We Were There, March 8, 2016 1

Responder, NYC Transit subway engineer Hector R. and 9/11 Family Member Joseph C. share their personal stories of September 11th in their 9/11 Tribute Museum presentation of We Were There on stage at the National September 11th Memorial Museum.

Hector was driving a Downtown R train during the collapse of the South Tower. Defying orders that advised him to skip Cortlandt Street station, he was able to transport people to safety who were trying to escape the chaos above ground. He speaks about the motivation behind this judgement call, and the passengers' looks of fear that will never leave his memory. Despite his immense concern for his wife's well-being, he chose to wait until he got to the end of his train line before he ran to a payphone. After calling her and confirming that she was okay, he realized that it was other transit workers who got her to safety for him when he was not able to be there. And by stopping his train at the WTC, he hoped that he had done the same.

Joseph worked near the WTC, and witnessed the side of the North Tower rip apart on 9/11. He had previously lost his father to a terrorist attack at Fraunces Tavern, a couple of blocks from the WTC. On September 11th, he lost his cousin Steve, who worked on the upper floors of the North Tower for Cantor Fitzgerald. Through his personal account of that day and the remembrance of his family members lost to senseless acts of terror, Joseph emphasizes that the enormity of the events are not with statistics nor the buildings themselves, but with the people lost and their stories.

Видео We Were There, March 8, 2016 1 канала 9/11 Tribute Museum