Final Words

The picture to the left is an older picture of Kevin Cosgrove and his three children, some time before the 9/11 attacks.

Cosgrove was the Vice-President for Aon Corporation (a reinsurance and management consulting firm) and lived with his wife and three children in Long Island.

Cosgrove is most famously noted for his 9-1-1 call during the attacks.

The full call.

You can hear the pain in his voice as he struggles with the operator, pleading for help to come. He mentions his young children and his wife, particularly about how he had just gotten off the phone with his wife saying that he was leaving the building and he was perfectly fine. He mentions repeatedly how "[he's] not ready to die."

His last words ended in a scream as the tower collapsed and the call died.

"Hello. We're looking in ... We're overlooking the Financial Center. Three of us. Two broken windows. Oh God. Oh ... "

Transcript.

This picture represents 9/11 because it presents a whole family before it was torn apart, like many other families. His family, years after the attack, are unable to move on. His son has now degraded into anger and violence and his daughter is undergoing therapy for her self-mutilation that resulted from the attack.

Being exposed to this as an innocent 10-year-old, I was almost completely unaware of the significance of the attacks. I was in school at the time. I knew that something had gone terribly wrong. We all did. You could feel it in the air: the cautious silence, uneasiness and fear. There was silence as my teacher answered the phone that morning and a heavier silence as another teacher wheeled in a television set not five minutes later. Plugged in, set to the news, and we watched, not fully understanding, but knowing that there is something out in the world greater than you. We were sent home early that day and I briefly remember seeing my grandmother sitting in her chair with the news flashing on tv, but there is where my flashbulb memory fades and I continue on with normal life.

I didn't know any of the victims' names. I didn't know many specifics. I didn't know specific details even years later, because I never thought to think about it. I just went on, not fully understanding. Then finally, I took the time, hours upon hours of research on terrorist attacks, 9-1-1 calls, the towers and victims to finally understand the pain and torture that the living victims, the families and friends of the deceased, had to go through while I was still sitting at home, completely ignorant and continuing on with my life as if nothing had happened. I regret not being knowledgeable sooner, as I regret not being older during the attacks, so I could properly mourn with the families over this horrible tragedy.

Brittany Clark