- 1 year ago
Terror at the World Trade Center - The Falling Man of 9/11 is a documentary that examines one of the many images that were circulated by the press immediately after the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. The image in question shows a man plummeting headfirst to the ground, having leapt from one of the two burning towers. After touching on the events of the day and how the nation reacted, this documentary focuses specifically on the image known as the falling man, the photographer who took it, its subsequent circulation, the public's reaction to it and why it was later deemed un-newsworthy.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00:00It was the most photographed and videotaped day in history.
00:00:07Two of the world's tallest buildings destroyed by hijacked planes.
00:00:14The next day, newspapers published photos of the horror.
00:00:18But there were some images so awful, they provoked rage across the world.
00:00:23These were the pictures of people falling.
00:00:26One photo of a falling man was the most controversial of them all.
00:00:30It was branded distasteful, exploitative, voyeuristic.
00:00:35It was never seen again.
00:00:40The images that came to symbolise the day were those of the heroic rescuers working in the rubble.
00:00:49But some argued that the picture of the falling man needed to be confronted.
00:00:54It not only acknowledged the story of the people who'd been forced to jump.
00:00:58It alone gave a true sense of the horror of that day.
00:01:03The quest to identify one man became a quest to give name and voice to that horror.
00:01:09A journey to help America learn and recover from its darkest day.
00:01:15The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey welcomes you to the observation deck at the World Trade Center.
00:01:24We are travelling in an Otis elevator at the speed of 20 miles per hour.
00:01:28When they were completed in 1971, they were the two highest buildings in the world, standing 110 storeys high.
00:01:37The World Trade Center was a beehive of human activity.
00:01:41Up to a quarter of a million people walked through its doors every day.
00:01:45Bond traders.
00:01:47Executives.
00:01:48Waiters.
00:01:49Dishwashers.
00:01:50Tourists.
00:01:51Cleaners.
00:01:52IT specialists.
00:01:53Insuring salesmen.
00:01:54Maintenance.
00:01:55Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the greatest bar here located at Windows on the World Trade Center.
00:02:04My name is Ernie Scott.
00:02:06Please watch your step as you exit.
00:02:09It was the tower's height that never ceased to amaze.
00:02:12Standing an extraordinary 1,500 feet above the ground.
00:02:16It is Tuesday, September 11th.
00:02:18I'm James Faraday and here's what's happening.
00:02:21Thousands of news...
00:02:22September the 11th, 2001, was just another ordinary day.
00:02:26Lower humidity than recently, the high 80, dropping to 60 tonight.
00:02:30Up to 78 with sunshine tomorrow, 76 Thursday.
00:02:33This is Steve Torrey, it appears Michael Jordan will indeed be coming out of a time.
00:02:378.46am.
00:02:40Flight 11.
00:02:439.11.
00:02:48Certain phrases have become shorthand for the worst attack on American soil in history.
00:02:57Still around guys, still around.
00:03:00When it was all over, the world preferred to remember the heroic images of the rest of
00:03:06us.
00:03:07And how the American spirit had prevailed.
00:03:21The impact cut a sway through floors 93 to 99, instantly killing hundreds.
00:03:31Almost immediately, broadcasters began to transmit images across the world.
00:03:36Let's get this live update from 10101.
00:03:38And I'm looking at the World Trade Center.
00:03:40Initially, most people could only react to the breaking news.
00:03:44One of the world's tallest buildings wounded by an errant aeroplane.
00:03:48But for anyone with a relative inside or nearby, the immediate thought was for their safety.
00:03:58I turned to my computer and I typed, hey, are you there?
00:04:03Meaning, are you at work?
00:04:04You work for Bloomberg LP.
00:04:05And I was going to give him a heads up not to go downtown because of what had happened.
00:04:10So, I get a response back that says, yes, I'm here.
00:04:17I'm on the 106th floor.
00:04:19There's a lot of smoke.
00:04:20I'm scared.
00:04:22I just, I couldn't process that information.
00:04:25I was like, 106th floor of what building?
00:04:27And that's what I turned around and typed back to him.
00:04:30And he wrote back, Windows on the World, World Trade Center.
00:04:38Peter Alderman was one of 170 people at Windows on the World restaurant that morning.
00:04:46There were diners, chefs, waiters and kitchen staff.
00:04:50Michael Lamanico, the executive chef, would have been there too.
00:04:58But he was running late because he'd stopped at an opticians.
00:05:03How could that happen?
00:05:04How could a plane on this beautiful, crystal clear, blue sky day, you know, run into the building?
00:05:12How could that happen?
00:05:13I started to take stock of, you know, who's up there?
00:05:20What's happening at Windows?
00:05:26I tried to take a mental roll call to try to recall who was there at that moment.
00:05:37I knew there was nothing that I could do, but I couldn't leave.
00:05:42And all I could think about were my friends, my colleagues, my co-workers.
00:05:48And trying just desperately to pray that they could get out, that they could get to the fire exits, get down those fire stairs.
00:06:04But for nearly 1,000 people on the upper floors, there was no exit.
00:06:09They were trapped.
00:06:12The plane had sliced through the elevator shafts.
00:06:15The emergency staircases were impassable.
00:06:20The plane hit the North Tower in a very central way, resulting in the fuel from the wings pouring into the building itself.
00:06:29The fuel and the fire that was created in the instant that it hit spread so far that people standing in the lobby were burned from the fireball that came out of the elevator shaft.
00:06:41And you could see the smoke coming out from all the way up above windows in the world within minutes of the impact.
00:06:47Those that could get out did.
00:06:51But for the others above the crash site, the heat and thick smoke was already making it difficult to breathe.
00:06:57In some places, impossible.
00:06:58But the watching world could only guess at the terrible conditions inside.
00:07:07Only those in direct communication realized that the danger had spread far beyond the crash site and that casualties might number, not into the tens, but into the hundreds, even thousands.
00:07:21I was freaking out.
00:07:26I was crying and my boss came into my office and he's like, you know, it's okay.
00:07:33It's just a fire.
00:07:34They're going to put it out and you know he's okay.
00:07:36So I wrote back again to him saying, can you get out?
00:07:40And he wrote back, no, we are stuck.
00:07:50The people trapped on the upper floors inundated the emergency services with calls, pleading for help.
00:08:00At the point of impact, temperatures were reaching over a thousand degrees centigrade.
00:08:05As the flames consumed everything inside, the smoke was becoming increasingly toxic.
00:08:12In desperation, windows were broken to let in fresh air.
00:08:16This only made things worse.
00:08:20For some people, there was only one option left.
00:08:23Among the bystanders was photographer Richard Drew.
00:08:37I was standing between a police officer and a woman EMS worker and all of a sudden the woman says, oh look, and she pointed up and we both looked up, all three of us looked up and the people started coming down from the World Trade Center.
00:08:54Bodies were falling, so I instinctively picked up my camera and started taking pictures.
00:08:59That's what I do.
00:09:00It's like a carpenter, you know, he has a hammer, he builds a house, I have a camera and I take pictures.
00:09:05Numerous people jumping.
00:09:06Numerous people jumping.
00:09:08Numerous people jumping.
00:09:10You could hear the sound.
00:09:12They would fall to a certain point and then I couldn't see them anymore because my view was obstructed from where I was.
00:09:18But you could always hear them hitting the ground like a sack of cement, a big thud.
00:09:21Broadcasters were pulling back. They weren't showing the people falling. They were reporting them.
00:09:35People are jumping out the windows. Over there they're jumping out the windows I guess because they're trying to see themselves. I don't know.
00:09:44But pulling back didn't spare people from the horror.
00:09:46Because then the unbelievable happened. Something that made it clear that the first plane wasn't an accident.
00:09:57When United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower, millions saw it live.
00:10:03Now, the thousand people trapped in the North Tower were joined by 600 in the South.
00:10:24One man, arriving at his office across the river in New Jersey however, was unaware of the attacks and the awful predicament his wife now found herself in.
