Graff compiled and shaped the oral histories of people who survived and/or witnessed the terrible events of 9/11. I decided to listen to the audiobook version of this book, read movingly by a cast of 45 , with a narrator reading interstitial material, to shape the story. The only actual recorded material was Bush’s address to the nation on the evening of 9/11, Obama’s address announcing the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the flight recordings of hijackers, and the air traffic controllers. All other oral history transcripts were read by the cast readers. This might be the most emotionally affected I have ever been by a book, crying during parts of it.

All of us who were alive during this attack have a story. We can all very easily say exactly where we were, what we were doing, what we thought, how we felt. When events are this momentous, I think that is what is meant by saying it is seared into memory. If you lived in the northeast, you may know someone, or be related to someone you lost that day, or know someone who did lose someone. Being from that region, my first thought was to old college friends, wondering if anyone I knew or loved might be working in the Twin Towers. Hearing survivors tell their stories of getting out of those towers, running for their lives, or being pulled from wreckage, brought back all of the images. One is reminded of the cars left at Connecticut train stations, by commuters who never made it home; the weeks and months of excavation by brave first responders and volunteers at Ground Zero, trying to find first survivors, then remains of victims, so that families could have burials and closure; the seemingly endless funerals of fire fighters, police, and victims.

Graff organizes his narrative chronologically, beginning with people boarding planes, including the ticket agents who brought aboard the hijackers; hearing those agents’ grief was terribly sad, knowing the part they innocently and unwittingly played. The drama of President Bush, and the staffers and media who were present with him in Florida at an elementary school, then flying aboard Air Force One to the midwest, seeking a safe haven until it was safe for him to return to Washington. I well remember that day, wondering where was the President, and why aren’t we hearing from him. That was apparently his concern as well, wishing to be back in Washington addressing the American people, and reassuring them that the government was intact and operational.

Hearing the story unfold at the Pentagon, where the fires burned for many days after the crash, and the response of those living in Arlington, VA, was very moving. The operator in touch with people on Flight 93, the passengers who learned of what happened to the other three planes, and who were determined to save lives and the seat of government, knowing that their hijackers were likely targeting the Capitol, and bravely stormed the cockpit to heroically prevent additional tragedy and loss of life, crashing in a field in Shanksville, PA. In New York City, the stories of survivors escaping the southern tip of Manhattan via boats in a flotilla larger than Dunkirk; the survivors walking across the Brooklyn Bridge; survivors walking up to Midtown and encountering tear-stricken New Yorkers who watched the events on television, and the hospital emergency room personnel who waited and waited for survivors who never came— all these stories and many more are incredible. Graff also collected the stories of children at each age, the memories of the very youngest up to college-aged, who recounted what they remember of that day. Finally, the spouses, children, family and friends of those who never made it out— many will remember the flyers with photos of so many people who never came home to their loved ones.

I not only highly recommend this book, I feel as though it should be required reading for anyone 30 or younger, meaning those who were young children or not yet born when these events occurred. These are the people we see in rallies today protesting about defunding the police. I understand that we all want a police force that respects and defends its citizens regardless of race, that all lives matter. This book will remind you about the dedication of our fire fighters and police; they were running into the towers as everyone else was running out. They are who we call desperately durnig the worst days of our lives, who we count on to save us when no one else can or will. That is all too easy to forget, and yet we must not forget. We must never forget.