9/11: Phone Calls from the Towers (2009) - full transcript

(dramatic string music)

- [Woman] The message that he left for me

meant everything to me.

I clung to it.

I listened to it repeatedly
in the days after.

- [Woman] Everybody has told
me that has lost loved ones,

you'll lose the sound of their voice.

I've probably listened to the
message hundreds of times.

- [Man] It's available any
time I want to play it back.

It's there, I hear it, and I know it.

I'm still very fragile to listen to it.



And so I'm comforted to know it's there,

but I don't, I don't listen to it.

- [Narrator] On September the 11th, 2001,

nearly 3,000 families lost a loved one.

The Twin Towers collapsed
with such destructive force

that only 300 bodies were recovered.

But for some families
there is another legacy.

Trapped inside the towers, many people

tried to make desperate
contact with the outside world.

(muffled talking)

Some were able to speak on the phone.

Others could only leave messages.

- [Man] Just want to
say how much I love you.

- [Narrator] Since that
day families have lived



with the memory of these final
words from their loved ones.

(muffled talking)

- [Narrator] Many of these
calls have never been heard

in public and are featured
here for the first time.

(muffled talking)

- [Narrator] All are used
with the full consent

of the relatives, who only now

feel ready to talk about them.

These recordings shed light

on what really happened inside the towers.

But they also reveal
something more profound

about the choices people
make in their final moments,

who to turn to, and what to say.

- [Man] Obviously a
pretty scary experience.

I saw a guy fall out of probably

the 91st story all the way down.

- [Woman] Okay, now you
stay on the line with me.

(slow music)

- My dog, Coco wakes me
up somewhere approximately

5:30 in the morning and
wants to go for a walk.

So at 5:30 in the
morning I get out of bed,

brush my teeth, throw
some water on my face.

We walk through the woods
for half an hour, 40 minutes.

Come on, come on.

I say a little prayer ever
single day and talk to Melissa.

It's just, I know she's there,
I know she's listening to me.

I was the last person
from the outside world

that she spoke to.

I'll always remember that.

When you fall asleep sometimes at night

and you close your eyes, you can just see

her face there saying, Dad, I love you.

- [Narrator] On September the 11th,

Bob Harrington's daughter, Melissa

was in New York for just one day.

Aged 31, she was a
high-powered business executive

and was there to oversee
the merger of her company.

The meeting was on the 101st floor

of the North Tower of
the World Trade Center.

- She was only going to
be there that Tuesday.

When the merger was done she was flying

back to California the next day.

(slow music)

- We found nothing of Jim.

He was completely destroyed.

So the fact that I'd spoken
to him means so much to me.

I think that the healing
process is ongoing.

It's important to let people
know what families of 9/11

have been experiencing, what
we've been doing through,

what we've gone through.

We still have those memories

that we don't want anybody to ever forget.

- [Narrator] Jill Gartenberg
had just started a family

with her 35 year old husband, Jim.

A successful real estate executive,

Jim had recently accepted a
promotion at a new company.

On September the 11th he'd
only gone in to clear his desk

at his office on the 86th
floor of the North Tower.

- Saying goodbye, I love
you is the last thing

I can remember, seeing
him walking out the door

that morning of September 11th.

- [Man] We just had a plane
crash into an upper floor

of the World Trade Center.

- [Man] The World Trade Center
tower number one is on fire.

The whole outside of the building.

Just send every available ambulance

to the World Trade Center now.

- [Narrator] In the minutes after

American Airlines flight 11
collided with the North Tower,

the live pictures were
flashed across the world.

- [Man] We have numerous,
numerous people trapped.

- [Narrator] But those inside

were unable to see what had happened.

- [Woman] Yes, I had a call
from the World Trade Center.

- [Man] Yeah.

- [Narrator] Desperate for information,

they made more than 3,000 calls

in the first 10 minutes alone.

(people talking)

- [Woman] He says he's at the 105th floor

at 1 World Trade Center.

- [Woman] The Windows of the
World, 1 World Trade Center.

- [Narrator] At the
top of the North Tower,

100 people were attending a conference

at the Windows on the World restaurant.

Among them was 31 year
old Christopher Hanley,

who made one of the first recorded calls

to 911 emergency services that day.

(phone ringing)

- [Christopher] Yeah, hi.

- [Operator] The 106th floor?

- [Christopher] Yes.

- [Operator] 106, okay.

- [Operator] All right.

- [Operator] Do not leave, okay.

There's a fire or explosion

or something in the building, all right.

I want you to stay where are you.

- [Christopher] Yes.

- [Operator] All right, we're there.

We're coming up to get ya.

- [Operator] All right, we're on the way.

Just sit tight.

- [Operator] All right, just sit tight.

We're on the way.

- [Woman] Christopher was our only child.

He was so special.

- To be able to have the 911 audio

was really very important.

The most emotional poignant moment for me

is when he asked them,
please hurry, and thank you.

To be able to have that--

- Presence of mind.

- Under pressure like that I
thought was just remarkable.

I'm just really proud of him.

I mean, to be able to keep that cool

and request please hurry.

I think that was his last words.

(slow music)

- The sonic record of that day,

the audible record of
that day, is essential

because the visual record of that day

is limited to the exteriors.

What we see with our eyes
are two buildings in flames.

And these calls and these
radio transmissions,

they show us through sound

what we couldn't see with our eyes.

They're part of the fabric of the day

that we wouldn't know or
have any understanding of

without this sonic record.

