This article explores some of the heroes of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, while also sharing the story of my father in a testament to the power of human resilience. 

15-minute read time

Resilience is a force that solidifies people on various levels — from fortifying an individual to uniting a nation. Every year on September 11th, many US Americans are once again reminded of not just what became known as the deadliest terrorist attack in history, but also of the resilience of strength that refuses to waver. 

To me, remembering this day and mourning the lives lost also evokes a defying testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of both human bravery and the ability of communities to withstand evil. 9/11 is now a historical event I am lucky to say I (narrowly) walked away from without significant loss of anything more than my childhood innocence. The same could not be said for many in my community. 

The same also cannot be said for many in the world. Countless lives have been stolen in the years since September 11, 2001. Many of them are forgotten in history. The world is experiencing large-scale tragedies, ongoing wars, insurgencies, and terrorism. The bleak reality is that terrorism is not an isolated event even if the mass losses experienced from the 9/11 attacks make it an outlier in its sheer gravity — as well as a catastrophic shattering of an illusion. 

This blog is an ode to the human spirit. I write it to honor and remember those killed on 9/11, the people who gave their lives to protect and save others, all of their families and friends who were forced to go on living, and also the many, many people who are now facing similar heartbreaking realities. All of these stories deserve to be told. I hope to relay a few. 

The strength, courage, and sheer magnitude of the people I have witnessed in the wake of 9/11 and in my years of getting to meet people from countries such as Ukraine and Syria fortify my hope and belief in the ability of the human spirit to endure. The human spirit is a beautiful thing. It’s not always infrangible, but it can be. And often the key to this fortification — as many of the stories below demonstrate — is community.

Remembering the Resilience of Individuals during 9/11

“Courage was not always a matter of yes or no. Sometimes it came in degrees, like the cold; sometimes you were very brave up to a point and then beyond that point you were not so brave.”
— Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried 

The people outlined below displayed an overwhelming magnitude of courage. I’m sure they were terrified. But that didn’t stop the individuals below, and many more, from saving lives and stepping up at the darkest hour.

Rick Rescorla 

There is remarkable resilience from 9/11 witnessed on an individual level. British-born retired Army officer Rick Rescorla worked in the South Tower. He had previously worked at the North Tower when it was bombed in 1993. Rescorla had practiced safety drills for years with his co-workers and knew what to do during a time of sheer panic. 

Rescorla led nearly 2,700 of his employees to safety before the towers collapsed. To keep people calm, he sang the same songs he used to cheer up and unite his fellow soldiers in the Vietnam War. Rick was last seen on the 10th floor of the South Tower as he went upstairs to search for more people to save. 

Welles Crowther

One of the many heroes to emerge from the 9/11 attacks was Welles Crowther, a 24-year-old equities trader and volunteer firefighter who was on the 104th floor during the attacks. However, Crowther managed to carve out an escape route and make three round trips up and down the stairs to carry and lead survivors out of the building. At one point, he carried a woman on his shoulders down 17 flights. 

It took six months for Crowther’s body to be found. His parents continue to mourn his loss every day. “The first year I had so much physical pain it was doing physical damage to my body,” his mother Allison told NBC 4 New York in a 2023 interview. “The emotional pain. I just realized I had to steel up and put it someplace.” There is now a Welles Crowther charitable trust that grants scholarships in honor of the fallen hero who demonstrated outstanding bravery. 

Firefighters, Police Officers & Emergency Responders 

While most people were running for their lives, firefighters and other first responders descended the scene as they raced to the World Trade Center. Many were on scene when the towers collapsed, resulting in 343 FDNY responders being killed and lower Manhattan becoming sheathed in the massive cloud of ash and smoke that buried them. 

Firefighters, as well as other first responders, continued to put their lives at risk as they searched through rubble that burned for months to follow the collapse. This resulted in an estimated 11,000 current and former fire department workers suffering from illnesses related to the World Trade Center attacks, including around 3,500 with cancer according to the FDNY.

Remembering the Resilience of Groups during 9/11

Then there is the unity of groups of people. The 9/11 terrorist attacks demonstrated claimed 2,977 victims and caused thousands of injuries, long-term health effects (and related deaths), and countless pain. But humans are also capable of tremendous bravery, love, and unity.

Flight 93

One of the most defying examples of the power of groups is the remarkable bravery and resilience of the 40 passengers and crew members on board Flight 93. When the plane was hijacked by terrorists, some passengers learned of the Twin Tower attacks by placing phone calls to loved ones. 

