Customer Reviews

Never Forget: An Oral History of September 11, 2001

5 star:		(22)
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3 star:		(1)
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This collection of essays from eye-witnesses to the tragedy of 9/11 is so personal, one may want to think twice before reading any of it. Culled from dozens and dozens of first hand account recollections, it is not for the timid nor even the brave. I found myself tearing up with every section. Each story is different and yet each one draws from the same source - the helpless horror that all felt on that day. It is heart wrenching and it is horrifically gory. Descriptions of that day are beyond belief and it is hard to imagine anyone surviving it without a lifetime of emotional hardship. It goes beyond that as well. It is impossible to describe this book as eloquently as those that lived it have. Every walk of life is spoken here and every voice is full of a human spirit we all share. I cannot begin to go further in recommending this book. It is therapy.

I saw the editors of this collection on Fox and Friends and figured I would just go to the book store and read a few of the stories. I ended up buying the book an hour later.

The stories are unforgetable. They hit the whole range of emotions. I had tears in my eyes reading these accounts.

This is really an important piece of history and should be read by everyone. The accounts range from witnesses, police, fire, volunteers, family members, office workers. Each story is unique and provides a different point of view, but they are all powerful first hand accounts.

Buy this book, read it, and share it with people.

This book was not easy to read. Even though it was difficult, I felt that I needed to listen to these people tell their stories. I'm not into sensationalism, gore, or the like. I have never seen Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan -- it's too hard for me to know what to do with the information once I've been exposed. There's no place to file it in my mind and I'm afraid it will haunt me. 9/11 is different. I was nowhere near NY, but I think we all experienced a death that morning. I was compelled to read this book to somehow empathize with those who perished and those who survived. I was "safe" on the west coast, but I wanted to know what my fellow Americans went through that day. Beyond what I was being fed from the media, I needed to hear it from the people who were there so I could try to understand what they endured and what the continue to endure. I don't want to forget -- I want to remember.

I'm writing this review, but I really don't think it is possible to put this book into words. Never Forget: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 is by far the most personal and emotionally compelling book I have read about the terrorist attacks of 9/11. I honestly think every American should read this book - now more than ever. Some people seem to be forgetting the inhumane horror and emotional trauma of that day, and this book takes you back, quite vividly, to what you saw and felt during and after the terrorist attacks. The husband and wife team of Mitchell Fink and Lois Mathias interviewed a great number of people connected to the deadly events, from witnesses and survivors to emergency services personnel to Ground Zero volunteers and the families of Flight 93 passengers. Eighty one personal accounts fill the pages of this book.

I have only recently been going back and reading about 9/11 - suddenly, I finally felt ready to revisit what happened that day. I am learning that the personal tragedy and horror was much more extensive than I realized. The personal stories in this book introduce a number of observations and facts that were too gruesome to make it in to any news broadcasts. I knew that a number of people jumped to their deaths, but I did not realize the number of jumpers was as high as it actually was. I had also never thought about the danger those jumpers posed to rescue workers trying to get into the Twin Towers that morning. One fireman, for example, was killed by a falling body. The newscasts didn't talk about what happened when those bodies hit the ground, but the witnesses in this book do, and it's pretty gruesome stuff. Then you have descriptions of the carnage seen by rescue and recovery teams, and it's just unimaginably awful. The things these witnesses describe will break your heart, but their stories are also full of heart-warming stories of heroism and selflessness. Everyone knows the story of Josephine Harris and the miraculous survival of the Ladder 6 team she was with, but this book is bursting with personal acts of heroism by ordinary men and women who epitomize the unsung hero. Virtually everyone who survived the attacks credits someone else with saving his/her life. One account that sticks out in my mind is the group of men who transported their handicapped coworker down dozens of flights of stairs to safety; they could have abandoned him and worried only about saving themselves, but they didn't. The man whose life they saved makes a profound point: if they had been a little slower or unlucky and died that day, no one would ever have known about those selfless acts of heroism. It makes you realize that some of the greatest acts of courage and sacrifice that took place that day will be known only in heaven.

Many of the individuals whose stories are recorded here talk about the emotional effects of the experience. Many ask why they lived when those around them died, and they talk about the emotional trauma (and, for some, sense of guilt) that will be a part of their daily lives from now on. In the same vein, a few give voice to some profound perspectives. It is awful that a fireman was killed by a jumper, but one individual points out that it probably saved the lives of the firemen who carried their fallen comrade to safety because it kept those men from entering the building just before it collapsed.

Many of these accounts come from policemen, firemen, Port Authority personnel, emergency service workers, and those who worked tirelessly to recover bodies in the days and weeks following the tragedy. I was also happy to read about some of the 300 search dogs who contributed so much to the effort, as well. A majority of the book relates to the attack on the World Trade Center, but there are also a number of accounts from those on site at the Pentagon as well as loved ones of the brave passengers of Flight 93. I was actually most interested in the stories of regular people who lived through the events, though; those are the stories I can most easily identify with, especially when I ask myself how I would have reacted in their situation. So many of those people showed great bravery and humanity, and it's really uplifting to read about those "little" but powerful stories that you never heard about on the news. It renews your faith in humanity and really drives home the point that the terrorists who kill innocent men, women, and children without a single twinge of guilt will never achieve their goals.

