French brothers were filming a documentary about a probationary firefighter's first year in the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY). They kept filming the entire time they had battery life in their cameras. It's called simply 9/11. It's unedited except for parts where they caught bodies slamming onto the ground and people exiting the buildings on fire. I respect that immensely. It's obviously a hard watch but amazing. 343 FDNY firefighters 71 police officers 1 Federal Agent on Flight 93 55 military personnel at the Pentagon all killed in the line of duty. The FDNY chaplain Father Mychal Judge was killed giving last rights to a fallen firefighter when he was hit with debris. He's listed as the 1st certified causality of 9/11.
@totilucke4992 I think most fire departments do. The larger cities they would be employed by the department. In smaller cities and other areas it's I'm guessing a volunteer position.
@@totilucke4992 You have to watch their FULL documentary on this. They’re just reacting to a few clips. It’s brutal to watch, and yes…the Fire Department Chaplain was filmed fairly extensively here right on 9/11, hours prior to his death on this day.
Former firefighter here, the brothers were filming in the lobby which was the staging area and command post. It might give some the impression that the firefighters are just standing around, but what's happening is all arriving units are coming into the command post, standing by while the Incident Commander briefs their Battalion Chief and assigns them a task or area, before going up the stairs.
@@Great-Documentariesthe other brother was still in the firehouse with the Probie. He did not get down to the area until close to the collapse. Thought his brother was dead, and his motivation in going was just to find him. Both survived.
I will say the very soon after this, I did have that impression. Having grown up since I've come to the reality of the situation. First, it's not just 1, but both of the Twin Towers. Second, it's multiple floors at least 80 floors up and above with lower floors catching fire due to the jet fuel. There's just a massive, "What the f**k are we supposed to do?" that isn't understood by the adolescent mind. Like at the age I was when it happened (12) I was still in the mind set of "emergency services solve all problems which is why you call them. Firefighters put out fires. Police officers arrest the bad guys. Paramedics save lives." But having grown up I realize it's like turning up to help with a collapsed cave in a Honda Civic with a garden spade expecting that you can actually do anything about it. Between the scale of what was going on and the rapid course of everything happening, I cannot fault there being emergency responders standing around not knowing what to do. Quite frankly it was probably better than having 50 different groups trying to do their own things and getting in each others way. But again, there's just a sense of scale that needs to be realized for context to settle into and if you can't contextualize what is going on at the time, you'll never really be able to understand why some decisions were made on that day.
@@ladyrah1345I’m pretty sure his brother died. In the Nat Geo “One Day in America,” he says “That’s the last time I saw my brother”’if it’s the same guy you are talking about Pfeiffer.
Chief Joe Pfiefer (fireman in white hat at beginning) was the first commanding officer on scene. His brother, Kevin, was also a firefighter. You can see him @14:07. Chief Pfiefer sent his brother up the North Tower to help with evacuations - he died in the collapse of the North Tower. Love and respect to all those who run towards and not from the danger!
Something about the way you put that is incredibly haunting, and I think articulates well what hurts the most about the people who jumped that day. They were people just like all of us who make choices every single day, some people chose to call in sick, some people chose to show up a little later, some chose to show up early that day to make a good impression or to get more work done. And ultimately all those decisions were made and led to where they were that day, and I can only imagine the amount of thoughts, regrets, wishing they called in sick, wishing they had done this or done that so they wouldn’t be in a part of the tower they can’t get down from.. but they had one choice left to make in their life and they chose to end it on their terms. Rather than burning, suffocating, or falling with the towers. The unfortunate part is when you hear the stories of essentially splattered women on the concrete, still seemingly moving and seemingly alive for a moment only to be covered up with a blanket by a poor firefighter who had to witness that and know there’s nothing they can do to help what’s left of this person, and all of this happened within less than an hour. Those stories haunt me. The timeframe they had to make these decisions haunts me. An hour is nothing. The time they had was nothing. And the world had to sit and watch as possibly even loved ones were in the same building they’re watching burn and then collapse with people still in it on live television. Terror doesn’t even begin to describe what people went through that day. Hell is more like it.
@@wideopenwounds Every rememberance day I learn something else. I was aware of the people at the top having just the one choice, but I had no idea that when they hit the ground that they might still be conscious for a few seconds. And to think, while the terrorists definitely intended this *level* of horror, I can't believe that a single human no matter what could know that these things specifically would happen. I have to believe that it was so abstract to them that they physically could not fully understand what they were about to cause. It's the only way I can sleep tonight.
I would hazard a guess that any move t those poor people showed was of a deceased person who's nervous system was shutting down for good. Not that of a conscious, sentient person. I hope that helps...😢❤
@@hunnyjar8937there’s a delay, it’s rather scary. I know they said when you guillotined people you could call their name after their head was cut off and the eyes would shift to you, obviously just a few seconds
I still remember the news that morning. At first they were showing jumpers, some looked orange. They first thought that they were wearing orange, but nah. They were on fire. It was quicker than burning to death. They stopped showing the jumpers shortly after. Some shit you just never forget seeing.
4:36 The firefighters were confused about hearing and seeing a plane in that area because it was in a no-fly zone. Thank you for your reaction, I appreciate you taking the time to watch such a powerful doc.
Sadly, there have been numerous politicians who’ve attempted to limit, or even cancel support for these first responders, and their families… Those politicians should NEVER receive another vote (to say the least)… Watch Jon Stewart in front of the US Congress, calling them out for even considering disrespecting first responders.
My dad was working in the city on the day and then worked like 16 hour days as part of the reconstruction rebuilding telecommunication networks. Every year he sees a doctor from the 911 Health Commission was diagnosed with emphysema due to working right next to the pit for months. Jon Stewart is a NY Hero, my dad and my friends dad are getting healthcare right now because of him
When this happened, I was not even born and yet this day changed my life permanently. This documentation was the reason that I joined the German volunteer youth fire brigade in 2012. To this day, I watch this documentary every year on 9/11 to be constantly reminded of how important the job of the fire brigade is and how important good training is.
21:19 FYI if you didn’t know, all those electronic screaming/chirping sounds are from devices firemen wore which would give an alarm if they were motionless for too long. Coming from the rubble.
They were making a documentary following a rookie firefighter during his first year,towards the end of the filming is when 9/11 happened.If you can find the dvd man watch it,its amazing.
One thing I find very haunting is the sound you hear briefly after the first tower fell. It sounds like a chirping whistle. I saw a different documentary and you could hear that sound coming from everywhere. I didn't know what it was until later. Every New York firefighter wears a motion detector alarm, so if he (or she) is motionless after a prescribed amount of seconds or minutes, it emits that sound so other firefighters know they're in trouble and they can come looking for them. That day, hundreds of those alarms were going off at the same time as so many of the firefighters lay dead or dying. Tragic.
That's your scot pack. There is also a chauffeur from one of the companies calling for help for his missing company. "Mayday" you hear several times until the Second tower falls. 😢 Then silence.
The sad thing was hearing them constantly on any news report live or taped for days after the collapses, knowing first responders were there somewhere, either in part or whole, but gone, their signals still chirping. Until one by one, the batteries died and the chirping became less and less. it was a constant reminder of the loss. As the noise faded away it was like losing each one all over again. Until a couple weeks later, the only sound from Ground Zero was cranes and bulldozers trying to clear away the rubble as it became a recovery and clean up operation and was no longer considered a rescue mission. The attacks started and ended on 9/11, but the new layers of pain and grief have continued on with the passing of each hero that sacrificed their health working in the poisonous conditions. This is why we vow to Never Forget. But what we really mean is, it's IMPOSSIBLE to forget, even if we wish we could.
So something to note about the towers coming down….all that dust is basically the tower and everything in it: office supplies, anything from the lounges, the materials used to make the towers as well as glass from the windows. After the towers fell, the surrounding area was filled with that dust and smoke so only those who loved in the area could go back days later but just to retrieve any belongings. You guys should react to Boatlift next. Tom Hanks narrates it and it basically shows everyone escaping to the harbor because when the attacks happened….the only way to get in and out of Manhattan was by boat since the tunnels, roads, and bridges were all closed. A lot of people figured out that day that Manhattan is in fact an island. Boatlift was actually bigger than the battle of Dunkirk or whatever it was.
Yes. He was talking to people who might have been trapped in the elevators and yes, that was tower two coming down first. They were in the north tower (tower 1)
the people in the lifts died. the fire came down the shafts. hes trying to get a lift, or elevator to work because if they could get a lift to go up a good 50 or so floors things would be much easier, faster, and successful.
@@user-wi9hv2pb2q not everyone who were in the elevators died. I don't remember if it is this documentary or another where they say suddenly one of the elevators open up and out comes a group of people who have no idea what have happened. Another one we hear about a group that destroy the wall somehow and get into a toilet where they are trapped to someone find them.
Yes, the loud thuds are jumpers. And yes, the man was trying to contact people who may be stuck in the elevators. When the planes hit, the jet fuel went straight down the elevator shafts and brought fire with it. Tower 1 was hit first and collapsed last. Tower 2 was hit second and collapsed first. 23 years and it feels like yesterday---still, for me anyway.
Their firehouse is Much closer to the towers. They were actually a good bit away when the first plane hit on a manhole job so they weren't first in coming off that other call. Saved them.
