i always kind of hold off on posting things that make it seem like im too patriotic or psycho about 9/11 but if people are interested in some little details that i've looked into and read about regarding the attacks that have stuck with me since i saw the towers fall in 6th grade. politically, i dont think ppl will be surprised where i land and its too depressing to think about how much of it was our own fault and was so entirely out of anyone's hands. but since watching the cnn cameras hastily cut away from what i, even as a kid, instantly recognized as bodies falling from the towers, it haunted me not knowing what happened to them and why no one talks about it.
no gruesome images here. you can look those up on your own if you're so inclined and clever enough lol (they are fairly difficult to find for, im assuming, propaganda reasons. they are horrid). i don't begrudge you for doing so because this is a horrifying and singular event that HAS truly been sanded down. when the human body lands from a great height what happens to you is that you become unrecognizable as human.
note: i grew up in nevada. it's 3k miles away from new york. i have the opposite of first hand experience. you need to go out of your way to learn about these things for yourself if you want literally any kind of understanding of the world around you.
this is a segment from dean e. murphy's collected oral histories of 9/11: the account of ernest armstead, an emergency medical specialist is a notoriously gruesome stories that just barely touches on what EMS and rescue had to look at that day.
the story of rick rescorla who saved nearly 2000 people at the expense of his own life.
literally one of the worst stories you can use to bring down the mood of a party instantly: firefighters had to hide under rubble and pretend to be trapped because the rescue dogs were getting too depressed at being unable to find any survivors
edna cintron waves for help from the hole where the plane crashed
the audio is gone now but a weird story: a wired FBI informant accidentally caught the only uninterrupted recording of the entire attack
the fark.com livethread and an archive of the something awful livethread. these are so stupid darkly funny now. the fark one is making me go nuts bc i forgot they used "fark" as an explative
this one really haunted me for years: a marriot hotel employee covers remains with tablecloths until cleanup can arrive (some...uh. chunks)
both planes severed the sprinkler systems, leading to this eerie image of water pouring down the stairwell. the photographer survived.
rather than link the video, which is graphic due to the fact that there are visible jumpers and sounds, one strange thing to note is there is at least one video of the towers burning and collapsing while billy joel's "she's always a woman" plays. the most horrible thing you've ever seen set to muzak is one of the most surreal experiences i think a human can be forced to endure.
steve buscemi, a former firefighter, was on the ground helping victims
finally: the new york times archive of transcribed oral histories
theartofmadeline
origamiaround
kianamaiart
turnnoffyourmind