- Coco, coco, come here.

Easy, easy, no.

Coco, easy, easy.

There's a tree in front of my house

that was planted the week
after Melissa was born.

The tree grew up, Melissa grew up.

And the tree grew up to be probably

the biggest tree on the street.

And Melissa grew up to be such

a fine, nice, beautiful young lady.

(slow music)

Melissa would have been 39 last week.

Now the tree is probably 40, 50 feet high.

When I planted it, it was five feet high

and skinny as two fingers together.

So, you know, I look
out and I see that tree

and I just remember the day she was born.

(phone ringing)

September 11th started
like any other morning.

Woke up, put a pot of coffee on.

I was making the bed
and the telephone rang.

I don't usually answer the phone

because having been in
construction my whole life

people call up, have a tendency

to want you to do a job for them

for nothing or give them some advice.

So I don't usually answer the phone.

But this morning I did.

It was my daughter, Melissa.

I knew she was in New York.

I didn't know anything that had happened

at that particular point in time.

Melissa was a little hysterical.

I told her, "Honey, you have to slow down

"so that your father can
understand what the problem is."

She got her composure, said to me,

"Dad, I'm on 101st floor
of the World Trade Center

"and a bomb just went off."

In my bedroom was a TV set.

I turned it on.

It happened to be on CNN.

I saw the fire, I saw the smoke.

I was heartbroken.

She told me the fire
wasn't her major concern,

but there was an awful lot of smoke.

So I said to her, "Honey," I said,

"Can you see an exit sign?"

She said, "Yes, Dad."

And I said, "Well under
all the exit signs,

"honey, are stairwells."

I said, "You get to that stairwell

"as fast as you can and
get out of the building."

- [Narrator] But unknown
to Melissa and her father,

all three of the stairwells
had been destroyed.

Trapped just three floors
above the impact zone,

Melissa would have no means of escape.

- She was in trouble and she
called her father for help.

I was 130 miles away.

There was nothing I could
do but give her advice.

We exchanged I love yous.

And to my knowledge, I was the last person

from the outside world
that she spoke with.

- [Woman] 106th floor.

There's no injuries but
the people are trapped.

(muffled voices talking)

- [Woman] We're on the 106th floor

of the World Trade Center.

- [Operator] All right, we're there.

We're taking care of it.

- [Woman] Okay.

- [Narrator] In the immediate
aftermath of the attack

the emergency services were overwhelmed

by thousands of calls
from the North Tower.

- [Operator] Remain in
the location you are.

Put something by the
door to block the smoke.

- [Operator] Stay where you are.

We have you on the 92nd
floor, southwest corner.

- [Operator] Sure, if you
can get out of the building,

then get out of the building.

If you can't, just remain there
and somebody will get you.

- [Operator] How many other
people are with you right now?

- [Man] 200?

(slow music)

- [Jill] Morning, happy birthday.

(child laughing)

- Wow.

Okay, you want to open this?

It says Nicole, this was my
favorite toy when I was two.

I hope you like it.

Love, Daddy.

- [Jill] I think 9/11 comes up pretty

regularly in everybody's lives.

I mean, you watch television,
you go to an airport,

any time you travel.

You didn't go to Zita's house?

- Did you see Granny?

- So much has changed since 9/11.

Everybody talks about 9/11.

It's in the newspapers probably every day.

And all it think about
when I hear that 9/11

is I am so proud that my husband

did what he could that morning.

- [Narrator] Jim Gartenberg
had accepted a better paid job

at a new company four days earlier.

Welcome news, as his wife Jill

was pregnant with their second child.

September the 11th was his last commute

to work at the North Tower.

(phone beeping)

- I went to work soon after he did.

And my office is very
close to our apartment,

so I just walked a few blocks.

When I got there, there was
a message light blinking

and I listened to the machine right away.

- And that was, I didn't
even know what that meant.

I listened to the message
actually several times

'cause I wasn't really
sure what he was saying.

I couldn't believe what he was saying.

Just a minute later, I spoke to him.

Unlike the message on the
machine, which sounded frantic,

when I first spoke to him he sounded

very calm, very controlled.

He said to me, "I'm going
to be okay," you know,

"There's a fire, but
I'm going to be okay."

I said, "Stay down low."

I mean right, what we learned,

stay down low if there's a fire.

And he stayed down low and he was hiding

behind a desk and he was
trying to call for help.

And he had no idea what was going on.

(slow music)

- [Narrator] 500 miles away in Chicago,

Jim's closest friend, Adam
had only just arrived at work.

- I turned on CNBC and they said,

"We go live to the World Trade Center."

And there was smoking
coming out of the building.

First thing I did was call his office.

He picked up the phone right away

and he had a voice that
I'd never heard before.

And it was, you know,

just utter panic and fear and expletives.

"There's fire.

"There's smoke everywhere.

"There's debris, I can't get out.

"You got to get me out of here."

He had asked what happened,

and he didn't know and I didn't know.

- [Narrator] Jim Gartenberg was on

the 86th floor of the North Tower.

Although he was six floors
below the point of impact,

Jim and a colleague were trapped by debris

as the floors collapsed above them.

- His comments were then real calm.

"Okay, what are we supposed to do?"

And I told him there's
fire and it's going up.

You need to get down.

And he said, "I can't go anywhere.

"The stairs are blown out below us.

"The debris's too heavy,
we can't move anything."