NY'er here what a lot of people don't realize is 23 yrs later & we're still losing police men & fire fighters every month a slow month is 2 or 3 dying from 9/11 Cancers. So in a way it's still going on!
I was 14 years old here in NYC when the Twin Towers were destroyed, and I miss them everyday. September 11th haunts me alot. I witnessed them get attacked, and I witnessed the North Tower collpase. The Twin Towers was my favorite spot here in NYC. I went on the roof of the South Tower as a child, back in 1994, the year after the 93 bombing of the WTC. I'll never forget!
Just this week, the number of deaths of Firemen that day - 343 - who have died of various cancers and lung diseases since reached 362. I am a lifelong New Yorker who lived through that day, walked through the rubble and destruction and felt the terror, the horror, the fear. It's estimated that 60% of people who were here and experienced it still have PTSD - myself among them. As horrific and irreversibly indelible as was that day, the days, weeks and many months after were emotionally devastating and something no video has yet conveyed or told the story of. The story of the huge funerals of fireman everyday that went on for a year. The fronts of every hospital in the city including the city morgue covered like wallpaper with photos and contact information of missing loved ones and for weeks hundreds if not thousands of relatives walking the streets with photos approaching every person they could asking if you'd seen their father or brother or mother or uncle or recognize them.1,045 people - almost half of the people who were killed that day - have never been identified because no DNA was ever found.
Thank you for reacting to this. As an American, I remember how much this affected our whole country, but yet as a teenager back then I didn’t realize that it affected the world. I watch videos on 9/11 every year, sometimes for weeks or months. But I never get used to how humongous the sounds are, when a person has come crashing down. It’s incomprehensible what that had to be like for them and the people who had to witness it.
Chief Joseph Pfeiffer, who Jules Naudet was with throughout almost the entire event just re-retired from the FDNY on September 11, 2024. He originally retired in 2018, but was appointed acting Fire Commissioner in August. He specifically asked Jules to stay with him and keep filming the entire time, and when Tower 1 collapsed (Chief Pfeiffer’s brother Kevin died during the collapse), he shielded Jules with his body to protect him from debris. Father Mychal Judge, the FDNY chaplain we see briefly was an amazing and fascinating individual. As others have said, he died of a heart attack during the collapse of Tower 2 (though he was in Tower 1) and was the first officially identified victim.
The fire department chaplin died in the lobby as the tower collapsed as they were running away. He was hit by pieces of the building blowning in and it was also said he had a heart attack too Father micheal jydge
I remember seeing them carrying him out on a chair. Just devistating, losing so many firefighters and civilians. You go to work, to never come home again.
@@joysgirl That picture is etched in my mind ....And like you said you went to work and never came home , listening to people call home some saying how much they loved them because they were saying I don't think I am getting out... There is one phone call where the man was on the phone with 911 and he is frantic and next thing you hear is him screaming OMG and then silence..which of course the building came down.... Took me 17hrs to get out of the city that day ...And every 9/11 it's like it just happened
I was at work in downtown Manhattan that day, though thankfully not at the World trade Center ,which incidentally is on the land which was my family's first farm in America back in the 1600's. It's a day I'll never forget . A friend of mine owned a store 2 blocks away from the WTC. When he heard what was happening he ran over to see if he could help .The people who were trapped in the building above the fire started jumping out , 80 to 100 stories up , and were splattering on the pavement around him . He had a nervous breakdown , sold his store and moved out of the city .My own experiences that day are inconsequential
They use a lot of this footage on the “9/11: One Day in America” documentary. One of the most heartbreaking moments in that documentary is when Chief Pfeifer gave the order for his younger brother to go up and help people. It was the last time he ever spoke to his brother. I can’t imagine living with the guilt for the rest of your life of knowing you sent your brother to his death. That, and that sound of falling bodies hitting the ground. I can’t even fathom being in a situation where you choose to fall to your death over burning to death in a building. Just unreal.
Thanks for showing this today. Jules captured amazing footage while seemingly filming a normal documentary. This has edits from the original, thankfully. My friend Micheal in life. (Father - you touched many lives before that day.) Chief Pfeifer survived but lost his brother Kevin in the towers. Bless all those missing loved ones today, and those who survived yet still suffer. For friends and family who still live in my heart, you are missed. Tell those around you "I love you" today.
The first fire fighter to die that day was hit by a jumper 😢 Hearing those thuds are heartbreaking I can’t imagine the fear of having to make that decision. That day changed America forever. All of those fire fighters are hero’s. RIP to all the victims of 9/11
Jules Naudet was one of the very few people who caught footage of the first plane hitting the north tower. He was filming a documentary about firefighters and happened to be in the right place at the right time. There’s tons of footage of the second plane because hundreds of people were already filming the towers and the wreckage of the first plane when the second hit. But not very many people caught the first plane.
I remember watching this footage. The people trapped in the lifts, the ones that made it, were severely burned as jet fuel and burning debris fell down the lift shafts. At one point, the brother filming narrated that out of respect to the victims he wasn't including footage of people stepping out of one of the lifts that was still working as they were all severely burned.
I know of a retired firefighter and police officer who both volunteered to work at Ground Zero in the weeks after. Both contracted one of the cancers or lung diseases caused by breathing the toxic smoke. One survived and the other didn't. Of course, it is possible that there were other causes. It still angers me that those guys were allowed to work after the first day without breathing apparatus. The Environmental Protection Agency even lied that there was no danger. Overall, the government did a good job, but this should never have happened.
The documentary is amazing--following a rookie firefighter. The firefighters know the crashing sounds are bodies hitting the ground. Imagine the choice: leap to certain death or be burned to death by jet fuel. The opening scene is responding to a possible gas line leak. The ending when the brothers are reunited--so human. Consider watching it in full. There are real elements of humanity among so much evil.
Thank you for this reaction, this one is very personal for me. I was an active-duty member of the US Armed Forces and watched this all play out from my office. One week later, I was deployed to our initial staging base for Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. What I wouldn’t find out until nearly a month later as the first air operations began, was that I had lost a dear friend at the WTC. As I stood next to one of our senior officers and friend watching aircraft preparations, he looked at me and said, this one was for Ron. Ron? Ron who? He said, Ron Bucca. Ron was a mutual friend we had met previously during coordination for a military training exercise. He went on to say that he had received information from others at FDNY that Ron had been killed at the WTC, but didn’t have any details. It wasn’t until I returned home from my first OEF rotation that I was able to find out how Ron had passed. Ronald Paul Bucca was a FDNY Fire Marshall and U.S. Army Green Beret veteran of the Vietnam War. Ron and Battalion Chief Orio Palmer climbed to the impact zone at the Sky Lobby on the 78th floor of the South Tower of the WTC. Both Ron and Orio were experienced marathon runners and were able to reach higher floors than any other first responders to rescue their fellow Americans trapped there before the tower collapsed. Thank you again for remembering this tragic day. It is said a man is never truly gone so long as his name is spoken. I will never forget my friend Ron Bucca and will speak his name often!
This full documentary I believe is called "9/11" and is well worth watching. It was done by two French brothers who were following one fire house and their "probies" (rookies). The first part of the footage they were checking local fire hydrants, etc. and turned just in time to catch the only video of the first plane hitting the tower. I believe it was initially release on either the first or second anniversary of 9/11. If I recall correctly the other brother was with Mayor Guiliani's detail for a good part of the day. Remarkable and heartbreaking but it's important to see. Also, highly recommend the Boatlift video and especially (as a proud Canadian) Operation Yellow Ribbon. Both different aspects of that day that most know nothing about. Thanks!
Even without the tragic loss of life, as a paramedic, I have a physical reaction when I think about how chaotic and confusing it must have been for the people running the MCI that day! That stands for Mass Casualty Incident and every department trains for one even though the majority of us never actually experience one! Which is a good thing.All it means is to set up an area to use as a mass triage center and designate which patients will go to which station and team to give aid. You put tags on patients depending on the severity of their injuries or symptoms and it’s supposed to make things more streamlined and organized. Even mock Scenarios of any MCI is chaotic and challenging so I can’t even imagine what the scene was like on that day!
The only thing I’m thinking for these men is you beading into trouble. And yet you ran towards it. That takes grit and determination ❤🇺🇸🔥 you stayed until the end. And you never flinched. Leaves me in tears
I have seen the entire documentary. The French brothers had started following this one fire unit around months prior. You get to know the different firefighters they followed and such, and yes, that is what happened. This happened when he was on the ride along with one of the chiefs or commanders (not sure what their rank was). From then on, both brothers stayed filming with the fire units they were with the entire time, and then go back to the fire house to meet up with the firefighters. it is an amazing documentary.
It warms my heart to see the compassion that both of you have in your eyes. I was 14 at the time. I was in South Carolina at school when the announcement came on telling the teachers to turn on their televisions to the news. The first thing I see when the screen comes on is one of the towers up in smoke.
Every year in a high rise building (I think 24 or 25 stories), in Sacramento, CA, several firefighter units in full suit climb up and down the stairs in memory of everyone who died on 9/11. Each firefighter goes just once, I believe. There are so many who do this, I used to work in that building and we would hear their boots all day clanking up and down the stairwell. while it was loud, it never bothered anyone, it just always put us in a solemn mood. I’m sure they still do it.
Battalion Chief Joe Pfeifer is the guy in the tie you are seeing a lot of. He sent his little brother, who was a FDNY Lieutenant, up the stairs with his crew when they found the elevators no longer worked. That was the last time he saw him. He did not make it out.