00:10:34A phone rang. And it was my friend Bill. And he said, do you know what's going on at the World Trade Center?
00:10:43And I said, no. He knew Elaine worked there. We'd been friends for many years.
00:10:48And he said, well, a plane hit the hit the North Tower and I knew Elaine worked in the South Tower.
00:10:54So I said, well, I'm, you know, that's horrible but, you know, let me see what I can find out.
00:11:03My secretary came in and told me that Elaine was on the phone.
00:11:06The first thing I said was, well, thank God you're okay. And she said, well, not really.
00:11:15And she told me that smoke was coming into the room, was coming through the vents, and that there had been an explosion beneath them.
00:11:24She didn't know a plane hit.
00:11:29Elaine Gentle had seen the North Tower hit and had immediately began helping her colleagues to evacuate.
00:11:34She was on the 97th floor when the second plane struck and was now among those trapped.
00:11:46As she was speaking to me, I could hear her voice, her breath was labored.
00:11:53And I remember saying, you know, don't, don't breathe so hard, you know, try to relax.
00:12:04When I asked why they didn't try to go down, she said it was really hot out there.
00:12:13And she meant the area near where the elevators and the stairwells were.
00:12:18I didn't understand that. But it was evident to me just from her breathing that it was becoming impossible to be there anymore.
00:12:28She said to me, I'm scared.
00:12:37She wasn't a person who got scared.
00:12:40And I said, honey, it'll be all right. It'll be all right. You'll get down. You'll get down.
00:12:45Elaine said that she and her colleagues felt they only had one choice, to put wet clothes over their head and to try to get out.
00:12:55She said to me that she loved me and she said to tell the boys that I love them.
00:13:02And I was, I was shocked that she was saying this to me. I said, of course I will, of course I will, but it's going to be all right.
00:13:10And she said, I love you. And I said, I love you. And she said, I love you. And I said, I love you. And then I said, call me when you get down. And when I hung up the phone, I was, I was horrified.
00:13:26Jack Gentle doesn't know what happened next, but he knows where it all ended.
00:13:33I know that Elaine was found on the street in front of the building across from hers.
00:13:44So whether she jumped or fell, I don't know. I believe she was alive when it happened because of that phone call.
00:13:58I hoped that she had succumbed to the smoke, but it doesn't seem likely. It's something I can't know.
00:14:14In some ways, it might just be the last element of control that you have. Everything around you is happening and you can't stop it. But this is something that you can do.
00:14:29And to be out of the smoke and the heat and to be out in the air, it must have felt like flying.
00:14:42It's going to fall. It's going to explode.
00:14:57At 9.58, the South Tower fell, extinguishing in an instant the hopes of hundreds inside.
00:15:04The photographer Richard Drew caught the moment.
00:15:10I think the camera is sort of a filter for me between me and what I'm photographing.
00:15:32And I'm only seeing what's coming through my lens and that helps me sort of separate it, I guess, psychologically.
00:15:39What Drew didn't realize was that it already captured an image so shocking, so representative of the horror of the day, that it would ignite controversy and anger across the world.
00:15:54The police said that it was a bit of a fire.
00:15:59Nothing's taking off. All the airports are closed down. The roads are closed down.
00:16:04The twin disaster at the World Trade Centre happening shortly before 9am, then right around 9am.
00:16:09And then just a little while ago, a third explosion which actually brought down the South Tower.
00:16:13More than an hour had passed since the North Tower had been hit.
00:16:20On the ground, people were traumatised by what they were seeing.
00:16:24Not just the burning buildings, but bodies falling.
00:16:31Some people had been blown out by the initial explosions. Some may have slipped, but it was clear that some were being forced into an impossible decision.
00:16:41The fire continued to spread, burning up the furniture and office papers and the combustible materials throughout the buildings.
00:16:56And the tower itself became like a chimney, sending the smoke up towards the top of the tower.
00:17:03And as time passed, the situation became desperate.
00:17:06There was a long period of time where people were just, you know, hanging out by the windows, waving things.
00:17:14You saw one man just, you know, waving a long white, is it a tablecloth? It's not clear.
00:17:27They were people that I knew.
00:17:30There were people waving jackets or tablecloths or napkins.
00:17:35There were people waving, crying out for help.
00:17:40And they were people that I knew so well.
00:17:43And that only made it worse.
00:17:46Firefighters were climbing the stairs, trying to reach the upper floors.
00:17:51They could get nowhere near.
00:17:53Some people had tried to escape to the roof, but found the access door locked.
00:17:59But it wouldn't have helped anyway.
00:18:01The thick smoke made it impossible for helicopters to land.
00:18:09Peter Alderman was one of 70 people stuck in an office on the 106th floor.
00:18:13He sent seven text messages between 907 and 925 to friends and family.
00:18:20His growing desperation was clear.
00:18:23Someone had asked him if they could evacuate the building.
00:18:28And he said, we can't even move.
00:18:30When I spoke to him, he said, no, we're stuck.
00:18:32And I took stuck to be, you know, maybe in a room or something, but can't move.
00:18:37To me, that sounds much, much worse.
00:18:40He said the room was filling with smoke.
00:18:42So, I mean, the situation was definitely deteriorating as the minutes were going by.
00:18:52You're able to see more and more people assembling at the windows.
00:18:55As time is passing, not only are they assembled at the windows,
00:18:57but they're stacked upon each other at the windows.
00:19:00Acting, I'm sure, was an irrational search to somehow breathe.
00:19:06Pushing up against the windows and bodies lying upon each other.
00:19:18Some people, in fact, were actually hanging out of the windows
00:19:22and holding on across the steel that divided the windows.
00:19:27They were just so desperate to get air.
00:19:29Imagine leaning out of the 109th floor of the World Trade Center.
00:19:38No rational person would ever do that.
00:19:41Holy shit!
00:19:43Oh my God!
00:19:46And they're jumping!
00:19:48Numerous people jumping.
00:19:51Numerous people jumping.
00:19:53Numerous people jumping.
00:19:54There were things that were so big that were falling.
00:19:58And it was terrifying and horrifying to think I didn't recognize the objects I was seeing as people.
00:20:15Maybe that thought was just too horrendous, too horrifying to me.
00:20:20Others did see what was happening.
00:20:23Lonely, 10 second journeys.
00:20:26A very public way of dying.
00:20:29The only visible fatalities in a day that claimed thousands.
00:20:52Clearly we're in the middle of the worst ever act of terrorism directed at the United States on domestic soil.
00:20:59And it may not be over.
00:21:03Thomas McGuinness was trapped just below the crash zone.
00:21:07His wife, Ileana, had been desperately trying to reach him for over an hour.
00:21:12The receptionist said, Thomas is on the phone, and right away I took it.
00:21:16He says, this doesn't look good, this doesn't look good.
00:21:18And I said, you're right, oh my God, this is like World War III.
00:21:22And I'm thinking, I'm not thinking something's wrong, because he's on the phone.
00:21:25He's calling me, so he must be okay.
00:21:26He must be at the bar, or in the street, or he's using somebody else's cell phone, or he's on a pay phone.
00:21:31And he says it again.
00:21:32He just says it like three times in a row.
00:21:34And something in the way he says it, he was calm about it, but something said to me, something's not right.
00:21:40And I started to get nervous, and I got upset, too.
00:21:42I was upset, like mad at him, like, are you okay?
00:21:45And he said it again, this doesn't look good, this doesn't look good.
00:21:48And I said, just answer me, yes or no, are you okay?
00:21:50And that's when he said, we're in a conference room on the 92nd floor.
00:21:57The fire was working its way down to the 92nd floor.
00:22:02As Thomas McGuinness talked to his wife, it was nearly upon him.
00:22:06That's when he said to me, he goes, Ileana, you don't understand.
00:22:11There are people jumping from, sorry.
00:22:16He said, there are people jumping from the floors above us.
