![]() 09/11/2015 at 09:22 • Filed to: September 11, 9/11, FDNY | ![]() | ![]() |
As I do every year close to the 11th of September, I take some time to reflect on that day. Last year !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
This year, among other things, I watched a documentary entitled
102 Minutes That Changed America.
It is a collection of amateur video taken in and around Manhattan on 9/11 and stitched together to give a sequence of the events as witnessed by people on the ground.
There is no commentary, only the audio of what was picked up by the video cameras as they recorded. The authenticity of the shock and horror that these people felt in those moments is nothing short of chilling.
I was particularly struck by audio of a phone call between FDNY Chief Dennis Devlin and a dispatch center. In the chaotic confusion Devlin calls from WTC #2 at 9:42am to get a list of the FDNY units on scene at the tower.
The list is staggering and it is made even more so knowing that most, if not all, of those listed were killed less than 15 minutes later when the tower collapsed. The full list is below the video.
Engine 211
Ladder 11
Engine 44
Engine 22
Engine 53
Engine 40
Division 3
Battalion 10
Battalion 12
Ladder 16
Ladder 2
Ladder 13
Engine 221
Engine 23
Engine 209
Engine 212
Engine 279
Engine 230
Engine 229
Engine 235
Engine 220
Engine 216
Engine 217
Engine 238
Engine 214
Ladder 12
Ladder 118
Ladder 7
Ladder 24
High-Rise 1
Battalion 11
Engine 74
Engine 76
Engine 47
Engine 58
Engine 91
Ladder 22
Ladder 25
Ladder 35
Ladder 4
Ladder 21
Engine 41
![]() 09/11/2015 at 09:28 |
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My uncle was in Rescue 3 and they lost eight men that day. A bunch of them had just gotten off their shift, heard about it on the radio, then turned around and went back to the city.
![]() 09/11/2015 at 09:52 |
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I was two years old on that day, but it is my earliest memory. I was told that I sat in front of the TV repeating, “Planes crash, boom, FIRE” over and over until I was screaming it.
![]() 09/11/2015 at 10:13 |
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I wonder if the documentary you watched was the same thing I saw. I caught it a few years ago, on whatever cable news channel it was (MSNBC I think?) that would replay their 9/11 footage in real time that day. The documentary was fascinating and sad. Most of what you saw and heard where the fire alarms going off, and the look of shock on peoples faces I don’t know if I will ever forget.
I was working in an auto-body shop on 9/11. I feel like an ass about it now, but the radio said that a plane had crashed into the world trade center. I just assumed it was some dumbass who crashed their Cesna because they couldn’t see the giant building and kind of laughed it off. But as it became evidence that it was something far more sinister, we gathered around a little 8" tv and watched what we could. I left work early that day, as I just couldn't think straight.
![]() 09/11/2015 at 10:16 |
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It may be. The entire thing is on YouTube (included in the post here). I’ve watched quite a few 9/11 docs and this one has had the most impact. I think it’s just because you can almost feel what they’re feeling in the moment.
![]() 09/11/2015 at 11:07 |
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I watched the same documentary when it came out a few years back and I agree that it is the most powerful documentary on the subject ever made. The videos, especially from the immediate aftermath of the first tower collapsing really capture the shock that what was happening was actually happening. The silence, apart from the fire alarms, is haunting. It’s especially shocking because the videos from 15 minutes before show firefighters suiting up and EMTs triaging the injured.
I was in 7th grade at the time, and I remember going home that day and seeing the smoke on the horizon from my home in suburban NJ. I was old enough to know what was going on, despite not having much familiarity with NYC or the Trade Center towers. That documentary really brings me to ground level in a way that new footage we watched on repeat for weeks afterward never did.