Aftermath

I just learned some things from the 9/11 documentary which had footage from inside the trade towers during the attacks;
1. When the fire fighters went in many thought they were simply going to go in to fight a fire. 2. Because of the nature of the building, they lost all radio contact with each other while in the buildings. As a result, few of them knew that a second plane hit and also many didn't even know the first tower even came down when it did.
3. Although they were told that the air was safe, the fire fighters who stayed to help dig through the wreckage breathed in mercury from the lights, asbestos, and other fine particles made from the pulverized computers and more. Most suffer from pulmonary issues now. Many have died of cancer from the shit they breathed in during the months that followed the attacks.

I never thought about that before - that the terrorists' actions that day would continue to take lives ten years later.
The documentary, using footage taken by two french brothers who were doing a documentary on a new firefighter, was very eye opening. The confusion inside the building was immense. The firefighters went in knowing very little about what was actually going on. Much like the people in the place, those at home with TVs had a better sense of what was happening than the guys inside the buildings.

Also in the footage was Fire Department Chaplain Father Mychal Judge. The narrrator, a firefighter said, "Mychal always had a calm way about him, but he looked worried, so I knew things were not good" Father Mychal Judge was the first body taken out of the towers. His death certificate was #00001.

In looking up the relatively famous photo of the firefighters bringing out Father Judge's body formt he wreckage, I was reminded that it was taken by a OU classmate of mine, Shannon Stapleton.
http://shannonstapleton.com/#/911/sept1

The footage was taken of a specific firehouse which, miraculously, managed to retain all it's men. After they all retreated form the buildings, they slowly, one by one, began to return to the firehouse unharmed.