- It was very unusual that people outside

had almost a greater
sense of alarm and urgency

than the people inside,
who were in the dark.

Families were seeing the billowing smoke

and the flames licking up
the side of the building.

It was just a terrible responsibility

for the people on the outside

to have to say, it's worse than you think.

(slow music)

- [Narrator] 15 minutes after
the North Tower had been hit,

most people in Tower 2, the South Tower

were still at their desks and
watching the tragedy unfold.

Amongst them was 24 year
old trader Brad Fetchet,

who left a message for his
mother to tell her he was safe.

- [Brad] Hey, Mom, it's Brad.

Just wanted to call and let you know.

I'm sure that you've heard,

but a plane crashed into
World Trade Center 1.

We're fine, we're in World Trade Center 2.

I'm not, obviously alive
and well over here.

But obviously a pretty scary experience.

I saw a guy fall out of probably

the 91st story all the way down.

So, you're welcome to give a call here.

I think we'll be here all day.

But give me a call back later.

Love you.

- He was trying to reassure
us that he was okay.

But you could tell as he cleared his voice

when he talked about seeing something fall

from the 91st floor that there

was a lot of fear in his voice.

- It's available any time I want

to play it back, it's there.

I hear and I know it.

And I'm still very
fragile to listen to it.

And so I'm comforted to know it's there,

but I don't listen to it.

(phone ringing)

- [Narrator] Eight floors
above Brad in the South Tower

was 42 year old systems
analyst, Shimmy Biegeleisen.

- The phone rang and it was Shimmy.

"Ma, don't worry, I'm fine."

And I said, "Please don't waste any time.

"I know all about it.

"Get out."

And he said, "Listen."

And he put the receiver
up to the loudspeaker

and I heard the announcement,

"Do not leave your office,
this building is secure."

As we hung up, my nephew called.

And he was practically incoherent.

He said, "Shimmy, Trade Center."

I said, "Shimmy is o--"

And as I said, okay,
I never got the k out,

because I saw the plane
hit the other building.

- [Woman] We just had a
call, a caller on the,

but he said a new explosion just happened

at 2 World Trade Center on the 80th floor.

- [Man] There was a second
plane into the other tower.

(muffled talking)

- [Man] Another plane hit
the second tower, okay.

- [Narrator] At 9:03, 17
minutes after the North Tower

was struck, United Airlines flight 175

flew into the South Tower.

Immediately the emergency
services were flooded with calls

as 700 people were trapped
above the impact zone.

- [Man] Possibly two-thirds of the way up.

You got visible fire showing out there.

- [Man] Battalion 9 to dispatch.

- [Woman] Yes, hi.

- [Man] Hi.

Major disaster, number
2 World Trade Center.

Requesting everything possible.

- [Man] Northwest conference room.

- [Woman] Tower 2, room 105.

- [Woman] This is at
the World Trade Center.

People are trapped.

I have a caller on the line.

(muffled talking)

- [Man] What floor are you on?

- [Woman] They're not answering.

- [Woman] We're getting
millions, millions of calls, sir.

All I can say is stay near the window,

stay low, put a towel by the door.

- [Man] Half the firefighters in the city

are on their way over there.

- [Man] Sir, I understand that.

All right, we're trying to get
to people as fast as we can.

(slow music)

- It's a tribute to Stephen
that at the moment of his death

it can be said that he was on good terms

with every member of his family.

And that's not easy.

Stephen was with us for 33 years.

And we have a choice.

We can either say we are
so mad that he's not here.

Or we can say we had him for 33 years.

And we have a feast to return
to, the feast of the memories.

The family came girl, boy, girl.

So there was a little
triumvirate at the top.

And then four boys came in
a very quick succession.

And Stephen was the third
of that group of four.

- [Woman] Stephen was very
relaxed, smiling, laughing.

- He was very laid-back,
very happy, you know.

He really was happy a lot of the time.

- Stephen was really a
peacekeeper within the family,

because we all have very
strong personalities.

And at a dinner table we all
want to voice our opinion.

And Stephen was the best,
I think, of any of us

of listening to all sides of an argument

and really keeping the peace.

That was the role that I
thought he played in our family.

- He definitely did that,

and it's a challenge
to fill that role now.

- [Narrator] Following a successful career

as a college basketball player,

Stephen had moved to New York.

At 33 he was now a trader

with an investment company
in the South Tower.

- September 11th was a
beautiful, beautiful day,

as everyone always will remember, I know.

I was very pleased to
be going to a yoga class

around the corner in the village hill.

And at the end of the class I walked home.

And when I came into this house
there was a blinking light

on the answering machine,
and I had six messages.

Not the usual thing.

And one of the messages was from Stephen.

(slow music)

- Stephen worked in the South Tower.

He was on the 89th floor.

He said that he was going to call me

and that he was going to be all right.

There were messages then from people

calling to say, "Anne, are
your children all right?"

And then there was a message
from my husband, and he said,

"Promise me you will not
turn on the television."

And that was an easy promise to make.

I just went out in the backyard
and I sat in a plastic,

you know, those $5 plastic
chairs under a tree.

And with the phone in
my lap, preparing myself

for what I would need to face.

- [Man] 2 World, you're on the
80th floor, northwest corner.

- [Operator] Okay, now you
get something like a towel

and you put them at the doorway.

- [Operator] And you're
at 2 World Trade, right?

(muffled talking)

- [Operator] Sir, are
you on the 80th or 88th?