00:22:20And that's when I just was like, oh my God, this is very bad.
00:22:25Because I'm thinking, I mean, one thing is when you're on the third floor or the fourth floor, and there's a fire, and you jump because you think, okay, I've got to escape this fire.
00:22:33And you think, well, I might survive, I might get broken legs or broken back or, you know, but these people are jumping to their deaths.
00:22:41That's how desperate they are that they're jumping to their deaths.
00:22:45And I'm just thinking about these poor guys in this room, not for five minutes, but for an hour dealing with that.
00:22:53And knowing that something terrible is going on up there, and that it's coming down to us too, because we can't get out of here.
00:22:58And so, I know that for him, it was a goodbye call.
00:23:05But I just wasn't ready to accept that.
00:23:07But I know that it was for him, because he said, I love you, take care of Caitlyn, who's our little girl.
00:23:12Just kept saying, you're coming home tonight, you're coming home tonight.
00:23:21He says, if we get out of here, it's going to be a miracle.
00:23:24And the last thing he said was, I've got to get down on the floor.
00:23:27And that's when I lost the connection.
00:23:29And I tried again, but I just, I couldn't get through.
00:23:31There was no dial tone, there was nothing.
00:23:33Thomas McGuinness's call was the last voice ever heard from the North Tower.
00:23:43Three minutes later, the tower collapsed.
00:23:49By then, as many as 200 people had fallen from the sky.
00:23:53in the sky.
00:24:23A couple of hours later, the photographer Richard Drew was back at the Associated Press
00:24:50newsroom at Rockefeller Center. He was now methodically working his way through the images he'd shot.
00:25:00You photograph what's there in front of you. You just instinctively take pictures of what's there.
00:25:06So I started looking at the pictures of the following people. I called one of our senior
00:25:10editors who was there at the time over to start looking at the images with me and I said,
00:25:14I really like this one. It really hits you. It's just something, that certain something.
00:25:20That you recognize. I see this not as this person's death, but as a part of his life.
00:25:28There's no blood. There's no guts. It's just a person falling.
00:25:38Within minutes, Drew's falling man joined thousands of images arriving in newsrooms across the world.
00:25:44Among them was The Morning Call, a typical mid-sized American newspaper based in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
00:25:51My first reaction to it was horror. We knew it was happening. There were reports of it on television,
00:26:00but TV stations weren't showing bodies falling from the tower.
00:26:05My mind right away went to, are we going to print this? And I felt we wanted to print it,
00:26:09but could the person be identified, you know? First thing I tried to do is look very closely to see,
00:26:15and I couldn't. The editors wanted to choose images that best captured the story.
00:26:25To gauge opinion, they pinned many on the wall.
00:26:32Among them was The Falling Man.
00:26:33I felt like I was punched in the stomach, you know? It was such a strong image. It was hard to look at.
00:26:46You feel like it's a private moment. You feel, it feels almost obscene looking at this.
00:26:52You feel like you're taking away the person's humanity a little, a little bit.
00:26:56I said I had the same reaction to the Eddie Adams photo, where the South Vietnamese police chief
00:27:03stepped up to the Viet Cong prisoner, put the pistol to his head, and shot him in the temple.
00:27:08It's just the last moment of a person's life.
00:27:13Naomi's reaction was, exactly, it is just like that Eddie Adams photo,
00:27:18and that's a Pulitzer Prize winning photo, and that's exactly why we should run it.
00:27:26At the afternoon news meeting, as the staff tried to absorb the day's events,
00:27:31the editor canvassed opinion.
00:27:34By the time we got to the news meeting, I recall there were probably a few voices were concerned.
00:27:40We'd still discuss the concern.
00:27:44Naomi was very passionate about the photo.
00:27:47She believed there are photos in history that are flashpoints
00:27:51that really kind of get at the truth.
00:27:53I mean, they're hard to look at, but there are certain photos that just tell the story.
00:28:01And in this case, it got to the humanity in a way that other photos,
00:28:07even that might be more graphic, would not.
00:28:12This particular photo that separated it from all the other photos
00:28:17was the quietness and the body position.
00:28:24I saw grace.
00:28:26I saw a stillness, even though I know that he was falling.
00:28:33I saw a quietness in that, as opposed to a loud, horrible, burning death.
00:28:43The morning call decided to publish the Drew image,
00:28:49putting it on the back page of the first section.
00:28:52It carried the photo larger than any newspaper in the country.
00:28:57You know, you have to know, going into this,
00:29:00that you're going to get a reader response,
00:29:03and it's going to be heavy, and it's going to be angry.
00:29:06And a lot of it can be misdirected anger.
00:29:11But we get it.
00:29:18On the morning of September the 12th,
00:29:21170,000 copies of the paper carrying the image of the falling man
00:29:25were distributed throughout the morning calls region.
00:29:27Allentown is so typically American
00:29:32that it's regularly used by pollsters to canvas American opinion.
00:29:38Its response was unequivocal.
00:29:44To the editor, it was with utter disgust
00:29:47that as I read the September 12th edition,
00:29:50I turned a page only to see a large photo
00:29:52of some poor soul plummeting a thousand feet headfirst to certain death.
00:29:57Do not let your children read the morning call.
00:30:00The half-page colored picture of a man falling out of the window
00:30:03was used in such poor judgment.
00:30:06I'm not an angry guy.
00:30:07I'm pretty much a very passive person.
00:30:12Nothing fazes me.
00:30:13I'm very lighthearted.
00:30:15But that day, that picture, just made me angry.
00:30:20We had more response on this photo
00:30:23than I believe we've ever seen on any photo published.
00:30:27And a passionate response.
00:30:29And that's saying a lot.
00:30:31Never really seen something like that.
00:30:33Many people just didn't want to look at it.
00:30:35And they were angry.
00:30:36You knew that a few seconds earlier,
00:30:42that person had to make a decision.
00:30:45They were executed, but they had the choice
00:30:47in the manner of how they were going to die.
00:30:49They were either going to fall to their death
00:30:52or they're going to be burned alive in the building.
00:30:54There was no third choice.
00:30:56And when you saw that photograph,
00:30:58you immediately knew that this person
00:30:59had thought those thoughts,
00:31:02had made his decision,
00:31:04and acted on it.
00:31:08We had to capture the enormity of this event.
00:31:11There had never been anything like it prior.
00:31:14And the images were absolutely critical.
00:31:17I really think it did
00:31:20cause anybody who looked at that photo
00:31:23to think about that.
00:31:24What would I do?
00:31:25I thought about that myself.
00:31:27You know, what choice would I make?
00:31:29And the absolute horror of making that choice.
00:31:32And I think maybe that's the personal space
00:31:39that we went to with some people
00:31:41where they thought about
00:31:43what would their personal choice be.
00:31:45We have not run it since that day,
00:31:48since September 12th.
00:31:50We just couldn't, you know,
00:31:53scratch at that scab again
00:31:54and open that wound.
00:31:57But the photo had already been published.
00:32:00And the reaction in Allentown
00:32:02was mirrored around the world.
00:32:05But some who saw it
00:32:06couldn't get it out of their mind.
00:32:10I remember seeing that picture.
00:32:13It stopped me.
00:32:15There was something that was
00:32:15every day about the person who was in it.
00:32:19You know, he looked like any guy
00:32:20who you see in the city.
00:32:22And yet there was something,
00:32:23you know, forever remote about him.
00:32:27I mean, how could you ever possibly
00:32:30get to that experience?
00:32:32He seems almost perfectly composed.
00:32:37This is impossible.
00:32:39This picture, it should be
00:32:41and it will go everywhere.
00:32:44I never saw that picture again.
00:32:45The photo had disappeared from public view
00:32:49in a remarkable, spontaneous act of self-censorship.
00:32:54Newspapers and magazines decided not to run it again.
00:32:58No one wanted to confront the existence
00:33:01of the jumpers of the jumpers.
