More broadly, there’s a long list of people who have been critical to me being who and where I am today. Among them: Charlotte Stocek, Mary Creeden, Mike Baginski, Rome Aja, Kerrin McCadden, and Charlie Phillips; John Rosenberg, Richard Mederos, Brian Delay, Peter J. Gomes, Stephen Shoemaker, and Jennifer Axsom; Kit Seeyle, Pat Leahy, Rusty Grieff, Tim Seldes, Jesseca Salky, Paul Elie, Tom Friedman, Jack Limpert, Geoff Shandler, Susan Glasser, and, not least of all, Cousin Connie, to whom I owe a debt that I strive to repay each day. My parents, Chris and Nancy Price Graff, have encouraged me to write since an early age, instilling in me a love of history and research and an intellectual curiosity that benefits me daily, and my sister, Lindsay, has always been my biggest fan—and I hers.
At home, I had the good-natured help of Sam Hubachek, the second-best addition to our family of the last year. My wife, Katherine, provided bottomless support and listened—as all writers’ spouses are doomed to do—as I talked in wonder about this project and worked obsessively on it at odd hours during a particularly busy and transformative time. Thank you, KB.
Most of all, though, I’m grateful to each and every survivor and participant of 9/11 who shared their stories with me, other historians or journalists, or simply wrote down their memories for posterity—including those featured here, those whose stories I didn’t have the opportunity to include, and those whose stories I’ve never even heard. There are millions of memories of that day, each unique, trying, and historic in its own way. I was surprised and heartened by the collective willingness to share and relive that trauma. Everyone I sought to interview over two years jumped to participate, even as a stranger contacted them out of the blue and asked them to discuss, in depth and at length, the worst day of their lives. Even reading the stories recorded by others often felt at times overwhelmingly heartrending and intimate. I cannot fathom the pain, physical or emotional, many of you experienced that day and after. I cried almost every single day as I compiled the first draft of this book and read or listened as you all recounted living through America’s most dread-filled day. Together, your strength is a testament and inspiration to the resiliency of the human spirit, and I’m appreciative of your desire to help ensure that future generations understand what happened on September 11th. We must never forget.
—Garrett M. Graff Burlington, VT May 2019
Sources
The bulk of the 500 or so voices in this book are pulled from large-scale oral history projects conducted by a variety of museums, universities, and institutions that had the foresight to capture the contemporaneous memories of 9/11 survivors and participants for history.
The vast majority of the sources for this book are pulled from the oral history projects housed at seven institutions: The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (New York City), the 9/11 Tribute Museum (New York City), the Arlington County Public Library Oral History Project (Virginia), C-SPAN (Washington, D.C.), the Historical Office of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (The Pentagon, Virginia), the Flight 93 National Memorial (Shanksville, Pennsylvania), and the U.S. House of Representatives Historian’s Office (Washington, D.C.), as well as interviews and stories collected by myself.
The primary sources for these oral histories are listed below, arranged alphabetically and by archival repository. Some of the collections are available online, in which case the web address is noted; otherwise, the oral histories are housed at and accessible through the institution’s curator or historian’s office itself.
Other, more limited or atypical sources—including books, magazines, and videos—are noted in specific endnotes below. In some cases, like Arlington County Assistant Fire Chief James Schwartz or FBI Special Agent Chris Combs, the same person contributed multiple oral histories to multiple institutions. In that case, the primary source responsible for the majority of that individual’s quotations is listed below and any exceptions pulled from other oral histories are then specifically noted in the endnotes that follow.
