This documentary, released 6 months after the attacks, was made by two Frenchmen, brothers, named Jules and Gedeon Naudet.
It was intended to be a coming of age tale about a probationary New York City Fireman.
It turned out to be much more.
So far as I know, this is the only film that was taken inside the towers at any level.
I think they have the only footage of the first plane going into the World Trade Center. They were out shooting. Someone saw the plane and knew it should not have been where it was. It is a great documentary but I am sure they would have preferred the subject never came up.
ReplyDeleteBut, of course, I cannot watch the link in the great white north.
ReplyDeleteI watched this documentary a number of years ago. It is very powerful. The most powerful part is when they realize that the thumps they keep hearing from inside is the sound of the bodies falling.
ReplyDeleteI watched the whole series of 5 videos out of 6, since #5 seemed to be missing on the web site.
ReplyDeleteSobering to see the events as they unfolded on the ground, instead of from my office in the federal building here.
I would hope the radio communications have been improved between Police and Fire departments by now. The first thing our responders did in the first 24 hours was to turn over our communications trailers to the FDNY to use with our assistance.
It's not a day I want to re-live in any form. Those guys have my deepest respect, awe actually.
Here's a "view" from outside the USA, sent to me via email from a friend from the USACE: ... an excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper ..... The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title 'C'ntarea Americii, meaning 'Ode ToAmerica '
ReplyDeleteWhy are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs.
On 9/ll, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about.
Instead the Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.
After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing. On every occasion, they started singing: 'God BlessAmerica !'
I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.
How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy. What on earth unites the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace, I thought things over, I reached but only one conclusion... Only freedom can work such miracles.
Cornel Nistorescu
Ari, I don't know what happened to part 5. I know it was there yesterday, because I watched them straight through before I posted the thread.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the piece from Mr. Nistorescu, he seems to see it better than most who are living in the US, today.