00:33:17In the days following September the 11th,
00:33:19there was a desperate search for survivors.
00:33:2110,000 were feared dead or missing under the rubble.
00:33:28Firefighters worked tirelessly around the clock,
00:33:31hunting for any sign of life.
00:33:32Americans had recoiled from the falling man.
00:33:44But now, pictures of the rescuers
00:33:46were something the nation could celebrate
00:33:47and rally around.
00:33:49The images that lasted are, in the most case, heroic pictures.
00:34:01There was a spin that came out of our feeling of being so deeply wounded on that day,
00:34:09which was that, you know, we're Americans
00:34:10and you may have knocked our buildings down,
00:34:14you may have killed nearly 3,000 people,
00:34:17but the American spirit shall prevail.
00:34:22Whereas Richard Drew's picture, the falling man picture,
00:34:26became, for whatever reason,
00:34:27the picture that nobody wanted to look at.
00:34:32But Tom Junot, a prize-winning writer on American culture,
00:34:36could not stop looking.
00:34:39He felt the falling man was the defining image of September the 11th
00:34:42and decided to investigate why the jumpers had been airbrushed from the day.
00:34:47I talked to the coroner's office in New York.
00:34:53I asked them for a count of how many people jumped that day.
00:35:00And what the woman from the coroner's office said was,
00:35:03nobody jumped that day.
00:35:05They were blown out.
00:35:07They were forced out.
00:35:10We don't say that they jumped.
00:35:13Nobody jumped.
00:35:18That just made me feel that there was just something going on
00:35:22that was not familiar American territory about dealing with tragedy.
00:35:30There were just things about that day
00:35:32that you weren't supposed to say,
00:35:35you weren't supposed to see,
00:35:36you weren't supposed to talk about.
00:35:38And for me, that resistance wound up centering on
00:35:43and attaching itself to Richard Drew's picture.
00:35:51Junot was not alone in his curiosity.
00:35:53A few days after the image was published,
00:35:59a Canadian journalist was asked to identify the falling man.
00:36:03An editor called me with what I thought was a ludicrous request.
00:36:08He wanted me to find out who the man was and tell his life story.
00:36:11And my first thought was, good luck.
00:36:14You know, I don't think it's possible
00:36:16to get the identity of one person, an image like that.
00:36:20But I decided to try.
00:36:23The worst ever act of terrorism directed at the United States
00:36:27on domestic soil, and it may not be over.
00:36:29In the days after September the 11th,
00:36:31America was in shock and in mourning.
00:36:35The country closed in on itself.
00:36:36And I've ordered that the full resources of the federal government
00:36:39go to help the victims and their families
00:36:42and to conduct a full-scale investigation.
00:36:47And I've ordered that the Israeli government sources believe
00:36:49Osama bin Laden is in fact responsible.
00:36:52Who committed this act.
00:36:54Peter Cheney began his hunt for the falling man
00:36:56by having the image enhanced.
00:36:59I saw that he was black or Spanish,
00:37:03he had a goatee,
00:37:04and the jacket was more like a waiter's jacket
00:37:08and he had black pants
00:37:10and a particular type of shoe.
00:37:14And he was wearing what looked like
00:37:16a restaurant worker's outfit.
00:37:19Based on the odds,
00:37:21I thought that this guy had most likely come
00:37:22from the windows on the world restaurant.
00:37:24There were thousands of people desperate for information
00:37:41about their missing loved ones.
00:37:43They were trapped.
00:37:46She was on the 79th floor,
00:37:48so everything around them had collapsed already.
00:37:50And if I don't find him,
00:37:52I have to start all over again.
00:37:55It's taken me my entire life to find him,
00:37:59and I don't know what I will do without him.
00:38:03But no one wanted to lay claim
00:38:05to the falling man.
00:38:06For two or three days,
00:38:09I worked non-stop
00:38:11to try and track down
00:38:13who this person might be.
00:38:14But I seemed to be getting nowhere.
00:38:16I had called windows on the world.
00:38:19I had gone all over the city
00:38:20looking at the missing posters
00:38:21trying to find somebody
00:38:22who matched this particular image.
00:38:25I'd had it.
00:38:27I'd done everything I could think of doing,
00:38:28and it wasn't working.
00:38:31Then, late one night
00:38:33wandering around Times Square,
00:38:34Cheney came across a poster
00:38:36of a missing man
00:38:37in a white jacket.
00:38:39I had this instant
00:38:40sort of recognition.
00:38:42I thought it looked like
00:38:43the man in Richard Drew's picture.
00:38:47He looked an awful lot like him.
00:38:49And I almost doubted myself.
00:38:52I said,
00:38:52how is it possible
00:38:53that I would do all this work
00:38:54and then chance upon a poster
00:38:56in Times Square?
00:38:58The number led to Milagros Hernandez.
00:39:01She and her family
00:39:02had pinned hundreds of posters
00:39:03across New York,
00:39:04desperate for any news
00:39:05about her brother, Norberto.
00:39:07He worked at Windows on the World.
00:39:10I asked her
00:39:11if she and her family
00:39:12had seen the picture
00:39:13in the newspapers.
00:39:14She said, yes.
00:39:15And I said,
00:39:16did you think it was your brother?
00:39:19She said, yes.
00:39:20I said, well,
00:39:21I'd like to tell his story.
00:39:27Milagros was eager
00:39:28that Cheney come with her
00:39:29to her brother's funeral
00:39:30and meet Norberto's family.
00:39:32But they were incensed
00:39:33when they discovered
00:39:34that a journalist was there.
00:39:35I was standing there
00:39:39crying, praying.
00:39:42I believe I turned back.
00:39:44I see a man with a photo.
00:39:48My aunt.
00:39:51I believe she called me over.
00:39:53And I cursed him.
00:39:58I told him to get out.
00:40:01That's not my father.
00:40:02Get out.
00:40:05Excuse me for saying this,
00:40:06but if I had his address,
00:40:07I would go to his house
00:40:08and it wouldn't be so nice.
00:40:15But some members
00:40:16of the extended family
00:40:17did identify Norberto
00:40:19as the falling man.
00:40:24Cheney went ahead
00:40:25and published his article.
00:40:29The story quickly spread
00:40:30around the world.
00:40:32When one of Norberto's daughters
00:40:33heard about it,
00:40:34she got on the internet
00:40:35to investigate.
00:40:36When I typed up
00:40:38my dad's name
00:40:39on a search engine,
00:40:41there were 9,384 articles.
00:40:44I'm like,
00:40:44wow, let me open a couple.
00:40:46The jumper.
00:40:47The jumper.
00:40:47It was in Czechoslovakian,
00:40:50Yugoslavian.
00:40:51It was in Italian,
00:40:52French.
00:40:53And I can't read
00:40:54any of those languages.
00:40:55But I was able to
00:40:57pretty much read out
00:41:00Norberto Hernandez,
00:41:02jumper,
00:41:03World Trade Center.
00:41:03And you see the picture.
00:41:06Norberto's wife
00:41:09and three daughters
00:41:10refused to accept
00:41:11that the image
00:41:12was Norberto.
00:41:13It flew in the face
00:41:15of their family motto,
00:41:16Together Forever,
00:41:18and their faith.
00:41:18My father, he was a gentle giant.
00:41:25He was 6'2",
00:41:26very quiet,
00:41:28humble,
00:41:29barely heard him speak.
00:41:31My father liked salsa,
00:41:33especially salsa kids
00:41:34and El Gran Combo,
00:41:36Tito Rojas.
00:41:38He always was listening
00:41:40to that music.
00:41:40He would never put us aside
00:41:45for anybody.
00:41:47I mean,
00:41:48he was our main,
00:41:50he was the main guy,
00:41:51you know,
00:41:51he was my father.
00:41:54The thought that her father
00:41:55could have jumped
00:41:56had a profound psychological effect
00:41:58on Norberto's youngest daughter,
00:42:01Tatiana,
00:42:0213 years old at the time.
