StoryCorps 440: On the Other Side of Death
[MUSIC – “A Spire” by Tape]
Michael Garofalo (MG): We’re coming up on another anniversary of the September 11 attacks. And in this episode, I’m going to tell you about something we’ve been doing here at StoryCorps for a little over a decade, and something we’ll continue to do into the future.
It’s a New York-based project, but we do record in other places, especially in Washington, DC. And the idea is to collect one interview for each person who is killed on September 11, 2001.
To do this, we partner with the National September 11th Memorial and Museum. So far, we’ve recorded close to 1,400 interviews with family members, survivors, rescue workers and other people whose lives were altered forever that day.
All those interviews go into the archive at the Library of Congress that we’re building and they also live at the museum. So when you visit, some of the audio that you’ll hear in the exhibits will come from StoryCorps interviews.
[TAPE – Leinung]
John Leinung (JL): Because that first one had hit a little before 9, I just kept hoping that, you know, maybe he was still down in the lobby or in an elevator.
Elaine Leinung (EL): No he had gotten there early because he had a meeting. And he had left whistling that morning.
[TAPE – Cosgrove]
Bill Cosgrove (BC): I was just doing my job. It’s just, so many other heroic acts were being done all around me.
[TAPE – Duffy ]
Father Michael Duffy (FMD):Well, the next day the phone rang and it was our provincial in New York and he said, ”Mychal wanted you to do the homily.”
MG: From NPR it’s the StoryCorps podcast, I’m Michael Garofalo. We’ll be back after this short break.
[MUSIC – OUT]
MG: Welcome back. In this episode, we’re listening to stories from our September 11th Initiative.
It can be really, really hard for people to sit down and record these interviews. Survivors, for instance, often come in alone, because they don’t want to burden their loved ones with their memories. And for families of people who were killed that day, the actual recording can be difficult and painful, but it also gives them a chance to leave a record of who that person was. And these interviews can give us a sense of what was lost.
Now, I want to play for you one of the first 9/11 interviews we ever did. It’s a mother and father who lost their son. He worked at the Twin Towers, and he was just 22 years old.
[TAPE – Leinung]
John Leinung (JL): My name is John Leinung.
Elaine Leinung (EL): I’m Elaine Leinung, I’m his wife. We’re here at Grand Central Terminal to talk about our son, Paul James Battaglia who was killed on 9/11.
JL: His sister idolized him. Kristen, when she was a baby, she always used to save food for Paul.
EL: Anything she’d save for Paul.
JL: Whatever she got, she’d save a piece, something for Paul.
EL: And her first words were not even mommy and daddy, they were “Brabu” and you couldn’t yell at Paul. It was, “My Paul. Leave my Paul alone.”
JL: Right.
EL: Yes.
JL: She would try and scold them. She would come to his defense. (laughing)
EL: When the first plane hit I thought maybe it was a commuter plane. And then I thought, ”Oh great it’s hit right smack where Paul’s office is I hope to God he’s not at his desk.” I knew if anything happened, the first thing Paul would do was call my dad. He was the first born grandson, very very close with my father. They would go shopping together. They would go get haircuts together. And I just knew that he would call my dad and then me. And I called my dad and asked if he’d heard from Paul and he said “No.” And then I said, ‘Well, turn on the TV.’ And, uh, my dad said, ‘Elaine, we lost him. That’s right where his office is where the plane hit.’ And I called John and I said, ‘I don’t know what we’ll do. But it looks like he’s gone.’
JL: I just kept hoping that it was because that first one had hit a little before 9, I just kept hoping that, you know, maybe he was still down in the lobby or in an elevator.
EL: No he had gotten there early because he had a meeting. And he had left whistling that morning. He was very happy, he was going to his meeting, he was going to work. In fact I was going to ask him to wait for me to ride the train with him because I loved to sit next to him on the train and I loved to smell his aftershave. We had such a happy night the night before, September 10, 2001. We were joking and laughing and I actually was so happy when I went to sleep that night. That’s the thing that got me afterwards. I had no premonition. You think that you should know something horrible is going to happen to your child that day and I was so happy that night thinking that I had such a nice family and such a good life and I was truly blessed. And then 12 hours later it was very different. And I’ll miss him until I die.
JL: Yeah.
[MUSIC – “Vladimir’s Blues” by Max Richter]
MG: That’s John and Elaine Leinung remembering their son, Paul J. Battaglia.
[MUSIC – OUT]
MG: Now, we’re going to hear about the man whose death certificate bears the number one. It’s Father Mychal Judge, who’s a Franciscan friar, a chaplain to the New York City Fire Department and a true New York character. Born in Brooklyn, Michael seemed to know everyone in the city, from the homeless to the mayor. The morning of September 11th, Father Mychal, because he was the fire chaplain, arrived at the World Trade Center, shortly after the first plane hit. Bill Cosgrove, who was a police lieutenant, was also there. When the first tower collapsed, Cosgrove and a group of firefighters emerged from the dust carrying Father Mychal’s body. At that very moment, a photographer, Shannon Stapleton, snapped a picture, which would become an iconic image of that day. Five men carrying a fallen priest slouched in the chair. The tragedy’s first official victim. Now, we’re going to hear from Bill Cosgrove who’s going to remember the events leading up to that famous photograph. After that, we’re going to hear from Father Michael Duffy, who’s remembering Mychal Judge’s funeral service.