- Families often have a map in their minds

of where their loved
ones are in the world.

You know, if somebody in your family

is working at a place that has now become

the center of all the world's attention

and there's a calamity unfolding,

in your mind you're trying
to place your loved one.

Where are they in
relationship to this terrible

series of events that's unfolding?

(muffled talking)

- [Woman] Oh boy, mm.

It's an awful thing,
awful, awful, awful thing

to call somebody and tell
them you're going to die.

It's an awful thing.

- [Narrator] Just seconds
before the South Tower was hit,

Shimmy Biegeleisen's mother
had urged him to leave.

Now he was trapped on the 97th floor.

By 9:15, the family apartment in Brooklyn

had filled with Shimmy's loved ones.

The phone passed between them,

as each offered him
consolation and advice.

- We had Shimmy on the phone.

We were trying to find different ways

how to calm him down and relax him,

possibly different ways
of maybe getting out

and trying different exits.

At one point when I was talking to him

he shared a few private things with me.

He asked me to look after
his wife and children.

And all this time I was
able to hear in his voice

that the situation was
becoming a lot worse.

- [Narrator] There was now fire

and dense smoke above the impact zone.

Those trapped there began to panic.

Shimmy's close friend, David
called to try and calm him.

- [Shimmy] Yes.

- [Shimmy] We have to break it.

(muffled talking)

- [David] Okay, Shimmy, Shimmy.

- [Shimmy] Yes.

- Okay.
- Okay?

- I'm very grateful that he was able

to spend his last moments speaking

to the people who were closest to him.

At the end of your life I would imagine

you'd want some sort of comfort.

And I hope, and it
seems from what everyone

has told me, that he was given that.

That's all I could hope for.

(slow music)

- [Narrator] In the North
Tower, the first to be hit,

Jim Gartenberg had been trapped

by falling debris for
more than half an hour.

Having spoken to his wife,
Jill and best friend, Adam,

Jim now wanted his predicament

to be known to the watching world.

He managed to make contact with a reporter

at the New York Times, Jim Dwyer.

- I spoke with him several
times that morning.

And I was trying to understand
what his predicament was,

why he couldn't get to the stairs

or why he couldn't get to an exit.

And he said that the walls
were cracking and folding over

and he couldn't get to
where he needed to be.

Mr. Gartenberg seemed to be
very directed, very focused.

I mean, there was a sense of
great urgency in his voice,

but I didn't feel like he was panicking.

He wanted people to know where he was

and that he couldn't leave the building.

♪ Happy Birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy Birthday to you, Nicole ♪

(slow music)

- Yay.
- Yay.

- [Jill] Oh, honey, get
a picture like that.

- Yay.

- [Woman] Are you taking a picture?

- [Jill] Jim has always been a leader.

And I think that showed
through on that day.

(laughing)

- Look at you.

- Nicole, is Daddy so funny?

Uh-oh.

When I first met Jim he was the president

of the Michigan Alumni Club in New York.

I saw the way that he
was running this meeting

and the way he was interacting with people

and his leadership skills.

There was all these qualities about him

that all of a sudden I said, wow,

this is a really special guy.

- [Narrator] After speaking
to the New York Times,

Jim's next call was to
a local TV news program.

At 9:32, 45 minutes after
the North Tower was hit,

Jim went live on air.

- [Reporter] Jim Gartenberg joins us.

He was on the 86th floor of,
I'm not sure which tower.

Was it the North or South, Jim?"

- [Jim] It's World Trade Center 1.

And it's not was.

I am here and I'm stuck right now.

- [Reporter] Now are you
above, Jim, or below?

- [Jim] I have no idea.

I have no idea where the plane hit.

It's my understanding that it's a plane.

- [Reporter] Jim, there are two planes.

One went into one tower, one
went into the other tower.

What do you see around you?

I mean, are you in smoke, are you in fire?

- [Jim] The first thing
that I want to make clear

is that I'm stuck on the 86th floor.

A fire door has trapped us.

Debris has fallen around us.

And part of the core of
the building is blown out.

- [Reporter] How many
people are with you, Jim?

- [Jim] I'm with one other person.

And I'm told that people
are aware of this.

I'm on the 86th floor on the east side

of the building facing the East River.

- [Reporter] And what time did you--

- [Jim] If I'm on the air,
I want to tell anybody

that has a family member
that may be in the building

that the situation is under
control for the moment

and the danger has not increased.

So please all family
members, take it easy.

- I got a phone call from a friend of mine

on my cellphone saying,
"Jill, Jim's going to be okay.

"He was just on national television

"and he said he's going to be okay."

She told me what he said and
how confident he was about it.

(slow music)

- They broadcast his voice.

I still have tapes of
that and listen to it.

And it's eerie, the voice that
I hear on that is not his.

And it's just so odd as far
as the voice is concerned.

But his message was unbelievably
calm, and brave, and stoic.

Having seen that was just
a tremendous tribute.

- I think for a lot of
people to be in crisis mode,

they would just sit there and scream.

And Jim had kind of regrouped
with himself it seems like

and said, okay, this is the situation.

How do I best deal with this?

And he reached out to as
many people as he could,

trying to figure out what resources he had

to be helpful in this situation.

I mean, he had the sense
of mind to do that.

- [Jim] And the danger has not increased.

So please also family
members, take it easy.

- [Jill] I think that was wonderful.

But I knew in my heart he
was not going to be okay.

- [Woman] You got it coming
in from building number two

on the 97th floor, people trapped.