00:42:03I couldn't sleep.
00:42:08I thought it was the truth.
00:42:09I believed that.
00:42:10I was like,
00:42:10oh, it probably was him,
00:42:12you know.
00:42:13And I started seeing
00:42:14him in the house.
00:42:16One time I saw him,
00:42:17like,
00:42:18creep over,
00:42:18and then he was smiling.
00:42:20And I was so scared
00:42:21because I thought
00:42:22everyone else saw it.
00:42:23I was like,
00:42:24oh my God,
00:42:24did you see that?
00:42:25And they're like,
00:42:25what?
00:42:26Did you see?
00:42:26I'm like,
00:42:27didn't you see Papi?
00:42:28Papi?
00:42:28Papi
00:42:29Because of her daughter's trauma,
00:42:37Norberto's wife
00:42:38decided to leave
00:42:39the family home
00:42:40of 25 years.
00:42:42The family moved,
00:42:44hoping for some peace.
00:42:50We were together
00:42:51for nearly 30 years,
00:42:53and I can put myself
00:42:55in his situation.
00:42:57There's a fire.
00:42:57I'm on the 107th floor.
00:43:02I'm not going to jump
00:43:03through the window
00:43:04because I'm thinking,
00:43:06and I know
00:43:07what he was thinking.
00:43:09He was thinking of me,
00:43:11his daughters,
00:43:12his grandchildren,
00:43:13and his mother.
00:43:15I'm not going to jump.
00:43:17I'm going to try to escape
00:43:18any way possible,
00:43:20down the staircase,
00:43:21any way.
00:43:23But the last thing
00:43:24I would do
00:43:24is jump out of the window.
00:43:27But it was more than grief
00:43:42that fueled
00:43:43the Hernandez's angry denial.
00:43:45It was something
00:43:46more fundamental.
00:43:47I'll say it as this.
00:43:53Once a person commits suicide,
00:43:55their soul automatically
00:43:56goes to hell
00:43:57with no questioning.
00:44:01We weren't the most
00:44:02religious family,
00:44:03but we had our beliefs,
00:44:04and we went to church.
00:44:06So by you calling him
00:44:09the jumper,
00:44:10you're kind of saying
00:44:11that his soul is damned.
00:44:13You're telling me
00:44:14he's in hell.
00:44:17I think that's mostly
00:44:18what got to my mom.
00:44:21That's what got to me too.
00:44:22To the Hernandez's,
00:44:27the thought of their
00:44:27Norberto jumping
00:44:28was impossible.
00:44:30To them,
00:44:31it was a betrayal
00:44:31of love and faith.
00:44:34To others,
00:44:35the idea of identifying
00:44:36the falling man
00:44:37smacked of voyeurism.
00:44:39The chef,
00:44:39Michael Lomarnico,
00:44:40had worked with Norberto
00:44:41for nearly 14 years.
00:44:42What do we stand to gain
00:44:47by identifying this person?
00:44:49What's the purpose of this?
00:44:51Why this exercise
00:44:52in trying to look at this photo
00:44:55and understand who's in it?
00:44:58What will we ever know
00:44:59about this photograph
00:45:01that it doesn't already say
00:45:03on its own?
00:45:11But Tom Junot was sure
00:45:12that the only way
00:45:13to remove the stigma
00:45:14surrounding the falling man
00:45:15and the rest of the jumpers
00:45:17was to discover more about them.
00:45:26I felt that the idea
00:45:27of people jumping,
00:45:28I felt that the jumpers,
00:45:29I felt that the falling man
00:45:30had been sort of pushed
00:45:32to the side.
00:45:34There was an element
00:45:35of exclusion,
00:45:36that he died improperly.
00:45:38That we want to remember
00:45:40this day
00:45:41for its heroism.
00:45:46And whether we think
00:45:48of the jumpers
00:45:49as heroic or not,
00:45:51they should not be excluded
00:45:52from the consecrated ground
00:45:54of American soil
00:45:55because they died in a way
00:45:57that makes us uncomfortable.
00:46:03Junot was convinced
00:46:05that America needed
00:46:06to confront the falling man,
00:46:07a harrowing symbol
00:46:09of 9-11
00:46:09instead of pretending
00:46:11he didn't exist.
00:46:12He then found someone
00:46:14who provided justification
00:46:15for his mission.
00:46:17Someone who'd found comfort
00:46:18and peace
00:46:19by accepting
00:46:20that his loved one
00:46:20may have jumped.
00:46:21It had to be
00:46:24so intense up there
00:46:26and there was
00:46:27no other way out
00:46:28that it was either
00:46:31burn alive
00:46:31or go quickly.
00:46:34I envisioned
00:46:35that it had to be
00:46:35the towering inferno.
00:46:38And from the photos
00:46:39I saw,
00:46:40it obviously was.
00:46:42Who knows how much
00:46:43smoke was in there?
00:46:45Do you suffocate to death
00:46:46or do you jump?
00:46:48I think it was brave
00:46:49to do that.
00:46:50When the media
00:46:53started posting photographs
00:46:54then I started searching
00:46:55to see if Karen
00:46:57was one of those jumpers.
00:47:00After a while
00:47:01it just became
00:47:02an obsession with me.
00:47:03I was so intense
00:47:04on just finding something.
00:47:07I found some photos
00:47:08in my search
00:47:09that I think
00:47:10was Karen jumping.
00:47:13I know it's her
00:47:14because the clothes
00:47:16and the shape,
00:47:17I would know her
00:47:17from a shadow.
00:47:18She had a blue sweater
00:47:19top-on, sleeveless
00:47:20and cream-colored pants.
00:47:23If you look at the pictures
00:47:24that I have,
00:47:26I mean,
00:47:26that's what I see.
00:47:29It wasn't painful
00:47:30for some reason.
00:47:31It really wasn't.
00:47:33I finally, you know,
00:47:35have something
00:47:35I can hold on to here.
00:47:37This is where she was
00:47:39and this is how she died.
00:47:40She jumped.
00:47:41She didn't burn up.
00:47:42She didn't become dust.
00:47:47Nothing is more painful
00:47:48than losing her.
00:47:50But not knowing
00:47:51how I lost her
00:47:52was even more painful.
00:47:54So now that I believe
00:47:55that that's what took place,
00:47:57it's not painful
00:47:58for me to talk about it.
00:48:01And if she jumped,
00:48:02she jumped.
00:48:02If Tom Junot wanted
00:48:17to create an acceptance
00:48:18of the image,
00:48:19he would first need
00:48:20to create an understanding
00:48:21of it.
00:48:25He then discovered
00:48:26from the photographer
00:48:27Richard Drew
00:48:27that the picture
00:48:28was just one
00:48:29of a sequence
00:48:30of 12.
00:48:34When I looked
00:48:35at that series,
00:48:37the outtakes,
00:48:38the story became
00:48:39a different story
00:48:40for me.
00:48:42I thought it was
00:48:43probably a light-skinned
00:48:44black man.
00:48:45Somebody who had
00:48:46his hair cut
00:48:47so short
00:48:48that you could
00:48:48see his scalp.
00:48:50Somebody who was
00:48:51tall,
00:48:52kind of lanky.
00:48:54So that was also
00:48:55the beginning
00:48:56of me thinking
00:48:56that,
00:48:57well,
00:48:58this is,
00:48:59this might not be
00:49:00Norberto Hernandez,
00:49:01after all,
00:49:01this might be
00:49:02someone else.
00:49:05For Tom Junot,
00:49:07the search for the
00:49:08falling man
00:49:08had just begun.
00:49:10As the months
00:49:25passed,
00:49:26the search for bodies
00:49:27was replaced
00:49:28by a clean-up
00:49:28operation.
00:49:30The goal now
00:49:31was to remove
00:49:32any reminder
00:49:32of the country's
00:49:33day of horror
00:49:34and begin
00:49:35the healing process.
