♪ change is coming ♪ ♪ hold on, everything ♪ ♪ will be all right ♪ tonight the attack that stunned the nation. caught on camera -- >> we got to get everybody out. >> inside world trade center. >> the second one hit the other tower as the first tower fell.

the day we'll never forget. 9/11. ♪ i for some, september 11, 2001 seems a long time ago, for others, it is just like yesterday. the attack that happened on this sunny day is near in our mind. the entire nation gasp when the twin towers reached high in the sky were brought crashing down when two high-jet liners flew directly through them. here are the names of the 3,000 innocent looives that were lost that day including 343 of new

york's bravest. cnn is honored to bring you 9/11, a documentary of a rookie new york fireman in d downtown manhattan. >> their film was transformed into a gripping minute by minute, eye witness account of first responders who rushed to the scene and tried to save people while the towers burned and fell. >> the brothers kept their cameras rolling and capturing historic's footage of new york's real life heroes. the area that became known as ground zero.

♪ >> when you work in the fire house seven blocks from the two tallest buildings in new york, you get to know every step, every staircase and every story. i am jim chanlin, i am a film maker and new york firefighter downtown. >> during the summer before 9/11, there were days we go to the trade center five times in a single shift. my point is, we knew those towers as well as anybody.

but nobody, nobody expected september 11th . >> on that day, guys from our fire house, my best friends were some of the first firefighters in the tower one after the plane hits -- what they did that day.

what everyone did was remarkable. almost as remarkable, it was captured on video tape inside the tower, beginning to end. tonight you will see all of it. the tape was shot by two brothers. jewels and gideon o'day, they are documentary makers and old friends of mine. >> that day we chosen to be the

witness. >> the strange thing is, the tape, the whole story it kind of happened by accident. >> we didn't mean to make a documentary about 9/11. >> we want to make a documentary about firefighters. that's how the whole thing got started. >> more to the point, the plan was to follow a rookie. on the job, we call him probies. >> the idea to show how our kids become a man in nine months. >> i was a police officer. for a while i was a pizza man. this is my first job. >> it sounds kind of cheesy and

i kind of want to be a hero. this is the only thing you can do to be that. >> a whole lot of company engine seven. >> there are guys who fought some of the worst fires you could imagined. >> what's the matter? >> soon, they face the unthinkable. question was -- would tony be ready? >> i am terrified. >> this is what i wanted to do but it is scary. i am still worried about how i am going to react when they fire one over my head. >> when you are a pro-by, what you have to do is pretty much everything. >>. >> more news coming up.

i think i am doing decently. i am still waiting for a fire, that's all. >> engine, liadder! >> should we grab that long thing from the back, too? >> tony was nervous, of course. >> as the days past, tony walting for his first power. wanting to prover to the other guys that he was going to be a

real, great father. it is all part of learning how to handle people and situation. >> i will say you got up there now and you got your helmet on and gears, you got to get your mask on, how are you going to do that? >> stop moving guys. how are you? >> not bad. >> for two weeks i got $262.25 cents. >> if i want to get rich, i would become a lawyer. but, i wanted something i would be able to liver with for the rest of my life.

>> this i can giver with. >> you need to wake up and - >> you do your job, you risk your life to help people. and to be apart of a family at the fire house. ♪ [ app it has been four or five weeks. >> i am still not fine, probably when i am acleep. >> two trains in the morning, bra. bro. >> when the alarm goes off, we are coming to get you.

[ sirens ] >> it is going to be a fun 20 years. >> by the end of august, we knew we had to a great cooking show. and the 105 -- every time we would talk to these senior guys, well, be careful for what you wish for. >> ♪ >> yesterday, a 27-year-old

firefighter went to a job and he passed away. >> we'll go to his funeral on saturday -- what can you sa say? ♪ at the time we didn't think there could be anything worse than losing a single firefighter. looking back, we were all just kind of innocent spespecially

tony. >> when the coffins went past i was -- i was a little off. >> i don't know -- i hope it is my last one. ♪ >> there is a lot of things to think about. you have to be at the top of your game. that's what's going to keep you alive and give you the opportunity to help others. >> fire or no fire, tony learned a lot. sure he had a way to go but we

teach him. as far we knew, there were plenty of time. a few days later, jewel cooked a fre french dinner for the guys. at least he tried to. >> i decided to cook lego land. >> i think he cooked one. >> a couple more meals like this, we'll be able to share shirts. >> we stayed up late just telling jokes and busting jobs. >> this is the best part of the meat. >> even though the guys were making fun at us, we had a great time. we are getting accepted. >> we do great things. >> it was the night of september 10th, ♪