(muffled talking)

- [Operator] We're all
around the building.

We're completely around the building.

We're into the building now, okay?

- [Narrator] 2,000 people were trapped

in the North and South towers.

- [Operator] Towel by the
door to block the smoke

and stay where you are.

We're sending people upstairs.

The fire department's coming up--

(siren wailing)

- [Narrator] Firefighters
from across New York

were sent to the scene.

- [Operator] They're
coming, they're coming.

They're downstairs, they're on the way up.

- [Narrator] Knowing
what he might soon face,

fireman Walter Hynes left a hurried

voice message for his wife.

- [Operator] The building, sir.

I got almost every fireman in
the city coming to help you.

- [Man] Message.

- Walter knew this was so serious.

I could tell from the sound of his voice.

He knew this was something
he might not get out of.

And I think that he just needed

to let us know that he loved us.

The voice message that
Walter left is still

on his business phone, which
I've kept in his office.

I've probably listened to the
message hundreds of times.

Everybody has told me
that has lost loved ones

that you lose the sound of their voice,

that you can't remember the sound

of people's voices after they've gone.

And I tend to think that that's true.

I think it's a good reminder
to have Walter's message

for my daughters, that they
can continue to hear him.

(phone ringing)

- [Narrator] While some
messages provide consolation,

others are a painful reminder

of a missed opportunity to say goodbye.

- I woke up to my telephone ringing.

I worked nights at the time,

so I didn't want to be bothered.

And then my cellphone rang again.

And I'm like, I'm not going to answer it.

I'd say it was probably about
one o'clock in the afternoon

that my cellphone rang with a message.

- [Woman] First saved message.

- [Woman] End of message.

- Brian left that message,
and that must have been

the first or second phone call
that I received that morning.

And I mean, I just didn't realize it.

It's really hard to struggle with what

would have happened if I
had answered the phone.

But I mean, I couldn't do
anything, even if I did answer it.

- [Woman] First saved message.

- [Brian] Neal, it's Brian.

- I keep the message on an MP3 file.

So I have it on CD, I have
it hidden away in a safe.

I have it, you know, on
every hard drive I have.

I have it like everywhere

just so that nothing happens to it.

It's Brian's last words.

I mean, that's one of the
reasons why recordings were made

was so people could
record their last words.

You know, I mean, I think it gives me

a little bit of guidance.

I like draw from Brian's
strength when I hear the message.

(slow music)

- [Narrator] Just three
fours below Brian Nunez

in the North Tower was
Melissa Harrington-Hughes.

She was trapped on the 101st floor.

Shortly after the first
plane had hit her building,

Melissa had called her father.

But 55 minutes later
he'd heard nothing since.

- When we stopped our conversation

I thought she sounded
in control of herself.

And knowing my daughter
Melissa the way I knew her,

I didn't think she would have any problem

getting out of the building.

- [Narrator] Whilst Melissa's father

watched the events unfolding
at home, her only brother,

Michael was at his office in
Boston when he heard the news.

- I just started crying and
just couldn't believe it.

And really couldn't muster
any words to anybody.

I kind of had to go back up
to work and say, "I gotta go."

I was just thinking, I hope she
got out, I hope she got out.

Either by stairs, elevator.

Maybe they were going
to bring helicopters.

I didn't know.

(slow music)

My sister was very protective of me.

I can't say growing up I realized it,

because as a younger brother you don't,

you're always thinking the
negative when you're younger.

You get mad, you get upset.

I don't like you, get away from me.

You know, the typical
brother sister thing.

But as time progressed she
looked out for me tremendously.

- You jerk, it was working?

- [Michael] No, it wasn't working.

But you know what?
- What?

- It's working now. (laughs)

The relationship between
Melissa and my father

when she was growing up
kind of in the teenage,

high school years was
probably hostile at times.

You got to think two people
with the same traits,

I mean both strong-willed,
nothing's ever going to be easy.

He was probably the only person

she couldn't win against, was my father.

And I think her traits came from him,

her drive and her strong will.

- [Narrator] Growing
up, Melissa had always

been determined to experience life

beyond her small town
roots in Massachusetts.

- Melissa spent a summer in France.

She had the idea that Paris

was the greatest city in the world.

Loved the clothes, loved the hairstyles.

She had long hair.

When she came back her
hair was very short.

That was the style in Paris.

When she got off the
airplane, her mother and I

looked at her and we were
like, we didn't expect that.

(slow music)

- [Narrator] Aged 26,
Melissa moved to California

to work for a large internet
communications company.

- Melissa was a very ambitious young lady.

When she was in California
she bought a BMW.

I was like 60 years old
when she bought the BMW.

I'd never had a car as nice as that.

I said to her, "Melissa,
can you afford it?"

She said, "Dad, I may never have

"any opportunity to buy one again."

She bought it, she loved it.

She wasn't here that long,
but she had a wonderful time

in the 31 years that she was here.

She always aimed for the best,

and most of the time she got it.

- [Narrator] After speaking to her father,

Melissa rang her husband
Sean in San Francisco,

to whom she'd been
married for just a year.

He was asleep when she called.

- [Bob] Melissa met Sean
at a Junior Club dance.

That's basically how they
started their relationship.

He was a very nice young man

and they were an extremely
attractive couple.

- I could tell when she
introduced me to him,

her eyes just kind of glowed
and I could tell right away

that he was probably the one
that she was going to marry.

And she did.