00:49:36one memory
00:49:40had been wiped
00:49:41from the record
00:49:41long ago.
00:49:43The photograph
00:49:43of a man
00:49:44falling from the sky
00:49:45and with it,
00:49:47the story
00:49:47of the jumpers.
00:49:51Writer Tom Junot
00:49:52wanted to make sure
00:49:53that healing
00:49:54didn't mean
00:49:55forgetting.
00:49:56If America
00:49:57accepted the image
00:49:58of the falling man,
00:49:59that would never
00:50:00happen.
00:50:01In his quest,
00:50:02he then discovered
00:50:03that the photograph
00:50:04was part of a sequence.
00:50:07When I looked
00:50:08at that series,
00:50:10the outtakes,
00:50:12the story became
00:50:13a different story
00:50:14for me.
00:50:16He's clearly falling.
00:50:17It's not this
00:50:18almost zen-like
00:50:20acceptance
00:50:20of his fate.
00:50:21He is panicking,
00:50:23he is rolling
00:50:23through the air.
00:50:25As he does that,
00:50:26the turbulence
00:50:27pulls his shirt off
00:50:29and the white shirt
00:50:30that he's wearing
00:50:31comes off enough
00:50:32to reveal
00:50:32that he is wearing
00:50:33underneath that
00:50:34white shirt
00:50:35and orange
00:50:36T-shirt.
00:50:38Well,
00:50:39that was new information.
00:50:44Junot reluctantly
00:50:45decided to contact
00:50:47the Hernandez family.
00:50:49He knew they were
00:50:49grief-stricken
00:50:50and angry
00:50:51at the media
00:50:51for naming Norberto.
00:50:52but if he could
00:50:57convince them
00:50:58to look at
00:50:58the new photos,
00:51:00he would be able
00:51:00to rule out
00:51:01or confirm
00:51:02Norberto
00:51:03as the falling man.
00:51:07Surprisingly,
00:51:08the family
00:51:08agreed to see him.
00:51:13You go to the house
00:51:14and it's essentially
00:51:16a shrine
00:51:17to Norberto
00:51:18and the life
00:51:18that they had
00:51:19with Norberto
00:51:20and there's pictures
00:51:22of him,
00:51:22you know,
00:51:23everywhere.
00:51:26In the beginning,
00:51:27Catherine did
00:51:28all the talking
00:51:29for her mother
00:51:30but as time went on,
00:51:33Eulogia became
00:51:33more and more eager
00:51:35to tell,
00:51:36you know,
00:51:37the story
00:51:37and her eagerness
00:51:39was expressed
00:51:40most positively
00:51:42when I asked her
00:51:44if she knew
00:51:46what Norberto
00:51:47had worn
00:51:49that morning.
00:51:51Was he wearing
00:51:52an orange T-shirt?
00:51:54No.
00:51:55No.
00:51:56Nunca.
00:51:58No.
00:51:59No.
00:51:59Never.
00:52:01That day
00:52:02he was wearing
00:52:02black trainers,
00:52:04white socks,
00:52:06stonewashed
00:52:07blue jeans
00:52:08and a blue-colored
00:52:09shirt with patterns.
00:52:11And the shirt
00:52:12was the same.
00:52:13The shirt
00:52:13was the same.
00:52:16While speaking
00:52:18to the family,
00:52:19Juno was shocked
00:52:20to realize
00:52:20that none of them
00:52:21had ever looked
00:52:22at the original photo.
00:52:24The thought
00:52:25had been too painful.
00:52:27Here was an opportunity
00:52:28to confirm
00:52:28beyond a shadow
00:52:29of a doubt
00:52:30that Norberto
00:52:31was not the falling man.
00:52:34He tentatively
00:52:35asked Catherine
00:52:36whether she wanted
00:52:37to look.
00:52:38She leapt
00:52:38at the chance.
00:52:40As soon as I saw
00:52:41the picture,
00:52:42I was like,
00:52:42this is my dad.
00:52:44The facial
00:52:44and the color
00:52:45it wasn't him.
00:52:48We could immediately
00:52:48tell it wasn't him.
00:52:50Suddenly,
00:52:51Yulahia was
00:52:52over our shoulder.
00:52:52She had come out
00:52:53and she said,
00:52:54let me see those.
00:52:58I was curious.
00:53:00I had to see it.
00:53:01I had to see it.
00:53:03It was obvious
00:53:04it wasn't him.
00:53:06From that day,
00:53:07everything changed
00:53:08at home.
00:53:09Everything changed.
00:53:11I changed.
00:53:11I was no longer
00:53:13in such a bad way.
00:53:16Before that,
00:53:17I was in a bad way.
00:53:19In a very bad way.
00:53:22Catherine said,
00:53:23I don't know
00:53:23what I would have done
00:53:24if that was my father.
00:53:25I think I would have
00:53:26had a nervous breakdown.
00:53:29Everything that they thought
00:53:30that their family represented
00:53:31was contradicted
00:53:32by this picture.
00:53:33The last thing
00:53:35that Yulahia
00:53:36left me with
00:53:37as I got in my car
00:53:39and left,
00:53:39she looked at me
00:53:40and she said,
00:53:41please clear my husband's name.
00:53:46But Janot wanted to do more
00:53:48than clear Norberto's name.
00:53:50He wanted to clear the name
00:53:51of all the jumpers.
00:53:53He believed that
00:53:53by finding out more
00:53:54about the life and death
00:53:55of one man,
00:53:56he could do this.
00:53:58He looked again
00:53:59at the reporter
00:53:59Chaney's article.
00:54:00When Peter Chaney
00:54:03did his story
00:54:03of the falling man,
00:54:04he thought he could see
00:54:05the face of the man
00:54:06and that he could see
00:54:07details that were enough.
00:54:12Chaney looked at that picture,
00:54:13saw the black pants
00:54:14and said that he was
00:54:15a kitchen worker.
00:54:16But in fact,
00:54:17most kitchen workers
00:54:18in New York at least
00:54:19don't wear black pants.
00:54:21They wear these
00:54:22black and white check pants.
00:54:24But in fact,
00:54:25Norberto was a chef
00:54:26and would not have been
00:54:27wearing black pants.
00:54:29So, I don't know
00:54:31who it is.
00:54:32But I do know
00:54:33it's not Norberto Hernandez.
00:54:35But Janot did agree
00:54:36with one thing
00:54:37in Chaney's article.
00:54:39The falling man
00:54:39had come from
00:54:40windows on the world.
00:54:42Ladies and gentlemen,
00:54:43welcome to the
00:54:44greatest bar here
00:54:45located at
00:54:46Windows on the World
00:54:47in the World Trade Center.
00:54:48My name is Ernie Scott.
00:54:50Since opening in 1976,
00:54:52windows had become
00:54:53a New York institution.
00:54:55Customers loved the location
00:54:57and so did the staff.
00:54:59Many of them
00:54:59had worked there
00:55:00for years,
00:55:01which had created
00:55:02an unusual camaraderie
00:55:03among them.
00:55:05It was just a good feel.
00:55:07It was a good place.
00:55:08You know,
00:55:08certain nights
00:55:09there'd be
00:55:09an incredible sunset.
00:55:11You know,
00:55:11we'd all stand there
00:55:12and go,
00:55:12wow,
00:55:12isn't that cool?
00:55:14You know,
00:55:14just tiny things like that,
00:55:16dumb things.
00:55:17You know,
00:55:17people that you met,
00:55:18things that you did,
00:55:19birthdays that you celebrated
00:55:20with each other.
00:55:21People that,
00:55:22you know,
00:55:23just became really part
00:55:24of your extended family
00:55:25every day.
00:55:26That family
00:55:30had been devastated
00:55:31by September the 11th
00:55:32when 79 of its members
00:55:34had perished.
00:55:40But could one of them
00:55:41have been the falling man?
00:55:42Janot now hired
00:55:44a researcher
00:55:44to help him.