National September 11 Memorial & Museum (New York City)
Joe Alagna
Jeannine Ali
Susan Baer
David Brink
Pasquale Buzzelli
Louise Buzzelli
Michele Cartier
John Cartier
Charles Christophe
Chris Combs
Monsignor John Delendick
Bruno Dellinger
Ada Dolch
Tracy Donahoo
Richard Eichen
Joe Esposito
Fernando Ferrer
Barbara Fiorillo
Joann Gomez
Joanna Gomez
Melissa Gomez
Betsy Gotbaum
Robert Gray
Rob Grunewald
Stephen Holl
William Jimeno
Jeff Johnson
Jay Jonas
Francine Kelly
Al Kim
Matthew Klimow
Jared Kotz
Mickey Kross
Linda Krouner
Constance LaBetti
Stephen Larabee
Vanessa Lawrence
Catherine Leuthold
Juana Lomi
Frank Loprano
Joseph Lott
Jackie Maguire
Joe Massian
Ileana Mayorga
Mike McGovern
Sharon Miller
Melinda Murphy
John Napolitano
David Norman
Jean O’Connor
Thomas O’Connor
Monica O’Leary
Ian Oldaker
Edna Ortiz
Jackie Pinto
Jean Potter
Dan Potter
Frank Razzano
James Schwartz
Robert Small
Philip Smith
Bill Spade
Scott Strauss
Joseph Torrillo
Harry Waizer
Robert Walker
Mike Walter
Judith Wein
Wesley Wong
Peter Zalewski
9/11 Tribute Museum (New York City)
Richard Balfour
John Cahill
Michael Cardozo
Sal Cassano
Chuck Downey
Joe Downey
Rudy Giuliani
Richard Grasso
Gregg Hansson
Norma Hardy
Charles Hirsch
Robert Hunor
Jan Khan
Andrew Kirtzman
David Kravette
Anthony Lisi
Frank Lombardi
James Luongo
Denise McFadden
Paul McFadden
Genelle McMillan
Sunny Mindel
Dan Nigro
Omar Olayan
Herb Ouida
George Pataki
Adrian Pierce
Bruce Powers
Alan Reiss
Ian Rifield
Rick Schoenlank
Colin Scoggins
Paul Somin
Lila Speciner
Steven Stefanakos
Elia Zedeno
Arlington County Public Library Oral History Project (Virginia)
Available online at https://libraryarchives.arlingtonva.us/index.php/Detail/objects/195
David Allbaugh
Ray Anderson
Chuck Cake
Jim Daly
Gabriella Daya-Dominguez
Theresa Flynn
Charles Gibbs
Frank Haltiwanger
David Herbstreit
Susannah Herrada
Scott Kocher
Paul Larson
Mary McBride
Robert Medairos
Jennifer Meyers
Kyra Pulliam
Gary Tobias
U.S. Coast Guard Oral History Program (Washington, D.C.)
Michael Day
James Loy
Columbia Un
iversity September 11, 2001, Oral History Project (New York)
Collection details available at https://library.columbia.edu/locations/ccoh/digital/9-11.html
Michael Lomonaco
Frederick Terna
C-SPAN (Washington, D.C.)
C-SPAN’s 9/11 oral history videos are available at https://www.c-span.org/search/?searchtype=Videos&sort=Newest&seriesid[]=45
Mary Beth Cahill: https://www.c-span.org/video/?300521-1/
Tom Daschle: https://www.c-span.org/video/?300751-1/
Dennis Hastert: www.c-span.org/video/?300449-1/
John Jester: https://www.c-span.org/video/?301012-1/
Mary Matalin: https://www.c-span.org/video/?300727-1/
Gary Walters: https://www.c-span.org/video/?300426-1/
Flight 93 National Memorial (Shanksville, Pennsylvania)
Steve Aaron
Larry Arnold
William Baker
Alan Baumgardner
Robert “Bobby” Blair
Ralph Blanset
Craig Bowman
Jeffrey Braid
James Broderick
James Clark
Keith Custer
Andrea Dammann
Cynthia Daniels
Peter M. “Mike” Drewecki
Joyce Dunn
Rick Earle
Merle Flick
Mahlon Fuller
Yates Gladwell
Kevin Huzsek
Tony James
Lisa Jefferson
George “Bill” Keaton
Laurence Kesterson
Rick King
Martin Knezovich
T. Michael Lauffer
Tim Lensbouer
Jere Longman
Kristie Luedke
Patrick Madigan
David Mattingly
Patrick McGlennon
Jon Meyer
Douglas Miller
Denise Miller
Anita McBride Miller
Captain Frank Monaco
Wells Morrison
Kevin Nasypany
Steven O’Brien
Richard Paden
Stacey Taylor Parham
Eric Peterson
Paula Pluta
Tom Ridge
Thomas Rodgers
Norbert Rosenbaum
Michael Rosenbaum
Bob Schnarrenberger
Braden Shober
Ben Sliney
Corporal Louis Veitz
Clyde Ware
Robert Weaver
John Werth
Terry Yeazell
David Zacur
Here Is New York (New York City)
Available online at hereisnewyorkv911.org.
Ted Anderson
Sheila Denise Moody
Darrell Oliver
David Tarantino
High School for Leadership and Public Service (New York)
Available online at crafting-a-life.com/911.php
Keturah Bostick
Rosmaris Fernandez
Razvan Hotaranu
Heather Ordover
Robert Rosado
Historical Office of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Pentagon, Virginia)
John Milton Brady, Jr.