- Exchange a kiss as sign
of their new married love.

May I present you for the first time,

Mr. and Mrs Sean Hughes.

(audience applauding)

(slow music)

- When I heard her message to Sean

I heard in her voice hopelessness.

She was telling Sean that,
this is it, Sean, for me.

But I'll love you forever, buddy.

- I don't know if I could
say it was a good thing.

It was good to hear her voice,

good to see that she called her husband.

Emotional when you heard it,

all sorts of different
emotions coming out.

Obviously sad because you're assuming

when you hear it that she can't get out.

But like I said,

good emotions because
I could hear her voice.

It's always good to hear the voice.

- [Narrator] An hour after the first plane

struck the North Tower, some
people were still struggling

to make their first
contact with loved ones.

The phone networks were overloaded.

By the time 41 year old Tom McGinnis

managed to get through to his wife,

he already knew there was
no possibility of escape.

- Right away I said, "Where
are you, where are you?"

And I'm almost annoyed
because he's not answering me.

And then he says, "We're
in a conference room

"that we can't get out of.

"We're trapped in a conference room."

And I said, "Well who's with you?"

And he rattles off the names
of a couple of guys I know,

three guys that were with
him, plus these other people.

And you could hear it in the background.

You could hear people talking.

You didn't hear panic.

You heard, I remember one guy yelling,

"Let's just knock down this goddam wall."

I remember telling him, I said,

"You're going to get out of there."

I kept telling him that.

And that's when he said to me, he goes,

"Iliana, you don't understand."

He says, "There are people jumping

"from the floors above us."

And that's when I just thought, oh my God.

Like what are these guys going through

that they are seeing what's
going on right above them?

And it was just unbelievable.

And I just kept saying,
"You're coming home tonight,

"you're coming home tonight."

And he said, "I love you."

And he said, "Take care of Caitlin."

He said, "I have to get down on the floor.

"I love you."

And that's when I lost the
connection at that point.

(slow music)

There is a great comfort in
the fact I got to talk to him.

And the funny thing about that comfort

is it was not a great comfort
that day or even weeks later.

But it's a great comfort now,

it was a great comfort months later.

And the reason it was a great comfort

is because it's not so much for me,

but I feel that it was for him.

It was his chance to say goodbye,

his chance to say, "Take care of Caitlin."

You know, he said,

"It'll be a miracle if
we get out of here."

He knew, he knew he
wasn't going to get out.

(slow music)

- [Narrator] In the South
Tower, the second to be hit,

conditions were now desperate.

Stephen Mulderry worked alongside a group

of close college friends, all
former high school athletes.

As the fire spread, the group
made a collective decision

to stick together and
try and reach the roof.

They now faced a grueling 21 story climb

up the stairwells through heat and smoke.

- Stephen was passionate about basketball.

But he was tiny and slight.

I have a picture of him in eighth grade

when he was devoted to basketball,

and he is standing between two

fully grown classmates
who were his best friends.

And he looks like he's the mascot.

And he wasn't.

He hung in there.

I feel basketball was a critical element

in the person he grew to be.

He never lost the fire or the desire.

I saw it in the aftermath
of Stephen's death

when the loyalty of all the people

he had played basketball
with was made evident to me.

And I saw the gifts that
had come from the teamwork.

- [Narrator] Stephen and his friends

reached the top of the building.

But the doors to the roof were locked.

They retreated back down the
stairwells and took refuge

in an empty conference
room on the 88th floor.

Sharing a single mobile phone,

each one took turns to say their goodbyes.

- Stephen and others
passed the phone around

and let people get word out
to their family members.

And at this point there
was a sense of dread

among those people making the calls.

It was a sense that they were doomed.

People used their last
minutes of conversation

to talk with their families

and their loved ones and their friends.

They said, you made my life better.

Or, you know, I want you
to take care of so and so.

I want to know this about
the truth of our lives.

And it was kind of a moment
of truth for many people,

a moment of desperate truth,
but also transcendent truth.

(slow music)

- [Narrator] 65 minutes after
the North Tower was hit,

a string of desperate calls

were still being made from the building.

For the family of 37 year
old Jeffrey Nussbaum,

his struggle to live is
documented in agonizing detail.

- My phone rang and it was Jeff.

And Jeff told me that the
room is filling up with smoke.

It was difficult for them to breathe.

He told me the sprinkler systems went off

and they were like ankle deep in water.

When you're so emotionally
involved you really,

you don't look at your wristwatch.

And the phone company sent me
a breakdown of his phone bill.

I waited over two years
for him to be identified.

So anything is cherishable to me.

And what was identified was so microscopic

that you hold onto everything,
even the telephone bill.

(sirens wailing)

- [Narrator] By 10 o'clock,
the rescue operation

had made very little progress.

The fire department had been blighted

by malfunctioning radio
receivers within the towers.

Once inside on the
stairwells, the firefighters

could not communicate with each other.

But that silence was about to be broken.

- Someone was able to make
the radio receiver work.

And we have a remarkable
illuminating document

of the effort to get up to

the high floors in the South Tower.

(slow music)

- [Narrator] The man who
repaired the radio receiver

was 45 year old Orio Palmer.

As chief of Battalion
7, Palmer was amongst

the first to arrive at the scene.

As he entered the South
Tower he single-handedly

fixed an elevator and
took it to the 40th floor,

halfway to where almost 700 people

were struggling to stay alive.

- And then he started to climb on foot.