00:55:52They compiled a list
00:55:53of 22 possible names
00:55:54based on age,
00:55:56race,
00:55:56and body type.
00:55:58They then asked
00:55:59surviving staff
00:56:00whether they would consider
00:56:01looking at the photos.
00:56:02You're asking these people
00:56:04to look at something
00:56:06that could possibly be
00:56:08a colleague of theirs,
00:56:10that could possibly
00:56:10be a good friend of theirs.
00:56:12This is not something
00:56:13that you,
00:56:14you're not looking through
00:56:15a high school yearbook
00:56:16with them.
00:56:17This is something
00:56:17that you've really got
00:56:18to approach
00:56:20respectfully.
00:56:22For anyone who had
00:56:24lost a friend
00:56:25or colleague,
00:56:26this was a painful request.
00:56:29Most took some time
00:56:31to consider the idea.
00:56:33I felt like it was
00:56:34my duty
00:56:36and my responsibility
00:56:37to help identify
00:56:39this person
00:56:40if I could.
00:56:41There might be
00:56:42somebody out there
00:56:43who would want to know
00:56:44that their father
00:56:46was in this picture
00:56:47or their brother
00:56:48or their son.
00:56:49It was very nervous
00:56:58before I looked
00:56:59at the pictures.
00:57:01I was hopeful
00:57:03and terrified
00:57:04at the same time
00:57:04that I would know
00:57:05who it was.
00:57:07I didn't,
00:57:09I guess in some ways
00:57:11I did want to know
00:57:12if it was one of our people
00:57:14but I really didn't want
00:57:15it to be one of my people.
00:57:18Not everyone felt
00:57:19they could help.
00:57:21Michael Lamanico
00:57:21had stood and watched
00:57:23helplessly as smoke
00:57:24then flames
00:57:25then people poured out
00:57:27of his restaurant.
00:57:28My reaction to the photographs
00:57:30was I didn't want to see them.
00:57:31I didn't want to be
00:57:32in the room with them.
00:57:33I didn't want to handle them.
00:57:34I didn't want to participate
00:57:35in this.
00:57:38Other Windows staff
00:57:40agreed to meet
00:57:40with the researcher
00:57:41who brought with him
00:57:42the Falling Man
00:57:43series of photos.
00:57:44It was actually
00:57:47very easy to eliminate
00:57:49a lot of people
00:57:50right off the bat
00:57:51and literally
00:57:51just went one by one
00:57:53thinking about
00:57:55was it this person?
00:57:56Was it this person?
00:57:58And reaching
00:58:00a conclusion at the end
00:58:01that it wasn't
00:58:02anyone that I could
00:58:03positively identify.
00:58:05As time passed
00:58:08more and more names
00:58:09on the list
00:58:10were ruled out.
00:58:11Not the right body type
00:58:13not the right shoes
00:58:14not the right hair.
00:58:18Finally
00:58:19there were just
00:58:20a few names left
00:58:21and one last
00:58:22staff member to look.
00:58:23We went through
00:58:28those pictures
00:58:28with a fine tooth comb.
00:58:30It just
00:58:31it didn't resonate
00:58:33in my mind
00:58:34that it was
00:58:36anybody
00:58:36from our staff.
00:58:40And in a way
00:58:41I felt really bad
00:58:42about that
00:58:42because you want
00:58:44to give somebody
00:58:44an answer
00:58:45but in a way
00:58:46I was so glad
00:58:47it wasn't.
00:58:49So glad it wasn't.
00:58:51The investigation
00:58:55had reached
00:58:56a dead end.
00:58:58America was moving
00:58:59on from September
00:58:59the 11th.
00:59:01The falling man
00:59:02was in danger
00:59:03of remaining
00:59:03in obscurity.
00:59:21Then
00:59:32a breakthrough.
00:59:35The chef
00:59:35Michael Omanico
00:59:36agreed to look
00:59:37at the photos.
00:59:41A few days later
00:59:42over lunch
00:59:43he met with the researcher
00:59:44who had with him
00:59:45the pictures
00:59:46and the names
00:59:47that refused
00:59:47to go away.
00:59:48No it can't be
00:59:51Charlie Morrow
00:59:51it can't be Wilder
00:59:52what about Junior
00:59:54it can't be Junior
00:59:55what about Jonathan
00:59:57and he stopped.
01:00:02Michael took
01:00:03a real close look
01:00:05it took a while
01:00:06for him to be ready
01:00:07to speak to me
01:00:08about that.
01:00:10Jonathan
01:00:11was Jonathan Briley
01:00:12he was a sound engineer
01:00:14who looked after
01:00:15conferences and functions
01:00:16at the restaurant.
01:00:18Jonathan
01:00:21fit the body type
01:00:24the size
01:00:26coloration
01:00:28of the person
01:00:30in that photograph
01:00:31and
01:00:32it left the door
01:00:34open for me
01:00:35that
01:00:36there was a possibility
01:00:38that it was really
01:00:39Jonathan
01:00:40which having known
01:00:43Jonathan
01:00:43and really admired
01:00:44him and liked him
01:00:45and I thought
01:00:45he was just
01:00:46a terrific person
01:00:47a good guy
01:00:49a hardworking
01:00:51dedicated
01:00:51good guy
01:00:53with a great sense
01:00:54of humor
01:00:54and a person
01:00:55who embodied
01:00:56an individual
01:00:58that I
01:01:00could call friend
01:01:02and respect
01:01:03it offered me
01:01:05no comfort
01:01:05to think
01:01:06oh that's Jonathan
01:01:07if it is Jonathan
01:01:17I can only feel
01:01:19so bad
01:01:20for him having
01:01:21to have suffered
01:01:22the way he did
01:01:23and
01:01:25you know
01:01:28I
01:01:28I miss him
01:01:31he was somebody
01:01:34that I would have
01:01:35liked to have known
01:01:36forever
01:01:37was Jonathan
01:01:41Briley
01:01:42a falling man
01:01:43every September
01:01:56the 11th
01:01:57two giant shafts
01:01:59of light
01:01:59commemorate
01:02:00where the twin towers
01:02:01once stood
01:02:02a dramatic image
01:02:07but it gives no clue
01:02:08to the thousands
01:02:09who died that day
01:02:10one man believed
01:02:15that a simple photo
01:02:16did
01:02:17he now believed
01:02:19he knew who the man
01:02:20might be
01:02:21someone called
01:02:22Jonathan Briley
01:02:23now he needed
01:02:25confirmation
01:02:25from the family
01:02:26of all the interviews
01:02:31it was
01:02:32the most
01:02:33heartbreaking
01:02:34because
01:02:35Jonathan Briley's
01:02:36father
01:02:36was a preacher
01:02:38he said
01:02:41I'd like to talk
01:02:42to you
01:02:42but
01:02:43I can't
01:02:45for my life's work
01:02:47I
01:02:47tell people
01:02:48that
01:02:49they
01:02:50have to go on
01:02:52after tragedy
01:02:54and then he said
01:02:56in that same
01:02:57impossible voice
01:02:58but I
01:03:00I can't do this
01:03:01I can't do it
01:03:02for myself
01:03:02the Reverend Briley
01:03:05suggested
01:03:06that Janot
01:03:07talk to Jonathan's
01:03:08older sister
01:03:08Gwendolyn
01:03:09she'd been
01:03:10especially close
01:03:11to Jonathan
01:03:11Jonathan
01:03:16Jonathan Eric Briley
01:03:18was this person
01:03:19that just
01:03:20loved life
01:03:21and that
01:03:23it was contagious
01:03:23so when you were
01:03:25around him
01:03:25you couldn't help
01:03:26but smiling
