Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11

by Mitchell Zuckoff

With time, news becomes history. And history, it’s been said, is what happened to other people.5 For anyone who lived through September 11, time might dull the anger and grief that followed the death and destruction caused when terrorists turned four commercial passenger jets into guided missiles. But the memories won’t die. The pain of the deadliest terrorist attacks in American history cut too deep, leaving knots of psychic scars that make each day an experience of before and after, of adapting to a world changed physically by every security checkpoint and psychologically by every mention of the “homeland,”6 a word seldom used in the United States prior to the events now known as 9/11.

The proverbial straw that broke Kathie’s calm announced itself with an annoying chime. “Who do you think you are,” Kathie demanded, “that you are so important that you need a cellphone?” Nobody they knew had one.

As Brian rounded up colleagues, unaware of the extent of the disaster, a wave of annoyance washed over him. “Oh crap,” he thought. “Look at this mess. We’ve got to come back in here tomorrow and clean it all up.”

Jay had one more message for Ladder 6, about the unknown enemy who’d thrown two giant daggers into the heart of New York City: “They’re trying to kill us, boys. Let’s go.” “Okay, Cap,” said Chauffeur Mike Meldrum, speaking for them all. “We’re with you.”

Nearby, on a pile of rocks, were the remains of a coiled snake, its head up and ready to strike. The snake had been flash-burned and preserved as ash, like the ancient volcano victims of Pompeii. The macabre find attracted a crowd of onlookers who knew that if they touched it, it would disappear.

Authorities estimated that by the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, more people will have died5 of an illness related to Ground Zero than in the attacks.