The passengers and crew then took a vote and chose to fight back. Their unification caused them to crash their plane in a reclaimed strip mine instead of its intended target — the Nation’s Capital. All lives onboard Flight 93 were lost in this selfless act of sacrifice, including flight attendant Sarah Bradshaw who boiled water to throw at the hijackers, and others who fought back with cutlery and fire extinguishers. 

Gander, Newfoundland Occupants 

As the towers fell on September 11, all planes flying over the United States were forced to land as soon as they could. This led to 38 large airlines having to ground their flights at a small airport in Ganger, Newfoundland, Canada. 

The people of Gander and surrounding towns cared for the nearly 7,000 passengers and crew members from roughly 100 countries. Passengers were hosted in homes and offered food, clothing, and phone calls to their families. The people of Gander asked for nothing in return. 

New Yorkers United

As I will soon demonstrate, New York City was absolutely devastated by the World Trade Center attacks. But it was not destroyed. I hope the next and final story demonstrates the fortification of community and the willpower of people who will continue to persevere. 

New York Strong: My Father’s Story on September 11, 2001 

Here is a story that doesn’t hit close to home — it comes from home. 

On September 11, 2001, I was a second-grade student at Franklin Elementary School in Westfield, New Jersey. The terrorist attacks shattered my sense of safety, comfort, and childlike rationality. But this is not my story. It belongs to many people, and one of them is my father.

Anthony Polini was born in Queens, New York. His blood flows with pride for the New York Yankees, Mets, Giants, and Jets — an almost cardinal offense to his fellow native New Yorkers. But my father, despite retiring to Texas in 2016, embraces all symbols of New York pride.

In September 2001, my father held the title of Wall Street equity analyst. He worked in downtown Manhattan in One Financial Center, the building next door to the famous Twin Towers, which for many stood as a proud symbol of progress, industry, and international advancement.

“Almost every day I’d be there for some reason,” he told me about the World Trade Center buildings when I interviewed him about his experience back in 2017 for a newspaper article.

In fact, on September 11, 2001, he was scheduled to have lunch with a client at the Windows of the World, a venue complex located on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower, also known as Building One — the tower that would be struck at 8:45 a.m. that day, 18 minutes before the South Tower would be hit as thousands of commuters arrived at what at first seemed like a normal Tuesday at the office.

But my father, who usually caught the 5:30 train and arrived at work by 7:00, never anticipated making that lunch. The morning before, his client had called and requested the lunch be held that day. My father agreed without hesitation, entertaining his client in what was once known as New York City’s tallest building. With no way to realize it at the time, my father would become one of the countless stories I have heard in the years to come of people escaping an unthinkable fate due to luck, chance, or sheer coincidence.

“I remember that Monday when I was going to lunch, thinking just how cool it was to be there,” my father told me as he recalled the World Trade Centers with a mix of respect and awe. The Towers, my father said, were alive with shops, people, professionals, and tourists alike. “It was really a very cool place to be visiting on a regular basis.”

My father remembered stopping by a friend’s office in the South Tower that Monday after lunch. The office building was close to the top; less than 24 hours later, the majority of the people on that floor would lose their lives.

When the first Tower was struck, my father’s friend and his colleagues were instructed to remain where they were and not leave the building. Luckily he and several of his fellow workers decided to ignore orders and flee the building — a decision that saved their lives. At 9:03 a.m. on September 11, the South Tower would be struck beneath where the people worked, making escape an impossibility.

My father was one of the lucky ones.

“It was a nice day that morning, the weather was nice, and I decided to stay home and go to church,” my father said about the morning of September 11, 2001, as he told me how my mom had shared with him about a special speaker coming to church.

My parents were at St. Helen’s Church when somebody announced a plane had crashed into one of the Trade Centers and everyone needed to pray.

“Everyone assumed it was a small private plane that occasionally hit things in Manhattan. No one assumed anything more than that,” my father said. “When we went home, we watched the TV, and we actually saw the second plane go in, and we realized that the first plane was a commercial jet … and then we started to appreciate the severity of the event.”

My father said the attacks were life-changing, as they altered many American’s views on the world — and their place in it. “People in the U.S. always felt safe and somehow isolated from the terrorism that was sweeping across Europe, and this was the first attack by foreign terrorists on our soil,” he said.

It was difficult to contact people at work. Shutdown cell reception and mass chaos made it a nightmare to determine who was living and who was among the dead. My father managed to connect to his partner, who did go to work that day and was trying to get off the island amongst traffic and confusion.