I've been working in lower Manhattan for 20 years, 12 of them in the towers. I've seen this city through the highs and lows. A year ago history tapped us on the shoulder and we responded. The face of hatred tried to change our way of thinking and challenged our way of life. We responded. As Americans, we stepped up and rescued people in danger, we donated blood, and we gave our time and compassion. Some paid the ultimate price and we applaud their bravery and mourn their loss. Together we pray for their families to carry on their spirit. A spirit only found in this great city and this great country. The vivid re-telling of these stories from brave people are tastefully scribed here. If you were here that day, this will bring you back to Tuesday morning. If you watched helplessly on television, this will put you in our dusty shoes.

This is the first book I ever read about September 11th and, quite possibly, my last simply because the authors did such and outstanding job with the interviews that I have no need to pick up another.

Never Forget is not a very long book at all and I can usually get through a book this size in about two to three days. However, the sheer horror and devastation described by many of those interviewed brought me such grief that I was forced to put it down several times, making it the most difficult book I have ever tried to get through.

Mr. Fink divides the book into three parts: events just before and leading up to the crash and how many were able to escape the towers, accounts of the NYPD and the FDNY, and the resuce and recovery accounts of many volunteers. There is also testimony of Flight 93 passengers as told by their loved ones right before the plane crashed and a few accounts of the devastation left at the Pentagon. The eyewitness accounts of the New York Police and Fire departments get a little repetitive at times when different officers give their own versions of the same stories, which to me seemed unneccesary.

The most memorable accounts in my opinion belong to civilians--those who escaped the towers and their horrifying descent down countless flights of stairs to get outside. Equally engaging is LT.Col. Ted Anderson's account at the Pentagon and those of the passengers of Flight 93 and the AirFone telephone operators, the flight attendants and the family of those lost, the volunteers and the construction workers.

Never Forget is not an easy read, but I can't imagine not doing so in order to fully understand and empathize with those who were there and needed us to listen to their stories of that fateful day.

I find these accounts of the day's tragic events and happenings to be compelling, moving and absolutely heartwrenching. As I read each individual story I somehow felt as if I were there....almost feeling the horror and pain each and every one of these people were experiencing. I cannot imagine how any human being could endure the horrific events of September 11 but, somehow, it seems they have. Some of the descriptions of events are quite graphic and horrific, but that is what happened on September 11, 2001. The Media and the Government possibly "spared" the public from some of the actual/graphic things which occurred that morning during the coverage of these events, but this book and the participants descriptions of what they lived that day do not. This book is factual and does not sugar coat it by any means. My heart goes out to each and every one of the brave and unselfish people who were able to and who took the time to sit down with Mitchell and Lois to share their feelings, and stories with us. I still say a prayer every night for all those who were involved in the multiple, murderous attacks and for their families and loved ones who have survived them. These short stories bring it all close to home...they make it very "real". God Bless them all. Carole B

This amazing book will make you begin to understand what the victims of September 11 endured. Most of us will never experience the horror, terror, and physical calamity that these people witnessed and/or suffered themselves. Just reading these stories did such a good job of putting me in those moments, that I had to take a breather from time to time. I just didn't want to read any more. But I kept going back, because I am so amazed at the courage and strength of character these people had. I read of a man with a fractured skull, all ribs broken, broken arm, and internal injuries, who kept moving forward...kept going because he knew it was the only way to have a chance to survive. This really opened my eyes to what is possible, when a situation seems so impossible. If you want a book that tells you what it was really like at Ground Zero, the Pentagon, and more, you won't be disappointed.

This was a very powerful, moving and often bone-chilling account of the events of September 11th- a day that we will all remember forever. It depicts real-life people and their experiences on that aweful day: firefighters, police officers, EMS workers, and people who worked in the World Trade Center buildings and the Pentagon. I think I was most affected by the stories of the employees of the World Trade Center & Pentagon who were literally only a few yards away from where the planes crashed and still were able to make it out alive. There are alot of details in this book that we never heard about on the news--things that were kept from the public to shield us from how horrible this event really was. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the events of September 11th by reading the chilling tales of the people who were there and survived this terrible tragedy.

I am legally blind and receive talking books free from the Library for the Blind. I just finished "Never Forget: An Oral History of 9-11-2001. Usually when I finish a book I send it back to the library and move along to the next book. This book is different, I want to own a copy. In years to come I want my children to be able to take it down and read about that day from people who were there, who can put that all important human realism to the event. If the details are boiled down to facts and figures it will become just another date to remember just long enough to pass a history test.