[TAPE – Cosgrove]
Bill Cosgrove (BC): I went a couple of steps and hit something. And I told the fire chief that someone was on the floor. And he put the light on him and I remember him saying, ”Oh my God, it’s Father Mike.”
He checked his vital signs and he said, “He’s dead.”
So, we all picked him up. We went up the steps. And I remember looking up because one of the firemen was yelling at a photographer. He was telling him in no uncertain terms, get out of the way. I didn’t even think about that picture being taken. I was just doing my job. It’s just so many other heroic acts were being done all around me. It’s just that no one took a picture of it. The next day, when I came back into the precinct, somebody showed me the picture. And, uh, I got a lot of calls from people that knew Mychal Judge, firemen. They assumed I knew him, you know, but I didn’t until that day.
He’s always been on my mind ever since then because it’s my firm belief that the only reason I’m here today is because of him. I know that sounds weird, but everybody you see in that picture was saved. And, uh, I’m sure had he not been there, I would have been trying to look for other people, and when that North Tower fell, I would have been right in the middle of it just like the rest of the firemen were and some of my cops. But nothing was going to happen that day. At least not to me.
[MUSIC – “Horizon Variations” by Max Richter]
[MUSIC – OUT]
[TAPE – Duffy]
Father Michael Duffy (FMD): My name is Father Michael Duffy, and I am a Franciscan Brother to Father Mychal Judge. We Franciscans are a little odd, and one of our oddities is there’s a form we fill out, and it’s called “On My Death.”
It says where you want your funeral mass to be, who you want to do the homily, and et cetera like that. So, 9/11 happened on a Tuesday. Well, the next day the phone rang and it was our provincial in New York and he said, “Mychal wanted you to do the homily.” And I said, “Well yes, but this is different. It should be someone with a little more import. So, I think you should do it.”
And there was a long pause. And he said, ”But Mychal wanted you.”
So, I mean, what are you going to say to that?
[ARCHIVAL TAPE]
“Family and friends of Mychal Judge. Good morning everyone. . .”
FMD: I said to myself, when I see Mychal I’m going to kill him. (Laughs)
[ARCHIVAL TAPE ]
I stand in front of you and honestly feel that the homilist at Mother Teresa’s funeral had it easier than I do.
FMD: There were 3,000 people at his funeral. The church wasn’t big enough to hold them. They were outside. Bill Clinton was there, Hillary Clinton, all New York. And the moment arrived, I stood up, and I reached in to get my glasses and I couldn’t get to the pocket because my vestment was covering them. Thank goodness I’d practiced it because I couldn’t read it!
[ARCHIVAL TAPE]
He loved to bless people. And I mean physically. Even if they didn’t ask. A little old lady would come up to him and he would put his big thick Irish hands and press the head ’til I think the poor woman would be crushed.
FMD: Everyone thought Mychal Judge was their best friend. He’d remember significant things in their life and he would write a little note — just one or two lines. Of course, they’d write him back. So, he had a big black satchel filled with letters to answer.
[ARCHIVAL TAPE]
He would say to me once and a while, ‘Michael Duffy’ — he always called me by my full name — ‘Michael Duffy, you know what I need?’ And I would get excited because it was hard to buy him a present or anything. I said, ‘No, what?’ ‘You know what I really need?’ ‘No, what Mike?’ ‘Absolutely nothing. I don’t need a thing in the world. I am the happiest man on the face of the earth. Why am I so blessed? I don’t deserve it.’
Mychal Judge’s body was the first one released from Ground Zero. His death certificate has the number one on the top. Of the thousands of people who perished in that terrible holocaust, why was Mychal Judge number one? And I think I know the reason. Mychal’s goal and purpose in life was to bring the firemen to the point of death so they would be ready to meet their maker. Mychal Judge could not have ministered to them all. It was physically impossible — in this life. In the next few weeks we’re going to have name after name of people who are being brought out of that rubble. And Mychal Judge is going to be on the other side of death to greet them, instead of send them there.
And so, this morning we come to bury Mike Judge’s body, but not his spirit. We come to bury his voice, but not his message. We come to bury his hands, but not his good works. We come to bury his heart, but not his love. Never his love.”
[MUSIC – “Horizon Variations” by Max Richter]
MG: You’ve been listening to the homily from Father Mychal Judge’s funeral on September 15, 2001. It was given by his friend and fellow Franciscan, Father Michael Duffy. Before that, you heard from Bill Cosgrove, one of the men in the iconic photo of Father Mychal Judge that was taken on 9/11.
That’s all for this episode. I produced these stories along with Eve Claxton and you can hear other 9/11 remembrances on our website, StoryCorps.org.
Rate or review us whereever you download the show, and if you ever want to leave a message for someone you hear on the podcast, we set up a voicemail just for you guys, our podcast listeners. The number to call is 301-744 Talk that’s 301-744 T-A-L-K.
For the StoryCorps podcast, I’m Michael Garofalo. Until next time, thanks for listening.
[MUSIC – OUT]