At one point you see a firemen directing people away. Folks exiting were being killed by the falling bodies, and had to be directed to an entrance to the subway.
I also remember turning on the TV and seeing the report of the first plane hitting. Then as we watched the second one hit and they realised they were not accidents. We were also glued to the TV till the buildings collapsed and everyone was running and we were so stunned. The people who jumped rather than die in the fires and smoke were the worst. I don't think anyone who watched it unfold will ever forget.
My 9/11 story is that during that time I was serving my mandatory military consrciption in the Finnish military. I still remember it was the evening time off and I was visiting our local "soldier's home" (they are basically like serivice centers with cafeterias, shops, libraries etc run by volunteer workers). I saw there were people gathered around a TV set and some news reel playing. I took me a while to realize it was a real news footage about a building being hit by terrorists. I felt so unreal, like something in a dream. The gravity of the situation took several days to unravel, since I was still young and dumb and did not understand the importance of this event.
Thank you for showing this on this day. I was attending a Navy school in San Diego on this day and woke up to this on the news. I tried to go to school and quickly found the base on lock down, and being a student I couldn't do a damned thing. Later I got a call from my family and my daughter was asking if we had to move because of this. Our home was in Japan at the time. I reassured her but that question still haunts me to this day.
What a sad and dark day in the history of the country. My wife and I watched in shock and horror as the events unfolded throughout the day. Sadly my older sister's birthday is September 11th. Thank you for honoring the victims of that awful day by showing this video. It opened up that pit in my gut about the day but we all should reflect on how the world changed and remember the lives lost since then through wars upon wars. Never again!!! Scott L Ritchie
They were in the North tower (WTC 1) the chaos was when the south tower (WTC 2) collapsed. WTC 1 was the fist tower hit but took 1 hour and 42 minutes to collapse. WTC 2 fell in 56 minutes. Because of this the first tower collapsed 29 minutes after the second tower. The towers were designed to and did survive the impact. What caused the collapse was that the dozens of main support girders were severed and the heat from the fire weakened the nearby surviving girders, already holding up far more weight than they should have been, to the point they started to give way. One that happened the next girders in line had even more weight to support.. Once this action started going the cascade was fast and dramatic(The planes were all hijacked from the beginnings of long distance flights so they would have a full load of fuel) The most harrowing part of watching it live was seeing the people jump out of windows at nearly 1000 feet in the air and seeing them bounce on the pavement. There were quite a few of them and when you are watching live there is no one to clean up the more gruesome scenes. So yeah, this was such big news that TVs were rolled into many classrooms so kids could see this event including the jumpers.
@@YorkshiremanReacts26 Who knows. Might not be allowed because of the VIOLENCE: They show people jumping to their deaths from the upper floors. But you might as well do it as a reaction video, because you have to at least SEE it! Then, see what happens when you upload.
I was 23 years old and asleep when the 1st tower was hit. My roommate came and woke me up and said to turn on the tv. I can't remember how many days we were all glued to our tvs. People were freaking out because all of the phones were down and if u knew someone to check on, u couldn't get thru. It was horrific and life changing. I appreciate yall posting and reacting to this, but i could only make it halfway thru and had to turn it off.
When you hear the chief give the order to evacuate Tower 1 just after they ran for it the first time, that’s what saved his crew: they heard him and ran down the stairs… miraculously all of his team made it back out. When you see them hit the deck behind the car as the second one collapsed, the chief had thrown himself on top of Jules to save him. They couldn’t breathe and it was black as night for an age. Sadly many who’d made it out initially and were at EMT staging posts were killed when the first tower fell on them. Heartbreaking. It was horrendous. Awful awful day. I was pregnant with my first son, we were in Spain trying to work out what the hell was going on as I clocked something hugely bad had happened via the car radio as we were out that day. Sobbed watching the people jumping wondering what this world was that my child was coming into. There’s life pre 9/11, and an utterly different one afterward.
The priest praying in the lobby was Fr. Judge, one of the priests I used to go to confession to at St. Francis up on 32nd Street, great man. No one could imagine, you had to be there.
The whole documentary will make you weep. It does explain a lot about what was going on that day. There are more uplifting docs like Operation Yellow Ribbon explaining Canadas heroic help that day.
Fr Micheal Judge the priest in the fire fighters uniform. There's a beautiful forest after been planted here in Ireland by a very close friend of his and every tree that was planted has the name of each fire fighter who died that day. At the bottom of each tree is a small white cross with the fire fighters nane and his department with a little American flag waving on top of it.
It wasn't just office workers and those on the planes, on top of the Towers was a restaurant open to the public. Myself and mother were going to have breakfast there but we decided to go to the harbour to buy tickets for the Intrepid. Someone was looking out for us that day
I wish this entire documentary (not just the bits here) was more widely known about and easier to find. I've never understood why it didn't receive an Oscar for best documentary. I'm assuming it's because people are too consumed with politics to appreciate what a brilliant piece of film it is. It's the best footage that exists of 9/11, of not only what was happening inside of the towers, and on the streets, (as most of the footage is the news channels watching aerial footage), but when you watch the firefighters talking at the station while/after it was happening, it explains and documents the visceral reaction and mindset Americans had when this happened. Nearly 10,000 first responders have died since 9/11 of cancer related deaths due to the toxins they breathed in when the towers fell. Thank you for reacting to this.
One aspect about the lifts on that day... I remember hearing reports on the radio by some of the firefighters of seeing people severely burnt many floors below the crash sites. Because of the number of floors in the WTC, the buildings had "express" lifts that would skip over the lower floors completely and stop at a "sky lobby" where people would depart the express lifts and then catch a lift to their floor. This helped decrease the number of stops people high in the towers would have to make for people on lower floors. When the planes crashed into the buildings there was too much jet fuel to burn up immediately and that fuel flooded down the lift shafts on fire and set the sky lobbies ablaze with people waiting on lifts. That is why firefighters were finding people severely burnt much lower in the towers. So to answer your speculation about being in the lifts when the planes crashed, it's likely some were burned alive inside them.
At 22 minutes when the second tower collapses listen to how quiet the radios went...that's just chilling.all that chaotic radio chatter to dead silence and then you realize most of those voices won't be heard again
Thank you for taking the time to watch this. I was 15 when this happened. I think we most of us remembered where we were. I was home sick. What makes me upset more, maybe it’s my age at the time- is knowing as those towers fell with people inside but not understanding that people were inside as they fell. I understood more as tower 1 fell vs. tower 2. Something I still get confused. Simply they both fell and those below them were not going to get away fast enough. Or the trade centers nearby due to fires. I watched a documentary on how they were built and it wasn’t up to degree of heat that all of these buildings were so all the fireproofing just melted right off. Looking at the skyline with them makes me so sad and is weird but looking at it today makes me sad and looks weird too Thank you for watching
As someone who lost a family member when the first (south) tower fell, I cannot watch this video again, especially today. The sounds of people hitting the ground and other roofs instead of being burned alive after the two planes hit is just too much. By the way, NYC fire department is called a fire department. The formal name is Fire Department New York or just FDNY. I am a NY native.
@@smallsparrysweetie you do realize that everyone around the world who was alive during 9/11 knows what happened, but this exact video is still unknown to most right? While it’s hard to watch, thank God it exists because unfortunately western media only shows tidbits of everything and glosses over the real shit. Jules Naudet captured parts of this tragic day in a way that most news stations at the time never did. Also, I find it ironic that you’re saying that people upload these videos simply to make money…..yet here you are watching this video. You obviously read the title and saw the thumbnail, so you knew it was about 9/11. Now whether you willingly chose to click on it to leave a hate comment or not…..just by you clicking on this video it gives them more views and attention which means more money, and that’s how it goes with every video they post as well as everyone else on TH-cam. Trying to be a hater but you’re still benefiting them dumbass.
The reason the lobby looks to be in such bad condition, is the fact that the ignited jet fuel rushed down the elevator shafts, and they were under partial pressure, because the building is so tall. So the blast of air that came out of the shafts blew out windows and knocked panels off the walls.
God bless all those firefighters. I am disabled so I can't imagine the strength and bravery they have to take on that duty. Just another day at work serving and then a second later the calls come in and they rush there without hesitation. Wearing and carrying all that equipment, going into that heat and smoke. The silence in the rubble when you hear the chirps from their beacon things. I was a senior in high school on that day. The video of the last voicemails of the people on the planes I still hear. The people jumping, the falling man photo, just insane. Nobody is guaranteed tomorrow.
I'm American and was a Senior in high school when this happened. My grandmother was mentioning something about a plane crash as I was rushing out the door to go to school. Our school went on lockdown right after first bell and we just watching the news the entire day. Our states' governor here in New Mexico put government buildings on lock down, our military bases went on high alert, businesses started closing for the day, every flight was grounded and cancelled...we sat in silence and watched the world around us grind to a halt in a single day.
This is what call heroes out there trying so hard to save ppls lives & so many of them lost there own lives while doing it it’s heartbreaking all these ppl who went to work that morning & didn’t come home God bless them & God bless their families it’s something u never get over!
