The Saints and Heroes of 9/11

May their memory be eternal.  I'd like to tell the story about brave and loving people who were cut down by self-righteousness and judgementalism.  The terrorists who used planes as bombs on 9/11 were certain that they were right and just in their actions.  They were wrong.  The people they murdered were some of the finest that mankind has to offer.

Even in death, Father Mychal saved lives

The man who has since been called, "the saint of 9/11" was a Franciscan friar and chaplain to the New York City Fire Department.  His name was Father Mychal Judge.  His death saved the life of every man in this picture.  If he had not died, these men would have been in the towers, trying to save victims, when the towers collapsed.  Father Mychal's was the first death recorded on 9/11.

For a biography on Father Mychal, click here.  Here is a trailer for the film, The Saint of 9/11.  A documentary film was being made on 9/11 and Father Mychal was captured staring out a plate glass window with his lips moving.  He was absolving people as they fell to their deaths.  Moments later there was an explosion and Mychal Judge was blasted to his death.  As members of his flocked carried his body out of the tower, the tower fell.  For the NPR story remembering Mychal Judge, click here.

1 Degree

The plane that started the fire that killed Father Mychal tipped off the passengers of Flight 93.  Through a series of plane-to-land phone calls, the passengers figured out that their plane was being hijacked to be used as a bomb and that they needed to act in order to save others and possibly themselves.  This past week some tapes were declassified.  These tapes give a clearer picture of what happened on that flight.  Families of those heroic passengers have requested that the final 30 minutes, the portion after "Let's roll," not be released.  That struggle and the impact are private and making them public would not be appropriate.  The 9/11 Commission heard them however, and used the knowledge from them in their report.

Here are some videos and audio clips.  May their memory be eternal.



For a transcript of the above video, click here.

The passengers formulated a plan, voted and ratified it, and implemented it in 30 minutes.  They rammed drink carts into the cockpit door.  In response the terrorist rocked the plane from side to side to knock the passengers down and stop them.  Finally the terrorist flying the plane said "should I put it in" and another said "yes" and the plane was crashed into the earth.  Here is a link to a story which describes that from the tapes.