And because he was a very, very fit man

he was able to make tremendous progress.

He had run marathons,
he ran half marathons.

- He went 12 floors in 10 minutes

wearing all the bunker gear,
which is 50 or 60 pounds.

- [Man] When I first hear
Orio's voice on the tapes,

you can tell he knows he's
in a race against time.

- Orio's conserving his oxygen.

He's conserving his energy.

That's why there's not a lot of chatter

on his part on the tape.

- [Narrator] During his
ascent, Palmer discovered

that one stairwell, the
south, was still intact

all the way to the impact zone and beyond.

For the hundreds trapped there,

this stairwell could have
been an escape route.

- The 78th floor in the South Tower

was the bridge point between
the living and the dead.

It was the transfer spot
in the elevator system,

and a lot of people had massed there.

And when the second plane hit,

a lot of them were killed there, right,

a lot of them were injured
and waiting for help.

And Orio Palmer was rising

and racing to that point to get to them.

- Orio got up there pretty quick.

Anyone who was wounded or dying,

to know somebody was able to get up there,

they knew there had to be a way out.

The people who were there
at the point of impact

to have seen him, I can only imagine

there must have been
some elation or euphoria

that's probably undescribable.

- Yeah.

- Just to see him and realize
there's some hope here

thanks to this guy who
just made it up here.

(slow music)

- When I heard the
tapes, you were watching

a screen with all the words on it.

But with a digital countdown,

so you knew exactly what was coming.

You knew the exact minute

that the towers were going to go down.

And you can't help but feel like you want

to jump out of your seat and say,

"Hurry up and get out of there," you know.

"You have one more minute
before it comes down."

And that's the hard part.

That was the hard part.

I was not surprised when I heard

that Orio had made it to the 78th floor.

He made it up to the point
of impact, and it's amazing.

He left a story behind.

My kids will have it,
their kids will have it.

And I just feel that
it's to honor his memory

and the person that he was.

- [Narrator] Seven minutes
after Palmer's last words,

the South Tower would collapse.

There is one 911 call which captures

this moment from inside the building.

It highlights the moral complexity

of hearing the suffering of those trapped.

From the 105th floor of the South Tower,

father of three, Kevin
Cosgrove was still speaking

up until the moment when the tower fell.

- His words haunt me, and I
try not to think about it.

But it's also in a way kind of a comfort

to know where he was
and what he went through

and what he was trying to do.

And not many people have that.

- [Narrator] Parts of Kevin's call

were deliberately made
public when it was played

by the prosecution in the
trial of a key 9/11 terrorist.

It was used to illustrate the
human suffering on that day.

- The first copy of it
wasn't cleaned up at all.

There was a lot of background noise

and it was hard to hear
what he was saying.

And it was certainly hard to listen to him

not being able to breathe very well.

(muffled talking)

- [Operator] All right, 2 Tower,

we'll get to you as soon as we can.

- [Operator] That's all we can do.

- [Operator] We're getting
there, we're getting there.

- [Operator] I understand that, sir.

- [Operator] I understand.

- [Operator] Hello?

- His building began to collapse.

It was the first one to fall.

Some people said, you
know, hearing Kevin's words

has made the events of
9/11 more human for them,

that there were really people in there

and it wasn't just buildings.

One lady called him the
voice from the towers.

It made it real for her, that
it wasn't just a news story.

It seemed like it was just a movie.

But then when they heard Kevin speaking,

realized this was a real
thing with real people inside.

- [Narrator] For Wendy
Cosgrove there is comfort

from the fact that almost
10 minutes of the call

were not played in court.

(slow music)

- I'm glad that I have some that are just

for my own private memories

that I don't have to share with the world.

Because it is rather hard to share

my husband's last words
with the entire world.

So it's nice to have
something a little private.

I guess what I would want people to learn

from listening to the recording
is that life is short.

That you never know when you're going

to lose your loved ones.

And to spend every minute you
can showing them that love.

And that's what's important in life.

- [Narrator] After 62
minutes, the South Tower,

although the second to be
hit, was the first to fall.

Almost 1,000 civilians
and firefighters died.

Along with Kevin Cosgrove,
they included Brad Fetchet,

Shimmy Biegeleisen,
firefighter Walter Hynes,

battalion chief Orio Palmer,
and Stephen Mulderry.

- The phone rang and it was
Amy, my youngest daughter.

And the first thing I said to
her was, "Where is Stephen?"

And she didn't answer.

There was just silence.

- I got home and I called my mother.

And she was so happy to hear my voice.

And I told her about Stephen.

And I just know she just
screamed, and that was it.

- She knew he was gone.

And a sound came out of me that
I'd never heard in my life.

It was just an animal sound.

And I knew when I heard that
sound for the first time

in my life, that howl,
that it was universal.

And that, you know, my
family and I had joined

all the losses of all the ages.

- [Stephen] Mom, it's Stephen.

My building got hit by a plane.

And right now I think
I'm okay, I'm safe now.

(slow music)

- The message that he left
for me meant everything to me.

I mean, I clung to it.

I listened to it repeatedly
in the days after.

But I did put it aside at a certain point

and say that I would
not continue to do that.

And a very odd thing happened.

And it is that as time went by I created

a new message that had never been left.

I added to what he had left,
thinking he had left it.

In his message to me he
said, "I'll be all right,"

and, "I will call you."

In the message that I
then began living with,

you know, maybe a year after was,

"I'll be all right and you will too."