@@bubbletae0753 In addition to South Tower being hit lower (as another noted), the plane hit off-center, blowing out a corner. (Plane #1 went into North Tower practically dead-center, but at tilt.) 😥
Those bangs/crashing noises that you start hearing at 10:05 and afterwards was determined to be the people jumping out of the tower. One firefighter was actually killed when he was outside of the building to help get people to move away from the towers when one of the people that jumped out of the building ended up landing on him. What a horrific day. I can literally remember everything I was doing that day and seeing this unfold. It's something that will forever be seared in my memory. It felt like we were all at the gates of hell.
I'm 48 now, and still 23 years later it's hard to believe that they collapsed at all, let alone losing 3 buildings in a stack collapse due to the tressel design of the buildings. The whole 9/11 documentary video is well worth watching. Still gives me goosebumps.
I watched a documentary regarding how the towers were built and that they were designed to withstand fires on multiple floors without collapsing. The problem was is that when the planes hit and exploded, with wings full of jet fuel, it was basically automatic system failure. The heat created by that combination was more intense than any normal fire they could prepare for. It basically started to melt the metal supports. I think they said it was anywhere from 1500-2000 Fahrenheit. It was also a sustained heat being fed by jet fuel and surrounding debris.
While there are tons of memories I have from that day and the days that followed the one thing that has always stuck with me was the emergency beepers going off. That sound will always get me, no doubts. The second thing that got me was during the 1 year memorial. While family member after family member read off names of the dead they had a scroll going below of those dead and where they worked. All I really remember was Cantor Fitzgerald, Cantor Fitzgerald, Cantor Fitzgerald over and over again.
The battalion chief that they were with literally sent his brother, who was a captain, to the other tower. He had to live with the fact he sent his brother to die.... All of the crashing sounds are the jumpers. God bless their souls! Lord only knows their desperation in that horrible time. The sad part is the firefighters knew that each crash was another person who died tragically. I remember seeing the jumpers. Just heart wrenching and tragically sad.
Watching events occur in real time that day, I couldn’t stop thinking of the depravity of some warped individuals who could highjack planes and deliberately fly them into buildings. They wanted to kill as many innocent people as possible, and they thought they would immediately be transported to paradise ? The collective insanity of these individuals was just beyond all comprehension.
I was 7 and I remember understanding very well what was happening. Also A family friend was in NY and we were trying to get ahold of her all day. I was so relieved to finally get her call back!
I remember that day like yesterday. I was supposed to meet my cousin at the towers to go shopping at Strands and Victoria's Secret. I woke up late and told my cousin to push the meeting time back a couple of hours. I remember searching for my mother who was walking home. She was lucky enough to get a clear phone line and tell us where she was walking. Stores along the way, gave out bottles of water and a sneaker store was giving out sneakers and socks to the women walking in heels. We lived in Brooklyn and I couldn't believe that the smoke, ash and papers from the towers were littering our neighborhood. We couldn't even breath because of the ash and smoke coming across the water on the wind. It was so surreal and scary and it was only the beginning. I remember thinking, I never heard NYC so quiet. Everyone was in shock. It was even more shocking after when the military moved in. I remember being on the streets and seeing tanks with heavily armed soldiers driving down Brooklyn streets. It was something I will never forget. I also remember driving on the Brooklyn bridge when it opened up and being stuck in traffic on it. It was in the evening and there was a breeze. All of a sudden, all you could smell was the scent of something that had burnt, a fuel smell and the smell of decay. It was horrific! I had a panic attack sitting in my car on that bridge and I was not the only one. This lady got out of her car and just started pacing back and forth. It took so long to get off of that bridge. I stayed away from that area for over a year because of that night.
I was up in tower one the year before. I can’t believe how so much reinforced steel and everything inside simply turned to dust. It still haunts me to this day.
I was in high school when this happened. I remember when word got out around the school that a plane had hit the building. There was initially speculation that it must have been a suicidal pilot, or an accident. But us being kids, people were talking and cutting up, not thinking too much of it. I'll never forget how silent the class became when the announcement was made that a second plane had hit. That collective realization that this was a coordinated attack was chilling. We basically spent the rest of the day in silence just watching the TV.
Went through the WTC on what was my second visit to New York. Sept 7, 2001. It was surreal being back at home watching this unfold on TV on the following Tuesday and thinking, "I was just there on Friday."
Jules Naudet was filming a possible gas leak with the squad. It just so happened that the battalion chief went to this rather routine happening. Right before what you see (which is a bit edited), the firefighters were all saying that they had been called out before for just this sort of thing. People often mistake the smell of the storm drains for gas. The battalion chief was demonstrating how to use the "sniffer" device they had, and then they heard the low-flying plane. This particular crew just so happened to be from a firehouse that was the closest to the Twin Towers, and just so happened to be already out in their truck, so they booked it when they recovered from what they saw. The battalion chief from this firehouse was the first person to place the call to emergency services (via radio) about what he saw - an airplane hitting the building. All other calls, most of which came from within the building, thought it was a bomb or a gas explosion (logical, since most people would never dream of an airplane striking their building, and would consider more reasonable and mundane, but no less terrifying explanations first).
It's so hard to think about how most of the firefighters you see in this footage died that day... most of them ignored the order to evacuate and kept climbing to try and save more people. It was a dark day. Thank you for remembering them and their sacrifice. 🙏
I didn't know about 9/11 until 9/14, that Friday night, when I opened a 40, turned on the TV at my sister's, and click, click, click, same news on every channel. I still can't believe I missed all of that.
The second tower to be hit was the first to fall because it was hit lower down. An Englishman died when the second tower fell. He was security chief for Morgan Stanley and stayed behind to help evacuate people after his own staff had already been evacuated. They had 2000 employees in the tower, only 6 died (the head of security and his security team).
It was such a terrifying day. We had literally come home from our very first vacation the night before. Then that morning unfolded. The real horror I still have trouble with is when I realized people were voluntarily jumping to avoid burning. Seeing them fall, or hearing them smash on the lobby roof is still an overwhelming memory for me. It’s making me cry right now writing just about it. I had seven little ones, from elementary school down to preschool ages, and it was a near herculean task trying to keep them away from the tv. We had a campfire out in the yard in the evening to distract them. We lived out in the country, but on quiet nights you could hear the sound of an occasional tractor trailer on a small highway that came through the area. A truck drove by in the distance, and my next to the youngest son, so little, asked in a terrified voice, “Is that a plane?” I was angry at myself for not shielding them enough, and so angry at the terrorists for frightening my baby. Even 20+ years later that pain is just as fresh.
Watching the documentary this footage is from is absolutely worth it. It gives a ton of context to whats happening as it happens from the people there.
The film was to be about a year in the life of a Rookie New York Firefighter, from training through his probationary period, they had gone out test for a reported gas leak, then the plane hit the tower, the guy who said "holy shit" made the understatement of the decade
Seeing this footage many times before this, knowing the faces of many of the men in this, I have to look away when the focus in on a firefighter’s face if I know that he ended up dying. It just too heartbreaking.
I was 19 and living in Chicago when this happened. It was the saddest, wildest, most tragic thing I have EVER witnessed. I couldn't believe eyes. I am grateful that this footage exists, its the only thing that comes close to doing justice what we all saw that day. The part that gets me are the sounds of people hitting the ceiling of the lobby from jumping. And the firefighters. God bless them forever and ever. Excellent and reverent reactions, thank you.
French brothers were filming a documentary about a probationary firefighter's first year in the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY).
They kept filming the entire time they had battery life in their cameras.
It's called simply 9/11.
It's unedited except for parts where they caught bodies slamming onto the ground and people exiting the buildings on fire.
I respect that immensely.
It's obviously a hard watch but amazing.
343 FDNY firefighters
71 police officers
1 Federal Agent on Flight 93
55 military personnel at the Pentagon all killed in the line of duty.
The FDNY chaplain Father Mychal Judge was killed giving last rights to a fallen firefighter when he was hit with debris.
He's listed as the 1st certified causality of 9/11.
the FDNY had it's own chaplain? Only heard that about military units before
@totilucke4992 I think most fire departments do. The larger cities they would be employed by the department.
In smaller cities and other areas it's I'm guessing a volunteer position.
@@totilucke4992yes they did !!!!!!!
@@totilucke4992 You have to watch their FULL documentary on this. They’re just reacting to a few clips.
It’s brutal to watch, and yes…the Fire Department Chaplain was filmed fairly extensively here right on 9/11, hours prior to his death on this day.
I believe it’s the only footage of the first plane hitting the tower. I could be wrong. Please let me know.
Former firefighter here, the brothers were filming in the lobby which was the staging area and command post. It might give some the impression that the firefighters are just standing around, but what's happening is all arriving units are coming into the command post, standing by while the Incident Commander briefs their Battalion Chief and assigns them a task or area, before going up the stairs.
Only one brother made it inside. The other was on the street.
@@Great-Documentariesthe other brother was still in the firehouse with the Probie. He did not get down to the area until close to the collapse. Thought his brother was dead, and his motivation in going was just to find him. Both survived.
@@Great-Documentaries i misspoke, thanks for the correction.
I will say the very soon after this, I did have that impression. Having grown up since I've come to the reality of the situation. First, it's not just 1, but both of the Twin Towers. Second, it's multiple floors at least 80 floors up and above with lower floors catching fire due to the jet fuel.
