Episode 498
Remembering 9/11: Going The Other Way
We're remembering September 11th, 25 years on — and the main point up front: while thousands were rushing down and out of the World Trade Center, firefighters and first responders deliberately went the other way into the danger. I keep coming back to that image of crowds descending the stairwells and crews climbing up — it tells you a lot about who we are. Most people escaped — thousands survived — but 343 members of the FDNY were killed, and they weren't just a number; they had families, plans, lives. We talk about how that day showed humanity at its worst and, almost immediately, its absolute best: strangers helping strangers. So we're honoring the loss and remembering the courage of folks who ran toward the crisis — no sappy speeches, just honest respect.
Takeaways:
- I remind listeners, real talk, that amid horror thousands survived by following instructions and helping each other.
- We reflect on firefighters and first responders who knew the danger and still climbed toward it to help strangers.
- I hate reducing 343 members of the Fire Department to a number; they were people with families, plans, and lives.
- We remember that while September 11th exposed humanity's worst, it also revealed extraordinary compassion and selflessness immediately after.
- I keep thinking about the image of people going down stairs while firefighters literally went up into danger.
- We should hold both the grief for those lost and the gratitude for those who acted bravely each September 11th.
- I want us to remember survivors' stories: thousands evacuated, coworkers helped one another, and first responders kept moving toward harm.
Transcript
Good morning.
Speaker A:It's Haystack, and we're remembering September 11th this morning, of course, 25 years after the attacks.
Speaker A:And there's an image from that day that I've always thought said something very important about people.
Speaker A:As thousands were trying to get out of the World Trade center, firefighters were going in.
Speaker A:At 8:46am Eastern that morning, the North Tower was struck, and within seconds, New York police and firefighters were being dispatched and Port Authority officers were beginning an evacuation.
Speaker A:Think about what that means.
Speaker A:Everybody coming down those stairs knew that something terrible had happened above them.
Speaker A:The firefighters passing them on those same stairs knew that, too.
Speaker A:One group was trying to get down, the other was deliberately climbing up.
Speaker A:There were somewhere between 16 and 18,000 people in the World Trade center complex when the attacks occurred, and the vast majority of them got out.
Speaker A:It's an extraordinary part of the September 11th story, and it sometimes gets lost because of the enormous loss of life that morning.
Speaker A:Thousands and thousands of people survived.
Speaker A:They evacuated offices, they came down stairwells.
Speaker A:They helped co workers.
Speaker A:They followed the directions of the police, the firefighters, and the Port Authority officers and first responders continued going towards the danger.
Speaker A:343 Members of the New York City Fire Department were killed on September 11th.
Speaker A:And I don't particularly like reducing them to the number 343 because they weren't a number.
Speaker A:They were people.
Speaker A:They had spouses and children and parents.
Speaker A:They had co workers.
Speaker A:They had plans for that evening.
Speaker A:They expected to be there on September 12th.
Speaker A:And yet when something unimaginable happened, their job was to go toward it.
Speaker A:We use the word hero so casually now that sometimes I wonder if we've worn it out.
Speaker A:But there really were people that morning who were frightened, who understood the danger, and who went up those stairs anyway because somebody they had never met might need them 25 years later.
Speaker A:I think that's worth remembering.
Speaker A:Alongside everything that was taken from us that day.
Speaker A:September 11th showed us humanity at its absolute worst, but in the response almost immediately showed us something about humanity at its absolute best.
Speaker A:People helping people, strangers helping strangers.
Speaker A:And while thousands desperately tried to get out, there were people going the other way.