I made him say it in my
memory over and over again.

(muffled talking)

- [Man] Urgent.

- [Man] The South Tower
base has collapsed.

- [Man] Tower 2, Tower 2.

- [Man] George, have
them mobilize the army.

We need the army in Manhattan.

- [Man] All right, all units stand by.

Everybody try to calm down.

- [Narrator] Although the first to be hit,

the North Tower was still standing.

For those with loved ones trapped inside,

the collapse of the South Tower

was a terrifying premonition.

- When the first tower
went down, I was hoping

that Melissa had gotten
out of the building.

- [Man] To the location, off duty members.

You have members trapped--

- I knew she was not in that tower.

- [Man] We need additional units.

Urgent, urgent.

- Dad really wanted her to call back.

Sean had told us that she had called him.

He really wanted her to call back again.

And just nervously anxious
was the way I viewed him.

- As a parent, you
always want to have hope.

And I thought that if there was a way

to get out of the building that Melissa

at that point in time, that she would

have been out of the building.

(slow music)

- I was on the phone
with one of Jim's friends

when the first tower collapsed.

All you could hear if you
listened in on the call

was just crying and wailing.

And then this, after about
five or 10 minutes of that,

this sense of calm that oh
wait, that's not his tower.

It feels strange to report
on the events of that day

that we just isolated Jimmy's safety

and how we could distance ourselves

from the horrific event and the casualties

that everybody else faced.

But that felt like our duty.

- My parents were down in
Florida on September 11th.

They were not watching television

until I told them to turn it on.

My father was counting the floors to see,

'cause he saw it on television

he was trying to figure out if Jim

was above or below
where the plane had hit.

And the first thing my
father said to me was,

"He was such a great father."

And I said, "That makes it real."

'Cause for me to think he's not going

to make it out is one thing.

But for my father to say
that, as if it's in the past,

that made it more real for me

that this was really, his life was ending.

- [Narrator] At 10:28, 102 minutes

after it was hit, the North Tower fell.

- I saw the tower fall.

Yeah, I saw the tower fall down.

And I knew for sure I'd
never hear from him again.

I saw his life end right there.

(slow music)

- I felt my heart had
been ripped from my body.

I can't ever remember feeling
that sadness ever in life

or that much emotion and tears,
nor do I hope I ever will.

- My wife, Beverly was working
teaching school in Chicopee.

I had to drive to
Chicopee to inform my wife

that Melissa was in the North Tower.

We were listening to the whole thing

on the radio when we driving back.

And on our way home, the
North Tower collapsed.

My wife asked me to shut the radio off.

I shut the radio off, and we
came home and cried together.

- [Narrator] When the
North Tower collapsed,

1402 civilians were killed.

Along with Melissa Harrington-Hughes
and Jim Gartenberg,

they included Christopher
Hanley, Brian Nunez,

Jeffrey Nussbaum, and Tom McGinnis.

- The question really
about the Trade Center

is what are our memories made out of.

Are they made out of images and myths?

Are they made out of the hard facts?

The audible record of
that day is essential

because if history is going
to be a tool for the living,

if memory is going to
something that we can rely on,

then you can't blink, you can't turn away.

You have to say, this is what happened

and this is how it happened.

(slow music)

- [Narrator] For the families,

the pain of September the
11th may never recede.

But now that several years have passed,

they are beginning to
understand the profound legacy

of their loved one's final words.

- My mother is very philosophical.

She doesn't get stuck
by something like this.

I think she recognizes
it and sort of absorbs it

and tries to make the most
of it, and she looks forward.

So she's doing well, I think.

- The world doesn't stop for
every tragic loss of life.

And, you know, I kind
of wish the world could.

The world gets too busy.

And I understand you can't,
you'd be in constant grieving.

It's too easy for me to fall into a place

where life is only about endurance.

And I think that's a very poor
way to live life. (laughs)

It's ignoring all the gifts you're given.

And I didn't want to be that way.

I didn't want to be that way.

And, you know, I can say
that I don't think I have.

(slow music)

- Jim called me instantaneously
as soon as it happened.

His first response was
he needs to talk to me.

To have his voice, just
to have his voice is,

it's nice, even though it's panic mode.

It's some last memories.

- [Woman] Good job, Nicole, keep going.

- [Jill] When Jim passed away
I was three months pregnant.

You know, here I am
with this special gift,

as far as I'm concerned,
that he left me with.

And to me that's so
important that we have that.

She has his personality.

She's quick-witted and her
sense of humor is just like him.

- [Woman] You're fast, good job.

- So knowing that she's such a part of him

and that my other child's
such a part of him,

it makes me happy that part.

- I was the last one
from the outside world

to talk to Melissa.

We were able to say how
much we loved each other.

And I think of it
constantly all of the time.

- Ever since Melissa's passing,

I don't want to put a good spin on it,

but it's changed him.

It's made him more aware
of things, I should say.

He's a more loving man
now than he was before.

Didn't show his feelings as
much before, and now he does.

Like with my son, who was coincidentally

which was kind of fate,
I would have to say,

was born on September 11th.

- When you leave the face of this earth,

all you leave are your children.

That's your legacy.

Melissa brought a lot
of joy into our lives.

My inner peace with Melissa's death

might come from the fact
that I spoke to her.

I find a lot of pleasure
knowing that Melissa called me,

knowing that we were able

to say our last goodbyes basically.

I got to talk to Melissa in person,

and I'll take that to my grave.