There's just a massive, "What the f**k are we supposed to do?" that isn't understood by the adolescent mind. Like at the age I was when it happened (12) I was still in the mind set of "emergency services solve all problems which is why you call them. Firefighters put out fires. Police officers arrest the bad guys. Paramedics save lives." But having grown up I realize it's like turning up to help with a collapsed cave in a Honda Civic with a garden spade expecting that you can actually do anything about it. Between the scale of what was going on and the rapid course of everything happening, I cannot fault there being emergency responders standing around not knowing what to do. Quite frankly it was probably better than having 50 different groups trying to do their own things and getting in each others way. But again, there's just a sense of scale that needs to be realized for context to settle into and if you can't contextualize what is going on at the time, you'll never really be able to understand why some decisions were made on that day.
@@ladyrah1345I’m pretty sure his brother died. In the Nat Geo “One Day in America,” he says “That’s the last time I saw my brother”’if it’s the same guy you are talking about Pfeiffer.
The full documentary is what you need to watch. Very well made and commentary by the brothers. Heart breaking for sure 😢
Chief Joe Pfiefer (fireman in white hat at beginning) was the first commanding officer on scene. His brother, Kevin, was also a firefighter. You can see him @14:07. Chief Pfiefer sent his brother up the North Tower to help with evacuations - he died in the collapse of the North Tower. Love and respect to all those who run towards and not from the danger!
Those crashing noises being people who had one choice left in their life is still haunting
Something about the way you put that is incredibly haunting, and I think articulates well what hurts the most about the people who jumped that day. They were people just like all of us who make choices every single day, some people chose to call in sick, some people chose to show up a little later, some chose to show up early that day to make a good impression or to get more work done. And ultimately all those decisions were made and led to where they were that day, and I can only imagine the amount of thoughts, regrets, wishing they called in sick, wishing they had done this or done that so they wouldn’t be in a part of the tower they can’t get down from.. but they had one choice left to make in their life and they chose to end it on their terms. Rather than burning, suffocating, or falling with the towers. The unfortunate part is when you hear the stories of essentially splattered women on the concrete, still seemingly moving and seemingly alive for a moment only to be covered up with a blanket by a poor firefighter who had to witness that and know there’s nothing they can do to help what’s left of this person, and all of this happened within less than an hour. Those stories haunt me. The timeframe they had to make these decisions haunts me. An hour is nothing. The time they had was nothing. And the world had to sit and watch as possibly even loved ones were in the same building they’re watching burn and then collapse with people still in it on live television.
Terror doesn’t even begin to describe what people went through that day. Hell is more like it.
@@wideopenwounds Every rememberance day I learn something else. I was aware of the people at the top having just the one choice, but I had no idea that when they hit the ground that they might still be conscious for a few seconds. And to think, while the terrorists definitely intended this *level* of horror, I can't believe that a single human no matter what could know that these things specifically would happen. I have to believe that it was so abstract to them that they physically could not fully understand what they were about to cause. It's the only way I can sleep tonight.
I would hazard a guess that any move t those poor people showed was of a deceased person who's nervous system was shutting down for good. Not that of a conscious, sentient person. I hope that helps...😢❤
@@hunnyjar8937there’s a delay, it’s rather scary. I know they said when you guillotined people you could call their name after their head was cut off and the eyes would shift to you, obviously just a few seconds
I still remember the news that morning. At first they were showing jumpers, some looked orange. They first thought that they were wearing orange, but nah. They were on fire. It was quicker than burning to death. They stopped showing the jumpers shortly after. Some shit you just never forget seeing.
4:36 The firefighters were confused about hearing and seeing a plane in that area because it was in a no-fly zone. Thank you for your reaction, I appreciate you taking the time to watch such a powerful doc.
It was Also Way to low. Not confused so much as thinking thats the next job about to drop.
Sadly, there have been numerous politicians who’ve attempted to limit, or even cancel support for these first responders, and their families… Those politicians should NEVER receive another vote (to say the least)…
Watch Jon Stewart in front of the US Congress, calling them out for even considering disrespecting first responders.
My dad was working in the city on the day and then worked like 16 hour days as part of the reconstruction rebuilding telecommunication networks. Every year he sees a doctor from the 911 Health Commission was diagnosed with emphysema due to working right next to the pit for months. Jon Stewart is a NY Hero, my dad and my friends dad are getting healthcare right now because of him
When this happened, I was not even born and yet this day changed my life permanently.
This documentation was the reason that I joined the German volunteer youth fire brigade in 2012. To this day, I watch this documentary every year on 9/11 to be constantly reminded of how important the job of the fire brigade is and how important good training is.
The main problem was half of the radio transmissions were not getting through.
It never goes unnoticed that when everyone else was running away, these guys were running inside. Never forgotten!
I highly recommend watching the entire Naudet brothers' 9/11 documentary. It's available here on TH-cam & over an hour long.
Definitely watch the whole thing !!!
21:19 FYI if you didn’t know, all those electronic screaming/chirping sounds are from devices firemen wore which would give an alarm if they were motionless for too long. Coming from the rubble.
They were making a documentary following a rookie firefighter during his first year,towards the end of the filming is when 9/11 happened.If you can find the dvd man watch it,its amazing.
It's now also on TH-cam
One thing I find very haunting is the sound you hear briefly after the first tower fell. It sounds like a chirping whistle. I saw a different documentary and you could hear that sound coming from everywhere. I didn't know what it was until later. Every New York firefighter wears a motion detector alarm, so if he (or she) is motionless after a prescribed amount of seconds or minutes, it emits that sound so other firefighters know they're in trouble and they can come looking for them. That day, hundreds of those alarms were going off at the same time as so many of the firefighters lay dead or dying. Tragic.
OMG 😭😭😭😭😭
That's your scot pack. There is also a chauffeur from one of the companies calling for help for his missing company. "Mayday" you hear several times until the Second tower falls. 😢
Then silence.
I distinctly remember hearing the chirping (via TV obviously) on that day and crying at how many were going off. So sad.
The sad thing was hearing them constantly on any news report live or taped for days after the collapses, knowing first responders were there somewhere, either in part or whole, but gone, their signals still chirping. Until one by one, the batteries died and the chirping became less and less. it was a constant reminder of the loss. As the noise faded away it was like losing each one all over again. Until a couple weeks later, the only sound from Ground Zero was cranes and bulldozers trying to clear away the rubble as it became a recovery and clean up operation and was no longer considered a rescue mission. The attacks started and ended on 9/11, but the new layers of pain and grief have continued on with the passing of each hero that sacrificed their health working in the poisonous conditions. This is why we vow to Never Forget. But what we really mean is, it's IMPOSSIBLE to forget, even if we wish we could.
😢😢😢
So something to note about the towers coming down….all that dust is basically the tower and everything in it: office supplies, anything from the lounges, the materials used to make the towers as well as glass from the windows. After the towers fell, the surrounding area was filled with that dust and smoke so only those who loved in the area could go back days later but just to retrieve any belongings. You guys should react to Boatlift next. Tom Hanks narrates it and it basically shows everyone escaping to the harbor because when the attacks happened….the only way to get in and out of Manhattan was by boat since the tunnels, roads, and bridges were all closed. A lot of people figured out that day that Manhattan is in fact an island. Boatlift was actually bigger than the battle of Dunkirk or whatever it was.
Dave already did on the original channel.
I remember watching it, and people were walking away all covered in dust. A reporter said "we're all the same color today".
The dust also included jet fuel and pulverized humans.
I visited the ground zero area a year and a half after this. The dust was still piled up in the tree planters lining the sidewalks. It was haunting.
Yes. He was talking to people who might have been trapped in the elevators and yes, that was tower two coming down first. They were in the north tower (tower 1)
the people in the lifts died. the fire came down the shafts. hes trying to get a lift, or elevator to work because if they could get a lift to go up a good 50 or so floors things would be much easier, faster, and successful.
@@user-wi9hv2pb2q not everyone who were in the elevators died. I don't remember if it is this documentary or another where they say suddenly one of the elevators open up and out comes a group of people who have no idea what have happened.
Another one we hear about a group that destroy the wall somehow and get into a toilet where they are trapped to someone find them.
Yes, the loud thuds are jumpers. And yes, the man was trying to contact people who may be stuck in the elevators. When the planes hit, the jet fuel went straight down the elevator shafts and brought fire with it. Tower 1 was hit first and collapsed last. Tower 2 was hit second and collapsed first. 23 years and it feels like yesterday---still, for me anyway.
Plus one of those elevators crashed into the lobby, killing people at the doors.
They were filming a documentary on that particular fire house which evolved into a 9/11 documentary.
Their firehouse is Much closer to the towers. They were actually a good bit away when the first plane hit on a manhole job so they weren't first in coming off that other call. Saved them.
NY'er here what a lot of people don't realize is 23 yrs later & we're still losing police men & fire fighters every month a slow month is 2 or 3 dying from 9/11 Cancers. So in a way it's still going on!
Always thankful for the support from our Britishbrothers and sisters. We will not forget the 76 British citizens that died that day.
I was 14 years old here in NYC when the Twin Towers were destroyed, and I miss them everyday. September 11th haunts me alot. I witnessed them get attacked, and I witnessed the North Tower collpase. The Twin Towers was my favorite spot here in NYC. I went on the roof of the South Tower as a child, back in 1994, the year after the 93 bombing of the WTC. I'll never forget!
