Charles Maikish

John DiGiovanni, a dental salesman, was parking his car at the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993, when terrorists detonated a truck bomb in the garage. He was one of six people killed in the blast.

At StoryCorps, Former World Trade Center Director and CEO Charles Maikish (pictured above with Jan Ramirz, the curator of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum), remembers visiting John’s mother shortly after her son’s death.

Recorded April 10, 2008.

John Yates

John Yates was working at the Pentagon as a civilian security manager on September 11, 2001.

That morning, he and five colleagues gathered around a television to watch the news of the attack on the World Trade Center. Afterwards, he returned to his desk to call his wife and assure her he was fine. Soon after rejoining his colleagues, American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon.

The impact blew John through the air. He crawled through the wreckage and eventually found his way to the Pentagon’s center courtyard, where his clothing was cut off and a doctor began treatment.

Two days later John awoke in the hospital suffering burns on almost 40 percent of his body. The five colleagues he’d been with that morning were all killed in the explosion.

John came to StoryCorps to talk about his memories of that morning.

Originally aired September 11, 2011, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday.

Bill Cosgrove

Like most first responders on 9/11, Bill Cosgrove never meant to become part of history. And he certainly never expected his life to become entwined with a priest he never met—Father Mychal Judge, Franciscan friar, chaplain to the New York City Fire Department, and a true New York character.

Born in Brooklyn, Mychal Judge seemed to know everyone in the city, from the homeless to the mayor. On any given day you could find him at a baptism, visiting AIDS patients, or cracking jokes with his beloved firefighters.

That September morning Father Mychal was where he always seemed to end up—right in the thick of things. He arrived at the World Trade Center shortly after the first plane hit.

When the first tower collapsed, a group of firefighters and Cosgrove, who was a police lieutenant at the time, emerged from the dust carrying Mychal Judge’s body.

At that moment a photographer, Shannon Stapleton, snapped a picture which became an iconic image of that day—five men carrying a fallen priest, slouched in a chair, the tragedy’s first official victim.

At StoryCorps, Bill Cosgrove remembered the events leading up to that famous photograph.

Originally aired September 9, 2011 on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Father Michael Duffy

Father Michael Duffy received two unsettling phone calls following the 9/11 attacks. The first informed him that his close friend and mentor, Father Mychal Judge, had been killed at the World Trade Center. During the second call, he learned Father Mychal had requested that Duffy give the homily at his funeral.

The two Franciscan priests met in the 1970s, when they were assigned to the same parish in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Father Michael eventually settled in Philadelphia to work with poor communities there, while Father Mychal found his way back to his native New York where he ministered to everyone from the homeless to the mayor.

On September 11, Father Mychal was serving as chaplain to the New York City Fire Department. That morning he found himself where he always seemed to end up—right in the thick of things. He arrived at the World Trade Center shortly after the first plane hit.

Originally aired September 9, 2011, on NPR’s Morning Edition. 

Joseph Lutrario

Retired NYPD officer Joseph Lutrario was on duty the morning of September 11th, 2001. When the first plane hit the north tower, his unit was mobilized immediately.

At StoryCorps, Lutrario remembered what happened once he arrived in Lower Manhattan.

Recorded November 8, 2007.

Eunice Hanson and Lee Hanson

On September 11, 2001, Eunice Hanson and Lee Hanson lost their son Peter, their daughter-in-law Sue-Kim, and their granddaughter Christine Lee when United Airline flight 175 was flown into the World Trade Center’s South Tower.

That morning Peter called his parents from the plane telling his father, “Dad, we’ve been hijacked…I think they’ve already killed somebody and I don’t think the pilot’s in control of the plane.” Lee was still on the phone with Peter when the plane crashed.

Eunice and Lee came to StoryCorps to talk about that day.

Recorded February 11, 2011.

Beverly Eckert

Sean Rooney worked for Aon on the 98th floor in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. After United Airlines Flight 175 struck the tower about twenty floors below him, Sean tried to make his way to the roof. As he searched for an escape route, he called his wife, Beverly.

Beverly came to StoryCorps to remember their final conversation.

Beverly went on to become an advocate for families affected by September 11. She died in the crash of Continental Flight 3407 in 2009. She was traveling to Buffalo to award a scholarship in Sean’s name.

Recorded November 19, 2006.

Michele Garcia and Frank Garcia

Robert Oswain was one of hundreds of NYPD officers who patrolled the World Trade Center site shortly after September 11, 2001.

In 2010, Oswain died from a rare form of cancer that his family believes was caused by exposure to toxic dust at Ground Zero.

His parents, Michele and Frank, came to StoryCorps to remember him.

Recorded on December 5, 2010.

Barbara Cattano

In the early 1970s Alena Sesinova fled communist-controlled Czechoslovakia and immigrated to the United States.

She went on to become a systems analyst for Marsh and McClennan. She was working in their office in the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001.

Alena was 57 years old when she was killed. Her partner of 22 years, Barbara Cattano, remembered her at StoryCorps.

Recorded September 13, 2001.

Gladys de la Torre and Carolina de la Torre

Azucena de la Torre, a native of Ecuador, worked on the 103rd floor in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. She was killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

As a professional, de la Torre was a vice president and senior project manager at Cantor Fitzgerald. In her personal life, she was a mentor to her younger sisters.

Two of de la Torre’s sisters, Gladys and Carolina de la Torre, came to StoryCorps to remember their final moments together.

Recorded August 29, 2010.