Craig Bryan
Steven Carter
Victoria “Torie” Clarke
Chris Combs
Aubrey Davis
Lawrence Di Rita
Edmund Giambastiani
Randall Harper
William Haynes
John F. Irby
John Jester
Michael Nesbitt
Gilbert Oldach
James Phillips
Donald Rumsfeld
Dennis Smith
Joe Wassel
U.S. House of Representatives Historian’s Office (Washington, D.C.)
Some of the work of the historians in the House of Representatives is available online at https://www.youtube.com/user/ushousehistory/playlists?view=50&sort=dd&shelf_id=2
Eve Butler-Gee
Gerry Creedon
Steve Elmendorf
John Feehery
Mike Ferguson
Martin Frost
Brian Gaston
Brian Gunderson
Julia Rogers
Tyler Rogers
Tish Schwartz
StoryCorps—September 11th Initiative
Vaghn Allex
Beverly Eckert
Louise Rogers
John Yates
Interviews by the Author
John Anticev
Anthony Barnes
Ben Bell
Steve Bongardt
Emily Bouck
Monika Bravo
William “Buzz” Buzinski
Nic Calio
Andy Card
Linda Carpenter
Kat Cosgrove
Katie Couric
Scott Crogg
Mary Dettloff
Matt Dooley
Eric Draper
Ellen Eckert
Jason Fagone
Ari Fleischer
Lachlan Francis
Beau Garner
Steve Gaudin
Paul Germain
Porter Goss
Jenna Greene
Rick Greyson
Hillary Howard
Matthew Jellock
Gordon Johndroe
Nate Jones
Tom Keck
David Kelley
Richard Kolko
Robert Korn
B. Alexander “Sandy” Kress
Bill Kuchman
Dana Lark
Daphne Leigh
Rafael Lemaitre
Kathryn Mastandrea
Richard Mies
Rikki Miller
Brian Montgomery
Mike Morell
Matt Moyer
Rob O’Neill
Abby Perkins
Laura Petrou
Adam Putnam
Blake Richardson
Sonya Ross
Karl Rove
Dan Shuman
Preston Stone
Fred Stremmel
Michael Szwaja
Mark Tillman
Richard Tubb
Matthew Waxman
Dave Wilkinson
James “Sandy” Winnefeld, Jr.
Anne Worner
Natasha Wright
Cindy Wright
Julie Ziegenhorn
An Avid Reader Press Reading Group Guide
The Only Plane in the Sky
Garrett M Graff
This reading group guide for The Only Plane in the Sky includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Garrett Graff. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
Introduction
While there has been monumental literature published about 9/11 over the past eighteen years, a critical narrative has been missing—a 360-degree account of the day told through the voices of the people who experienced it. Now, award-winning journalist and bestselling historian Garrett Graff tells the story of the day as it was lived in The Only Plane in the Sky, drawing on never-before-published transcripts, recently declassified documents, original interviews, and oral histories from nearly five hundred government officials, first responders, witnesses, survivors, and the friends and family members of the deceased.
Topics & Questions for Discussion
1. September 11, 2001, is a day that many people remember well, and though nearly two decades have passed, it is still a sensitive topic and difficult to discuss in-depth. What made your book group choose The Only Plane in the Sky, and were there any members who had reservations about revisiting the event in book form? If so, why?
2. How did each member of the group initially respond to reading about this pa
rticular event through oral history? What are the strengths or benefits of experiencing this story through this particular format? The difficulties?
3. Reading a work of historical nonfiction is unique because, unlike fiction, we often know how an event plays out and how the story ends before we even open the book. What was it like to read the opening chapters knowing what was about to happen next?
4. Whereas the typical 9/11 narrative is often centered only on New York City, The Only Plane in the Sky covers the events as they unfold in all three areas of impact and across the United States. What did you learn about the reactions and experiences of people in different locations? How were they similar or different?
5. As you read The Only Plane in the Sky, did you feel compelled to consume any other media about the day (articles, YouTube clips, etc.)?
6. A running theme throughout The Only Plane in the Sky—and all 9/11 stories in general—is heroism, and the active choice a person makes in the face of chaos and tragedy to step up, whether they are in the Twin Towers or on a hijacked aircraft or running back into the Pentagon to help wounded coworkers. Discuss what makes a hero; are they born? Are they made? Are we all capable of heroic acts?
7. Were there any chapters or moments in The Only Plane in the Sky that were particularly difficult to read? Were there any moments or memories that surprised, touched, or impacted you, or enhanced your understanding of what it was like to live through the day on the ground?
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