Just this week, the number of deaths of Firemen that day - 343 - who have died of various cancers and lung diseases since reached 362. I am a lifelong New Yorker who lived through that day, walked through the rubble and destruction and felt the terror, the horror, the fear. It's estimated that 60% of people who were here and experienced it still have PTSD - myself among them. As horrific and irreversibly indelible as was that day, the days, weeks and many months after were emotionally devastating and something no video has yet conveyed or told the story of. The story of the huge funerals of fireman everyday that went on for a year. The fronts of every hospital in the city including the city morgue covered like wallpaper with photos and contact information of missing loved ones and for weeks hundreds if not thousands of relatives walking the streets with photos approaching every person they could asking if you'd seen their father or brother or mother or uncle or recognize them.1,045 people - almost half of the people who were killed that day - have never been identified because no DNA was ever found.
Thank you for reacting to this. As an American, I remember how much this affected our whole country, but yet as a teenager back then I didn’t realize that it affected the world. I watch videos on 9/11 every year, sometimes for weeks or months. But I never get used to how humongous the sounds are, when a person has come crashing down. It’s incomprehensible what that had to be like for them and the people who had to witness it.
Truly a day that changed the course of human history
Chief Joseph Pfeiffer, who Jules Naudet was with throughout almost the entire event just re-retired from the FDNY on September 11, 2024. He originally retired in 2018, but was appointed acting Fire Commissioner in August. He specifically asked Jules to stay with him and keep filming the entire time, and when Tower 1 collapsed (Chief Pfeiffer’s brother Kevin died during the collapse), he shielded Jules with his body to protect him from debris.
Father Mychal Judge, the FDNY chaplain we see briefly was an amazing and fascinating individual. As others have said, he died of a heart attack during the collapse of Tower 2 (though he was in Tower 1) and was the first officially identified victim.
The fire department chaplin died in the lobby as the tower collapsed as they were running away. He was hit by pieces of the building blowning in and it was also said he had a heart attack too Father micheal jydge
I beleive they call him the first casualry. So very sad! Heartbreaking!
I remember seeing them carrying him out on a chair. Just devistating, losing so many firefighters and civilians. You go to work, to never come home again.
@lori6115 yeah he was. He wasn't the first to be killed but the first confirmed by name to be killed.
@@joysgirl
That picture is etched in my mind ....And like you said you went to work and never came home , listening to people call home some saying how much they loved them because they were saying I don't think I am getting out... There is one phone call where the man was on the phone with 911 and he is frantic and next thing you hear is him screaming OMG and then silence..which of course the building came down.... Took me 17hrs to get out of the city that day ...And every 9/11 it's like it just happened
We will NEVER FORGET. Ty guys. Slainte from Richmond Va USA ☘️🇺🇲
I was at work in downtown Manhattan that day, though thankfully not at the World trade Center ,which incidentally is on the land which was my family's first farm in America back in the 1600's. It's a day I'll never forget . A friend of mine owned a store 2 blocks away from the WTC. When he heard what was happening he ran over to see if he could help .The people who were trapped in the building above the fire started jumping out , 80 to 100 stories up , and were splattering on the pavement around him . He had a nervous breakdown , sold his store and moved out of the city .My own experiences that day are inconsequential
They use a lot of this footage on the “9/11: One Day in America” documentary. One of the most heartbreaking moments in that documentary is when Chief Pfeifer gave the order for his younger brother to go up and help people. It was the last time he ever spoke to his brother. I can’t imagine living with the guilt for the rest of your life of knowing you sent your brother to his death. That, and that sound of falling bodies hitting the ground. I can’t even fathom being in a situation where you choose to fall to your death over burning to death in a building. Just unreal.
Thanks for showing this today. Jules captured amazing footage while seemingly filming a normal documentary. This has edits from the original, thankfully. My friend Micheal in life. (Father - you touched many lives before that day.) Chief Pfeifer survived but lost his brother Kevin in the towers. Bless all those missing loved ones today, and those who survived yet still suffer. For friends and family who still live in my heart, you are missed. Tell those around you "I love you" today.
The first fire fighter to die that day was hit by a jumper 😢 Hearing those thuds are heartbreaking I can’t imagine the fear of having to make that decision. That day changed America forever. All of those fire fighters are hero’s. RIP to all the victims of 9/11
Jules Naudet was one of the very few people who caught footage of the first plane hitting the north tower. He was filming a documentary about firefighters and happened to be in the right place at the right time. There’s tons of footage of the second plane because hundreds of people were already filming the towers and the wreckage of the first plane when the second hit. But not very many people caught the first plane.
I remember watching this footage. The people trapped in the lifts, the ones that made it, were severely burned as jet fuel and burning debris fell down the lift shafts. At one point, the brother filming narrated that out of respect to the victims he wasn't including footage of people stepping out of one of the lifts that was still working as they were all severely burned.
I know of a retired firefighter and police officer who both volunteered to work at Ground Zero in the weeks after. Both contracted one of the cancers or lung diseases caused by breathing the toxic smoke. One survived and the other didn't. Of course, it is possible that there were other causes. It still angers me that those guys were allowed to work after the first day without breathing apparatus. The Environmental Protection Agency even lied that there was no danger. Overall, the government did a good job, but this should never have happened.
The documentary is amazing--following a rookie firefighter. The firefighters know the crashing sounds are bodies hitting the ground. Imagine the choice: leap to certain death or be burned to death by jet fuel. The opening scene is responding to a possible gas line leak. The ending when the brothers are reunited--so human. Consider watching it in full. There are real elements of humanity among so much evil.
Seeing Father Judge, the chaplain of the NYFD, and knowing he would be the first named casualty of the day was hard.
Thank you for this reaction, this one is very personal for me. I was an active-duty member of the US Armed Forces and watched this all play out from my office. One week later, I was deployed to our initial staging base for Operation ENDURING FREEDOM.
What I wouldn’t find out until nearly a month later as the first air operations began, was that I had lost a dear friend at the WTC. As I stood next to one of our senior officers and friend watching aircraft preparations, he looked at me and said, this one was for Ron. Ron? Ron who? He said, Ron Bucca. Ron was a mutual friend we had met previously during coordination for a military training exercise. He went on to say that he had received information from others at FDNY that Ron had been killed at the WTC, but didn’t have any details. It wasn’t until I returned home from my first OEF rotation that I was able to find out how Ron had passed.
Ronald Paul Bucca was a FDNY Fire Marshall and U.S. Army Green Beret veteran of the Vietnam War. Ron and Battalion Chief Orio Palmer climbed to the impact zone at the Sky Lobby on the 78th floor of the South Tower of the WTC. Both Ron and Orio were experienced marathon runners and were able to reach higher floors than any other first responders to rescue their fellow Americans trapped there before the tower collapsed.
Thank you again for remembering this tragic day. It is said a man is never truly gone so long as his name is spoken. I will never forget my friend Ron Bucca and will speak his name often!
It’s crazy how the Naudet brothers captured not only the flight 11 crash, but the last seconds of the pre-9/11 New York
This full documentary I believe is called "9/11" and is well worth watching. It was done by two French brothers who were following one fire house and their "probies" (rookies). The first part of the footage they were checking local fire hydrants, etc. and turned just in time to catch the only video of the first plane hitting the tower. I believe it was initially release on either the first or second anniversary of 9/11. If I recall correctly the other brother was with Mayor Guiliani's detail for a good part of the day. Remarkable and heartbreaking but it's important to see.
Also, highly recommend the Boatlift video and especially (as a proud Canadian) Operation Yellow Ribbon. Both different aspects of that day that most know nothing about. Thanks!
They were checking a report of a gas leak.
It came out in March of 2002.
Even without the tragic loss of life, as a paramedic, I have a physical reaction when I think about how chaotic and confusing it must have been for the people running the MCI that day! That stands for Mass Casualty Incident and every department trains for one even though the majority of us never actually experience one! Which is a good thing.All it means is to set up an area to use as a mass triage center and designate which patients will go to which station and team to give aid. You put tags on patients depending on the severity of their injuries or symptoms and it’s supposed to make things more streamlined and organized. Even mock Scenarios of any MCI is chaotic and challenging so I can’t even imagine what the scene was like on that day!
The only thing I’m thinking for these men is you beading into trouble. And yet you ran towards it. That takes grit and determination ❤🇺🇸🔥 you stayed until the end. And you never flinched. Leaves me in tears
The full version where the brothers filming are interviewed and provide narration is so fascinating and emotional
I have seen the entire documentary. The French brothers had started following this one fire unit around months prior. You get to know the different firefighters they followed and such, and yes, that is what happened. This happened when he was on the ride along with one of the chiefs or commanders (not sure what their rank was). From then on, both brothers stayed filming with the fire units they were with the entire time, and then go back to the fire house to meet up with the firefighters. it is an amazing documentary.
It warms my heart to see the compassion that both of you have in your eyes. I was 14 at the time. I was in South Carolina at school when the announcement came on telling the teachers to turn on their televisions to the news. The first thing I see when the screen comes on is one of the towers up in smoke.
The Older priest you see was killed by a piece of falling debris a little later,I still. cry.
Every year in a high rise building (I think 24 or 25 stories), in Sacramento, CA, several firefighter units in full suit climb up and down the stairs in memory of everyone who died on 9/11. Each firefighter goes just once, I believe.
There are so many who do this, I used to work in that building and we would hear their boots all day clanking up and down the stairwell. while it was loud, it never bothered anyone, it just always put us in a solemn mood.