01:03:27and laughing
01:03:29every time
01:03:31Jonathan comes
01:03:32to mind
01:03:33he's walking
01:03:34and he's talking
01:03:35and he's smiling
01:03:36and he had this bounce
01:03:38in his step
01:03:39he was
01:03:41one of these
01:03:42special people
01:03:43that
01:03:44could spread himself
01:03:46around
01:03:47the whole family
01:03:48and we all
01:03:49got
01:03:50our peace
01:03:52of Jonathan
01:03:53in the days
01:03:58after the attack
01:03:59the Brileys
01:04:00waited for his return
01:04:01a phone call
01:04:03anything
01:04:04as the days
01:04:05passed
01:04:06their hopes
01:04:07of finding him
01:04:07alive faded
01:04:08Reverend Briley
01:04:10gathered the family
01:04:11in prayer
01:04:11he talked
01:04:15to God
01:04:16like someone
01:04:17who absolutely
01:04:19knew
01:04:20that he existed
01:04:22he says
01:04:24I believe
01:04:25you
01:04:26can create
01:04:27a miracle
01:04:27I want
01:04:28my miracle
01:04:29he said
01:04:31I have loved
01:04:32you
01:04:33I do love
01:04:34you
01:04:34I believe
01:04:35you
01:04:35I have served
01:04:36you
01:04:36I want
01:04:37to know
01:04:38where my son
01:04:39is
01:04:39the next day
01:04:43we had a phone call
01:04:45from the coroner
01:04:46said to come down
01:04:49they found Jonathan
01:04:50we knew where he was
01:04:54that was a gift
01:04:57that was a gift
01:04:58from God
01:04:59the coroner's office
01:05:05identified Jonathan
01:05:06through DNA
01:05:07and dental analysis
01:05:08Jonathan's younger
01:05:13brother Timothy
01:05:13had the painful
01:05:14experience of
01:05:15confirming the
01:05:16identification
01:05:16Timothy recognized
01:05:21his shoes
01:05:21and his hands
01:05:22he said
01:05:24he said
01:05:24I would know
01:05:25my brother's hands
01:05:26and his feet
01:05:27he took one
01:05:29of his shoes
01:05:30and he kept it
01:05:31they were black
01:05:34tennis shoes
01:05:35lace up
01:05:37and then had
01:05:37that velcro
01:05:38thing around
01:05:39the ankle
01:05:40I didn't remember
01:05:43anything about
01:05:45an orange t-shirt
01:05:45but when I talked
01:05:46with Timothy
01:05:47he did
01:05:47he talked about
01:05:49how Jonathan
01:05:50had
01:05:50this orange t-shirt
01:05:52and they would
01:05:53tease him
01:05:54because he wore it
01:05:55all the time
01:05:56could Jonathan
01:06:01be the falling
01:06:02man
01:06:02when I first
01:06:06looked at it
01:06:06it was almost
01:06:08like touching
01:06:08a hot stove
01:06:10you just
01:06:11your mind
01:06:13just come
01:06:13I looked at
01:06:16the figure
01:06:16and I saw
01:06:18it was
01:06:19a man
01:06:20tall
01:06:22slim
01:06:23wow
01:06:24I looked at it
01:06:26and I said
01:06:26if I didn't
01:06:27know any better
01:06:28that could be
01:06:31Jonathan
01:06:31but for Gwendolyn
01:06:34the identity
01:06:36of the falling
01:06:36man didn't matter
01:06:37she understood
01:06:39that it symbolized
01:06:40something far
01:06:41more significant
01:06:42than a single
01:06:43individual
01:06:43I never thought
01:06:48of the falling
01:06:49man as
01:06:50Jonathan
01:06:50I thought
01:06:52of him
01:06:53as a man
01:06:54that just
01:06:55took his life
01:07:01in his hand
01:07:02for just that
01:07:03second
01:07:03did that person
01:07:17have so much
01:07:18faith
01:07:19that
01:07:20he knew
01:07:21that God
01:07:22would catch him
01:07:23or was he
01:07:25so afraid
01:07:27to experience
01:07:29the end
01:07:30up there
01:07:31that's
01:07:36something
01:07:36I'll never
01:07:37know
01:07:37because
01:07:37that
01:07:38happened
01:07:39to him
01:07:40I hope
01:08:04we're not
01:08:04trying to
01:08:05figure out
01:08:05who he is
01:08:06and more
01:08:07figure out
01:08:08who we are
01:08:09through watching
01:08:11that
01:08:11Tom Junot
01:08:30could never
01:08:30be absolutely
01:08:31certain
01:08:31that Jonathan
01:08:32Briley
01:08:32was the
01:08:33falling man
01:08:34but he'd
01:08:36learned something
01:08:36far more
01:08:37important
01:08:38from Gwendolyn
01:08:38the man's
01:08:41identity
01:08:41didn't matter
01:08:42the power
01:08:44of the image
01:08:44came
01:08:45not because
01:08:46the falling
01:08:46man could
01:08:47be identified
01:08:48but because
01:08:50he couldn't
01:08:51he had
01:08:52he had
01:08:53to be
01:08:54he had
01:08:55to be
01:08:56he had
01:08:56to be
01:08:57he had
01:08:57to be
01:08:58he had
01:08:58to be
01:08:59he had
01:09:00to be
01:09:01he had
01:09:02to be
01:09:03he had
01:09:04what that day
01:09:05needed
01:09:05more than
01:09:06than anything
01:09:07else
01:09:07was essentially
01:09:08what a lot
01:09:09of other wars
01:09:10had
01:09:11which was a tomb
01:09:12for the unknown
01:09:13what makes
01:09:15the tomb
01:09:15of the unknown
01:09:16soldier
01:09:16so
01:09:17poignant
01:09:18is the fact
01:09:19that he is unknown
01:09:21it's not the fact
01:09:22that he is
01:09:23that identified
01:09:24it's the fact
01:09:24that one has been
01:09:26been made
01:09:26to stand
01:09:27for many
01:09:32when Richard
01:09:33took that picture
01:09:34I believe
01:09:34that he took a picture
01:09:36that really stood
01:09:37as the tomb
01:09:38of the unknown
01:09:38soldier for that day
01:09:42Jesus Natale
01:09:43Cabezas
01:09:45William Casiris
01:09:47Ryan Joseph Katia
01:09:49Stephen Dennis Capiaro
01:09:52Tom Junot's quest
01:09:53had revealed
01:09:54just how important
01:09:55the falling man was
01:09:56the image didn't
01:09:58insult those
01:09:59who died
01:10:00rather
01:10:01it was a fitting
01:10:02and just memorial
01:10:03to them
01:10:04because it forced
01:10:06the world
01:10:06to acknowledge
01:10:07and remember
01:10:09the terrible events
01:10:11of that day
01:10:11one of the reasons
01:10:14why I became
01:10:15so determined
01:10:16to plumb the meaning
01:10:17of the falling man
01:10:18was that
01:10:19we can't hope
01:10:21to understand
01:10:21these incredible times
01:10:24unless we
01:10:25look at these images
01:10:27and accept the witness
01:10:29of these images
01:10:30I mean I think
01:10:33that looking at
01:10:33looking at the
01:10:34you know
01:10:35falling man
01:10:35and to discuss it
01:10:36is
01:10:37is
01:10:38the only
01:10:39option that we have
01:10:41given that there
01:10:42is a falling man
01:10:42Vincent Edward Brunton
01:10:46Ronald Paul Buga
01:10:50Brandon J. Buchanan
01:10:54and our sister
01:10:57Katie McGarry Noah
01:11:00I love you
01:11:02Katie
01:11:02Gregory Joseph Buck
01:11:05Dennis Buckley
01:11:08Nancy Claire Wachet
01:11:11Patrick Joseph
01:11:13Hurston
01:11:14Jillian Edwards
01:11:16Laga Jr.
01:11:17Stephen
01:11:19Matthew J.
01:11:22Berkley
01:11:22kepada you
01:11:35and
01:11:36to
01:11:37was
01:11:38her
01:11:38who
01:11:39and
01:11:39you
01:11:39are
01:11:40are
Comments
2