Readers Guide
1. Why were the Twin Towers important
to the surrounding community and to
the United States as a whole?
2. What are examples of how the 9/11 attacks brought
out the best in people?
3. Why do you think the decision was made to build
a new skyscraper near the site of the original
TwinTowers?
4. How might the size and location of the World Trade
Center have presented special challenges for people
in the area and first responders when the towers
collapsed?
5. Why do you think people would treat the site of the
World Trade Center attack as a tourist attraction
while it was still a disaster area? Why would that
anger people who had experienced the attacks?
6. What lasting effects could the 9/11 terrorist attacks
have on people in the immediate area? What effects
could it have on those who lost loved ones and on the
United States as a whole?
Lorin Driggs
9/ 11 9/ 11
A Survivors
Story
Consultant
Jennifer M. Lopez, NBCT, M.S.Ed.
Teacher SpecialistHistory/Social Studies
Office of Curriculum & Instruction
Norfolk Public Schools
Publishing Credits
Rachelle Cracchiolo, M.S.Ed., Publisher
Conni Medina, M.A.Ed., Editor in Chief
Emily R. Smith, M.A.Ed., Content Director
Vronique Bos, Creative Director
Robin Erickson, Art Director
Michelle Jovin, M.A., Associate Editor
Lee Aucoin, Senior Graphic Designer
Image Credits: front cover, p.1 AP Photo/Amy Sancetta; back cover,
p.19, p.20, p.21 (top and bottom) courtesy Lorin Driggs; p.6 AP Photo/
Carmen Taylor; p.7 David Handschuh/NY Daily News Archive via Getty
Images; p.8 Doug Kanter/AFP/Getty Images; p.9 Photo by Eric Draper,
courtesy of the George W. Bush Presidential Library; p.10 NYPD; p.11 AP
Photo/Pool, Keith Meyers/The New York Times; p.12 Corey Sipkin/NY Daily
News Archive via Getty Images; p.13 Spencer Platt/Getty Images; p.14
Lawrence Schwartzwald/Splashnews/Newscom; p.15 Tannen Maury/AFP/
Getty Images; p.16 Reuters/Newscom; p.17 AP Photo/Navy Times, Mark
Faram; p.18, p.20 Marla Mayer/Fotogloria/UIG via Getty Images; p.19 Mario
Tama/Getty Images; p.22 Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora/Getty Images; p.23
Shutterworx/iStock; p.24 Anthony Correia/Shutterstock; p.25 Porter Gifford/
Corbis via Getty Images; p.25 Peter Ginter/Science Faction/Getty Images;
p.26 Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images; p.29 (top) Gagliardi Photography/
Shutterstock; p.31 Steve Heap/Shutterstock; p.32 2001 The Record (Bergen
Co. NJ)/Getty Images; all other images from iStock and/or Shutterstock.
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author or the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Day 1: It Begins .................................................. 4
Day 2: Safe with Friends .................................
Day 3: A Dicult Trek to a Crime Scene ....
e Following Weeks: Closer to Home ........
Day 40: Home at Last ......................................
Memorialize It! ................................................
Glossary ............................................................
Index .................................................................
Your Turn! ........................................................
Day 1: It Begins
8:46 a.m., September 11, 2001
People remember what a beautiful morning it was in New
York City. I was getting ready to leave for a business meeting.
I stopped to open the bedroom windows to let the clean, crisp
air in. Suddenly, there was a very loud, thudding crash from
somewhere outside. Lilly came rushing out from the other
side of the apartment, and we met in the living room.
What was that? we said in unison. We looked out the
window, which faced south. People on the sidewalks and
street below were running. Some people were heading west,
toward the park that stretches along the Hudson River behind
our apartment complex. Other people were running toward
the World Trade Center, a block and a half to the east, out of
view from our apartment.
The morning news on TV was interrupted with a report
that a plane had crashed into 1 World Trade Center, the
northernmost of the Twin Towers. It was unclear whether
it was a small private plane or passenger jet. However, there
could be no doubt about one thing: an accident like this
would be devastating for the people in the plane and in the
building.
Accident . Thats what everyone thought at first, but soon
we would learn the terrible, terrifying truth.
Battery Park City
Lilly and I lived in the Gateway Plaza
apartment complex in Battery Park
City. Battery Park City is a residential
neighborhood built on the west side of
Lower Manhattan. When Battery Park
City was first built, workers used dirt
and debris from the
excavation
that
took place for the construction of the
World Trade Centers Twin Towers.
World Trade Center
Lorin and Lillys
apartment building
Battery Park City
Twin Towers,
World Trade Center
The sunrise casts an orange
glow on the Twin Towers.
9:03 a.m.
It wasnt long before the plane was identified
as a large commercial passenger jet. On TV,
a camera showed the burning North Tower in
the foreground and the picturesque blue sky
beyond. Looking closely at the TV, I noticed a