I’m sure they still do it.
Battalion Chief Joe Pfeifer is the guy in the tie you are seeing a lot of. He sent his little brother, who was a FDNY Lieutenant, up the stairs with his crew when they found the elevators no longer worked. That was the last time he saw him. He did not make it out.
At one point you see a firemen directing people away. Folks exiting were being killed by the falling bodies, and had to be directed to an entrance to the subway.
Fire Department is a common term for a cities full firefighting force.
NYFD
@@billbliss1518 FDNY*
They were filming a documentary on a rookie fireman, and little did they know how fast their day would change
Thank you Dave and Ash. Never forget.
That video is so powerful and sad. Thank you for watching and sharing your reactions. Peace
I also remember turning on the TV and seeing the report of the first plane hitting. Then as we watched the second one hit and they realised they were not accidents. We were also glued to the TV till the buildings collapsed and everyone was running and we were so stunned. The people who jumped rather than die in the fires and smoke were the worst. I don't think anyone who watched it unfold will ever forget.
My 9/11 story is that during that time I was serving my mandatory military consrciption in the Finnish military. I still remember it was the evening time off and I was visiting our local "soldier's home" (they are basically like serivice centers with cafeterias, shops, libraries etc run by volunteer workers). I saw there were people gathered around a TV set and some news reel playing. I took me a while to realize it was a real news footage about a building being hit by terrorists. I felt so unreal, like something in a dream. The gravity of the situation took several days to unravel, since I was still young and dumb and did not understand the importance of this event.
Thank you for showing this on this day. I was attending a Navy school in San Diego on this day and woke up to this on the news. I tried to go to school and quickly found the base on lock down, and being a student I couldn't do a damned thing. Later I got a call from my family and my daughter was asking if we had to move because of this. Our home was in Japan at the time. I reassured her but that question still haunts me to this day.
The bravery of firefighters is so incredible. Nothing but respect for those whose soul job is to help others, in their worst moments…
Rest in Peace Father Mike 14:02
What a sad and dark day in the history of the country. My wife and I watched in shock and horror as the events unfolded throughout the day. Sadly my older sister's birthday is September 11th. Thank you for honoring the victims of that awful day by showing this video. It opened up that pit in my gut about the day but we all should reflect on how the world changed and remember the lives lost since then through wars upon wars. Never again!!! Scott L Ritchie
They were in the North tower (WTC 1) the chaos was when the south tower (WTC 2) collapsed. WTC 1 was the fist tower hit but took 1 hour and 42 minutes to collapse. WTC 2 fell in 56 minutes. Because of this the first tower collapsed 29 minutes after the second tower.
The towers were designed to and did survive the impact. What caused the collapse was that the dozens of main support girders were severed and the heat from the fire weakened the nearby surviving girders, already holding up far more weight than they should have been, to the point they started to give way. One that happened the next girders in line had even more weight to support.. Once this action started going the cascade was fast and dramatic(The planes were all hijacked from the beginnings of long distance flights so they would have a full load of fuel)
The most harrowing part of watching it live was seeing the people jump out of windows at nearly 1000 feet in the air and seeing them bounce on the pavement. There were quite a few of them and when you are watching live there is no one to clean up the more gruesome scenes. So yeah, this was such big news that TVs were rolled into many classrooms so kids could see this event including the jumpers.
You have to watch the ENTIRE documentary these French brothers did. It is the most incredible footage ever assembled.
And it’s brutal.
I might do it. Will the entire video be allowed with ©️and stuff?
@@YorkshiremanReacts26 Who knows. Might not be allowed because of the VIOLENCE:
They show people jumping to their deaths from the upper floors.
But you might as well do it as a reaction video, because you have to at least SEE it! Then, see what happens when you upload.
@@Ira88881They can watch it you have to confirm you're over 18
I was 23 years old and asleep when the 1st tower was hit. My roommate came and woke me up and said to turn on the tv. I can't remember how many days we were all glued to our tvs. People were freaking out because all of the phones were down and if u knew someone to check on, u couldn't get thru. It was horrific and life changing. I appreciate yall posting and reacting to this, but i could only make it halfway thru and had to turn it off.
When you hear the chief give the order to evacuate Tower 1 just after they ran for it the first time, that’s what saved his crew: they heard him and ran down the stairs… miraculously all of his team made it back out.
When you see them hit the deck behind the car as the second one collapsed, the chief had thrown himself on top of Jules to save him. They couldn’t breathe and it was black as night for an age.
Sadly many who’d made it out initially and were at EMT staging posts were killed when the first tower fell on them. Heartbreaking.
It was horrendous. Awful awful day. I was pregnant with my first son, we were in Spain trying to work out what the hell was going on as I clocked something hugely bad had happened via the car radio as we were out that day.
Sobbed watching the people jumping wondering what this world was that my child was coming into.
There’s life pre 9/11, and an utterly different one afterward.
The priest praying in the lobby was Fr. Judge, one of the priests I used to go to confession to at St. Francis up on 32nd Street, great man. No one could imagine, you had to be there.
I was 12 and my father was friends with one of the 24 Japanese that died that day.
The whole documentary will make you weep. It does explain a lot about what was going on that day. There are more uplifting docs like Operation Yellow Ribbon explaining Canadas heroic help that day.
The Naudet brothers just happened to be filming a documentary about the firefighters when the attacks started.
We call it the "Fire Department ". And individually, "Fire Stations"
Fr Micheal Judge the priest in the fire fighters uniform. There's a beautiful forest after been planted here in Ireland by a very close friend of his and every tree that was planted has the name of each fire fighter who died that day. At the bottom of each tree is a small white cross with the fire fighters nane and his department with a little American flag waving on top of it.
It wasn't just office workers and those on the planes, on top of the Towers was a restaurant open to the public. Myself and mother were going to have breakfast there but we decided to go to the harbour to buy tickets for the Intrepid. Someone was looking out for us that day
I wish this entire documentary (not just the bits here) was more widely known about and easier to find. I've never understood why it didn't receive an Oscar for best documentary. I'm assuming it's because people are too consumed with politics to appreciate what a brilliant piece of film it is. It's the best footage that exists of 9/11, of not only what was happening inside of the towers, and on the streets, (as most of the footage is the news channels watching aerial footage), but when you watch the firefighters talking at the station while/after it was happening, it explains and documents the visceral reaction and mindset Americans had when this happened. Nearly 10,000 first responders have died since 9/11 of cancer related deaths due to the toxins they breathed in when the towers fell. Thank you for reacting to this.
Someone said it's on TH-cam
I actually just watched it the other day, its available on youtube
One aspect about the lifts on that day... I remember hearing reports on the radio by some of the firefighters of seeing people severely burnt many floors below the crash sites. Because of the number of floors in the WTC, the buildings had "express" lifts that would skip over the lower floors completely and stop at a "sky lobby" where people would depart the express lifts and then catch a lift to their floor. This helped decrease the number of stops people high in the towers would have to make for people on lower floors. When the planes crashed into the buildings there was too much jet fuel to burn up immediately and that fuel flooded down the lift shafts on fire and set the sky lobbies ablaze with people waiting on lifts. That is why firefighters were finding people severely burnt much lower in the towers. So to answer your speculation about being in the lifts when the planes crashed, it's likely some were burned alive inside them.
The most chilling thing I learned from this particular video is that loud bangs you are hearing are actual bodies jumping from the tower
At 22 minutes when the second tower collapses listen to how quiet the radios went...that's just chilling.all that chaotic radio chatter to dead silence and then you realize most of those voices won't be heard again
Thank you for taking the time to watch this.
I was 15 when this happened. I think we most of us remembered where we were. I was home sick. What makes me upset more, maybe it’s my age at the time- is knowing as those towers fell with people inside but not understanding that people were inside as they fell. I understood more as tower 1 fell vs. tower 2. Something I still get confused. Simply they both fell and those below them were not going to get away fast enough. Or the trade centers nearby due to fires. I watched a documentary on how they were built and it wasn’t up to degree of heat that all of these buildings were so all the fireproofing just melted right off.
Looking at the skyline with them makes me so sad and is weird but looking at it today makes me sad and looks weird too
Thank you for watching
As someone who lost a family member when the first (south) tower fell, I cannot watch this video again, especially today. The sounds of people hitting the ground and other roofs instead of being burned alive after the two planes hit is just too much.
By the way, NYC fire department is called a fire department. The formal name is Fire Department New York or just FDNY. I am a NY native.
Yet all these foreign TH-camrs have no problem making this content for money. It's gross😢
My aunt is lucky she got let go weeks before that happened, she worked in one of those buildings.
@@smallsparry I am not mad at them nor anyone else. I just cannot see the video today.
@@ESUSAMEX you are a better person than i am then...bc i think its disgusting
@@smallsparrysweetie you do realize that everyone around the world who was alive during 9/11 knows what happened, but this exact video is still unknown to most right? While it’s hard to watch, thank God it exists because unfortunately western media only shows tidbits of everything and glosses over the real shit. Jules Naudet captured parts of this tragic day in a way that most news stations at the time never did. Also, I find it ironic that you’re saying that people upload these videos simply to make money…..yet here you are watching this video. You obviously read the title and saw the thumbnail, so you knew it was about 9/11. Now whether you willingly chose to click on it to leave a hate comment or not…..just by you clicking on this video it gives them more views and attention which means more money, and that’s how it goes with every video they post as well as everyone else on TH-cam. Trying to be a hater but you’re still benefiting them dumbass.
