds us that we must never forget the tragedy of that day or the vulnerability that people in a free society will always face from those who despise the freedoms we cherish.

Tower Stories is an important book. I urge all those who appreciate courage in the face of terror and strength in the face of horror to read it.

by Governor Thomas Kean, Chairman of the 9/11 Commission

IT IS DIFFICULT to remember that day, but we must. Time has its way of dulling the sharp edge of memory. Once the edge has sufficiently blurred, the distorting colors of apocrypha swirl in, smearing the true images of what we once saw and creating a fable. A myth. By whatever name you call it, the picture is false, yet people will believe it. In later years, they will have no choice since a myth is better than nothing.

This book is unique for several reasons, not the least of which is that it allows our American people to speak for themselves regarding the terrorist attacks of September 11. The events of that day are arguably some of the most traumatic to occur on American soil. There is ample evidence to support the need for a record such as this.

After the Great Depression had ravaged the United States through the early part of the twentieth century, President Roosevelt realized that America needed more than an economic kick start; it needed cultural inspiration, as well. He assigned writers and journalists through the Federal Writers Project to document the experiences of common people living through uncommon circumstances. Roosevelt knew that a culture which cannot remember its past trials and transgressions will doom itself to repeat them.

The memory of slavery was also fast slipping from the American consciousness. In some ways this was a sign of progress; in other ways it was potentially dangerous. The FWP documented the recollections of thousands of former slaves in what would later become the Slave Narrative Collection. Nearly a hundred years later, these narratives are still performed around the country as theatrical events, assigned as required reading for university courses and read for self-edification by curious citizens. They are a part of our cultural body of evidence against what was, and an inspiration toward a brighter future for what might be. Some of our greatest works of literature were born of this need to bear witness. John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath. Jack Conroys The Disinherited. Studs Terkels The Good War.

Im proud and grateful to see this legacy continued.

What you are about to experience is not media spin, a five-second sound bite, or a coldly recycling film reel. It is a living time capsule of our nations humanity. The interviews contained in this book are seminal to our American history. They were conducted immediately following the attacks on the World Trade Center, before time had been granted a chance to blur the details. Reading these stories, you get the sense that there was just enough time between the Towers collapse and the click of the recorder for people to catch their breath and plant their feet on firm ground. Then they began to speakdirectly and candidly. They spoke from their hearts, and I cant believe they gave a single notion toward the idea that their words would be preserved forever. It was too confusing and painful a time to fumble with the weight of such ideas. Truth rings out in every word.