“One of my best friends was in the Trade Center. I couldn’t get a hold of him. And it turned out he escaped,” my father said. Another friend missed the train to work that day and, like my father, was also spared due to luck.

But in the days to follow, my father learned that nearly 100 people he knew well had passed away, including 2 very close friends and over 60 colleagues from a single firm. In the following weeks, he experienced anxiety and tension when riding in the tunnels to get to work, a sentiment that he said all New Yorker commuters seemed to share.

“The destruction and chaos downtown was incredible. Nothing was open, there was still dust and debris everywhere, you couldn’t get close,” he said, adding that he watched the debris slowly get cleared out. “I watched the Trade Center basically get ripped down to nothing but a giant hole. And it was very eerie.

But this isn’t where the story ends. 

The Resilience of Communities After 9/11

“It is really wonderful how much resilience there is in human nature. Let any obstructing cause, no matter what, be removed in any way, even by death, and we fly back to first principles of hope and enjoyment.” 
― Bram Stoker, Dracula

“The biggest loss that day was the loss of innocence as a country. The rebuilding process was long and hard, but New Yorkers united,” my father told me when speaking about the attacks. 

Ten days after the terrorist attacks, major league baseball resumed play in New York. My father took my older brother to the first Mets game at Shea Stadium (now Citi Field), where the field was flooded with the valiant first responders of New York City, including the police and firemen who had selflessly risked their lives in the aftermath and were lucky enough to have survived. Beloved catcher Mike Piazza hit a home run, bringing the Mets to a comeback victory, and Diana Ross sang “God Bless America.”

“New Yorkers were not going to give in to terrorism and were going to live their lives with dignity and freedom,” my father said.

Rebuilding after 9/11 was no easy feat, but over the years, Ground Zero was transformed from a barren and bleak reminder of terrorism to a site of remembrance and strength. In 2017, I corresponded with a fellow graduate of Westfield High, who was working as a Special Exhibitions Researcher at the time. She was gracious enough to take a moment to share the importance of the museum and remember the attacks.

“There are so many extraordinary and inspiring stories from 9/11, and I encourage anyone who can visit the Museum, or our website, to explore them,” she wrote to me at the time, elaborating on how the terrorist attacks shaped her world view and what “never forget” means to her.

“One of the most poignant lessons I’ve learned in my work is that living and growing up in what has been called a ‘post-9/11 world’ means that there was a ‘pre-9/11 world’ before the attacks. A sentiment that feels obvious, but being eight at the time of the attacks has made me accept what is dubbed ‘post-9/11’ as normal.

“I grew up in New Jersey, and remember the day very clearly, but even so, I’ve never really known a world in which I don’t have to have my bag searched at a baseball game or go through strict airport security. 9/11 changed everything about our nation’s foreign policy, the threats we face, the skills of our military, and our overall approach to public security.

“It also means that there once existed a world where nearly 3,000 people lived alongside their family, friends, and coworkers, celebrating birthdays, graduations, weddings, anniversaries and enduring losses, struggles, and hardships. Each was a rich, fruitful life that was taken 16 years ago.

“Sometimes it feels like the imagery of the Twin Towers falling or the crash sites at the Pentagon and near Shakesville can eliminate the personal losses of that day. I am routinely reminded of how personal the attacks were for family and friends through my work, and I am thankful for the opportunity to share in commemorating their lives and hearing their stories.

“‘Never forget’ means remembering how they died, but equally importantly, celebrating how they lived. For survivors and families and friends of victims, 9/11 is not something they have the benefit of memorializing only once a year; to them, it is daily. At the Museum, we remember 9/11 so that each individual’s memory is preserved.”

Unfortunately, we live in a world experiencing so many mass casualties that people sometimes find it callous to stop and grieve deaths of the past. But, as my former classmate so beautifully put it, refusing to forget tragedies respects and honors the dead while also celebrating their lost lives. 

Many people were killed during the terrorist attacks. I’m sure so many of them would have gone on to achieve great things. Even if they weren’t planning to, they deserved to live. Their lives matter, and to many, they continue to matter. 

New York bounced back from 9/11 and showed the very fangs of its community, the very pulse of its heart. And the people around me continue to demonstrate the same unwavering strength, courage, sacrifice, and resilience as they lose everything from homes to loved ones to entire countries due to violence. 

I look to the resilience in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks and hope we can continue to achieve such unity in our communities and embrace the power of shared strength without the need for terror to precede it. We live in troubling, divisive, and polarizing times. But many human beings continue to defy hatred with courage, sacrifice, resilience, bravery, and love. 

Main article image taken by Ramil Ugot.

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