The reason the lobby looks to be in such bad condition, is the fact that the ignited jet fuel rushed down the elevator shafts, and they were under partial pressure, because the building is so tall. So the blast of air that came out of the shafts blew out windows and knocked panels off the walls.
God bless all those firefighters. I am disabled so I can't imagine the strength and bravery they have to take on that duty. Just another day at work serving and then a second later the calls come in and they rush there without hesitation. Wearing and carrying all that equipment, going into that heat and smoke. The silence in the rubble when you hear the chirps from their beacon things. I was a senior in high school on that day. The video of the last voicemails of the people on the planes I still hear. The people jumping, the falling man photo, just insane. Nobody is guaranteed tomorrow.
I'm American and was a Senior in high school when this happened. My grandmother was mentioning something about a plane crash as I was rushing out the door to go to school. Our school went on lockdown right after first bell and we just watching the news the entire day. Our states' governor here in New Mexico put government buildings on lock down, our military bases went on high alert, businesses started closing for the day, every flight was grounded and cancelled...we sat in silence and watched the world around us grind to a halt in a single day.
This is what call heroes out there trying so hard to save ppls lives & so many of them lost there own lives while doing it it’s heartbreaking all these ppl who went to work that morning & didn’t come home God bless them & God bless their families it’s something u never get over!
Second tower that was hit went down first, so they were in the building that was still in tact.
Was it because flight 175 had more fuel in it? So it burned harder?
@@bubbletae0753 Second building was hit lower. Caused more structural damage
@@LilRedRastaI'd like to say also with all the fuel pipes in the building for heating etc added to the fire made it a even worse fire
@@bubbletae0753 In addition to South Tower being hit lower (as another noted), the plane hit off-center, blowing out a corner. (Plane #1 went into North Tower practically dead-center, but at tilt.) 😥
Those bangs/crashing noises that you start hearing at 10:05 and afterwards was determined to be the people jumping out of the tower. One firefighter was actually killed when he was outside of the building to help get people to move away from the towers when one of the people that jumped out of the building ended up landing on him. What a horrific day. I can literally remember everything I was doing that day and seeing this unfold. It's something that will forever be seared in my memory. It felt like we were all at the gates of hell.
I'm 48 now, and still 23 years later it's hard to believe that they collapsed at all, let alone losing 3 buildings in a stack collapse due to the tressel design of the buildings. The whole 9/11 documentary video is well worth watching. Still gives me goosebumps.
I watched a documentary regarding how the towers were built and that they were designed to withstand fires on multiple floors without collapsing. The problem was is that when the planes hit and exploded, with wings full of jet fuel, it was basically automatic system failure. The heat created by that combination was more intense than any normal fire they could prepare for. It basically started to melt the metal supports. I think they said it was anywhere from 1500-2000 Fahrenheit. It was also a sustained heat being fed by jet fuel and surrounding debris.
While there are tons of memories I have from that day and the days that followed the one thing that has always stuck with me was the emergency beepers going off. That sound will always get me, no doubts. The second thing that got me was during the 1 year memorial. While family member after family member read off names of the dead they had a scroll going below of those dead and where they worked. All I really remember was Cantor Fitzgerald, Cantor Fitzgerald, Cantor Fitzgerald over and over again.
The battalion chief that they were with literally sent his brother, who was a captain, to the other tower. He had to live with the fact he sent his brother to die.... All of the crashing sounds are the jumpers. God bless their souls! Lord only knows their desperation in that horrible time. The sad part is the firefighters knew that each crash was another person who died tragically. I remember seeing the jumpers. Just heart wrenching and tragically sad.
Watching events occur in real time that day, I couldn’t stop thinking of the depravity of some warped individuals who could highjack planes and deliberately fly them into buildings. They wanted to kill as many innocent people as possible, and they thought they would immediately be transported to paradise ? The collective insanity of these individuals was just beyond all comprehension.
You two should react to the full documentary. Absolutely stunning
I was 7 and I remember understanding very well what was happening. Also A family friend was in NY and we were trying to get ahold of her all day. I was so relieved to finally get her call back!
I remember that day like yesterday. I was supposed to meet my cousin at the towers to go shopping at Strands and Victoria's Secret. I woke up late and told my cousin to push the meeting time back a couple of hours.
I remember searching for my mother who was walking home. She was lucky enough to get a clear phone line and tell us where she was walking. Stores along the way, gave out bottles of water and a sneaker store was giving out sneakers and socks to the women walking in heels.
We lived in Brooklyn and I couldn't believe that the smoke, ash and papers from the towers were littering our neighborhood. We couldn't even breath because of the ash and smoke coming across the water on the wind. It was so surreal and scary and it was only the beginning.
I remember thinking, I never heard NYC so quiet. Everyone was in shock. It was even more shocking after when the military moved in. I remember being on the streets and seeing tanks with heavily armed soldiers driving down Brooklyn streets. It was something I will never forget.
I also remember driving on the Brooklyn bridge when it opened up and being stuck in traffic on it. It was in the evening and there was a breeze. All of a sudden, all you could smell was the scent of something that had burnt, a fuel smell and the smell of decay. It was horrific! I had a panic attack sitting in my car on that bridge and I was not the only one. This lady got out of her car and just started pacing back and forth. It took so long to get off of that bridge. I stayed away from that area for over a year because of that night.
Respect to you guys for reacting to this. I watch footage of this every year and it’s absolutely terrifying every time. Never forget.
I was up in tower one the year before. I can’t believe how so much reinforced steel and everything inside simply turned to dust. It still haunts me to this day.
I was in high school when this happened. I remember when word got out around the school that a plane had hit the building. There was initially speculation that it must have been a suicidal pilot, or an accident. But us being kids, people were talking and cutting up, not thinking too much of it. I'll never forget how silent the class became when the announcement was made that a second plane had hit. That collective realization that this was a coordinated attack was chilling. We basically spent the rest of the day in silence just watching the TV.
Went through the WTC on what was my second visit to New York. Sept 7, 2001. It was surreal being back at home watching this unfold on TV on the following Tuesday and thinking, "I was just there on Friday."
Jules Naudet was filming a possible gas leak with the squad. It just so happened that the battalion chief went to this rather routine happening. Right before what you see (which is a bit edited), the firefighters were all saying that they had been called out before for just this sort of thing. People often mistake the smell of the storm drains for gas. The battalion chief was demonstrating how to use the "sniffer" device they had, and then they heard the low-flying plane. This particular crew just so happened to be from a firehouse that was the closest to the Twin Towers, and just so happened to be already out in their truck, so they booked it when they recovered from what they saw. The battalion chief from this firehouse was the first person to place the call to emergency services (via radio) about what he saw - an airplane hitting the building. All other calls, most of which came from within the building, thought it was a bomb or a gas explosion (logical, since most people would never dream of an airplane striking their building, and would consider more reasonable and mundane, but no less terrifying explanations first).
It's so hard to think about how most of the firefighters you see in this footage died that day... most of them ignored the order to evacuate and kept climbing to try and save more people.
It was a dark day.
Thank you for remembering them and their sacrifice. 🙏
I didn't know about 9/11 until 9/14, that Friday night, when I opened a 40, turned on the TV at my sister's, and click, click, click, same news on every channel. I still can't believe I missed all of that.
The second tower to be hit was the first to fall because it was hit lower down. An Englishman died when the second tower fell. He was security chief for Morgan Stanley and stayed behind to help evacuate people after his own staff had already been evacuated. They had 2000 employees in the tower, only 6 died (the head of security and his security team).
It was such a terrifying day. We had literally come home from our very first vacation the night before. Then that morning unfolded. The real horror I still have trouble with is when I realized people were voluntarily jumping to avoid burning. Seeing them fall, or hearing them smash on the lobby roof is still an overwhelming memory for me. It’s making me cry right now writing just about it. I had seven little ones, from elementary school down to preschool ages, and it was a near herculean task trying to keep them away from the tv. We had a campfire out in the yard in the evening to distract them. We lived out in the country, but on quiet nights you could hear the sound of an occasional tractor trailer on a small highway that came through the area. A truck drove by in the distance, and my next to the youngest son, so little, asked in a terrified voice, “Is that a plane?” I was angry at myself for not shielding them enough, and so angry at the terrorists for frightening my baby. Even 20+ years later that pain is just as fresh.
Highly recommend watching the full documentary they filmed, one of the best ever.
Watching the documentary this footage is from is absolutely worth it. It gives a ton of context to whats happening as it happens from the people there.
The film was to be about a year in the life of a Rookie New York Firefighter, from training through his probationary period, they had gone out test for a reported gas leak, then the plane hit the tower, the guy who said "holy shit" made the understatement of the decade
Seeing this footage many times before this, knowing the faces of many of the men in this, I have to look away when the focus in on a firefighter’s face if I know that he ended up dying. It just too heartbreaking.
I was 19 and living in Chicago when this happened. It was the saddest, wildest, most tragic thing I have EVER witnessed. I couldn't believe eyes. I am grateful that this footage exists, its the only thing that comes close to doing justice what we all saw that day. The part that gets me are the sounds of people hitting the ceiling of the lobby from jumping. And the firefighters. God bless them forever and ever. Excellent and reverent reactions, thank you.