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♪ should be a beautiful day today, sunshine throughout, low humidity. the afternoon temperature about 80 degrees. >> it begun to sound like some sort of a cliche but really september 11th started out like every other day. i was off that day. 13 days from my fire house were on. >> around 8:30 -- >> i believe we got the run came in. >> i don't think anything of it.

all right, it is low on gas. >> joe was riding with the battalion chief. >> it was just another call, r riding with the battalion chief. >> we checked the area's meters. and it was kind of routine. >> it was 8:46 in the morning. >> that's when it stopped everyone resembling a normal day. >> holy -- >> holy --

>> right then in there i knew it. this was going to be the worst day of my life as a firefighter. >> go to the trade center. >> immediately i knew this was not an accident. >> oh my god. chief pfeiffer made the first initial report. >> looks like the plane aiming towards the building. >> when we are passing it, looking up, it is like the world just stopped. >> we have something that has happened here, planes with an awful lot of smoke. whatever occurred had just occurred within minutes.

we are trying to determine exactly what it is. >> as we went in front of the world trade, my mind tells me -- wow, this is bad, what do we do? what do we do for this? [ sirens ] the chief puts on his gear and i asked him, chief, can i come in with you. i want to come in with you. and he says yes, you stay with me. come in with me and never leave my sight. >> i go in and i hear screams and right to my right, there was two people on fire burning. i just didn't want to film it. no one should see this.

>> fpfeiffer was the first chie into the building. right away a guy from the port authority told them the damage is some where above the 78th floor. all he had to do was to look around. it was obvious something had happened right there in the lobby. >> you just saw that a lot of the windows blowing out. the lobby looked like the plane hit the lobby. >> later they figured out the fuelling jet fuel going straight down the elevator shaft. >> all the damage was done already, people were all over the place. >> so you knew it was going to be worse when we got upstairs. >> flames are shooting out, smoke is pouring out.

>> my main concern was -- we had 20,000 people above and we had to figure out a way to get them out. >> chief! >> as it turned out, we had no usable elevators. >> with the elevators out, there was only one way to get up there. walk. companies come in, you see them with a concerned look on their face. they're sent up.

>> firefighters in full gears carrying 60 something pounds of hoses of equipment, takes about a minute to climb the stairs. these guys are looking at 80 stories just to get there then they start working. >> i thought we were going to put the fire out. everyone seemed to be confident. i know i was. >> we basically looked at it and okay, we got 10 or 20 stories of fire, we'll deal with it, we'll get up there. we'll get to it. >> there are fire crews just screaming into this area from every conceivable direction. by this time, some of the top chiefs in the department have joined chief pfeiffer, running the command post sending guys

upstairs. one of the men went up is lieutenant kevin pfeiffer who's in charge of engine 33 and was the chief's brother. >> i just remember we both looked at each other -- and said a few words, but it was more than look. a real concern that this could be something tough. >> it is going to be a tough job v . it is going to be a long job. they'll put it out. that's what they do. >> the last time jewel seen his brother was an our ago at the fire house. as far as jewel's know, gideon following tony. >> for me, my brother is going up the stairs. >> it turns out, gideon was with

tony but tony is still at the fire house. >> new no, i was off duty. tries to th the phone. gideon took his camera and started walking down the trade center. he was sure his brother was inside and he wanted to get to him. >> what really stick in my mind is passing by people and feeling them and feeling their astonishment. i remember tilting the camera back and forth between the people and the tower in front of

me. [ continued sirens ] >> both towers had been hit by aircraft, both are in flames. >> there are black smoke coming from both of the towers. >> it is a horrific scene here. >> may day, may day! >> there were two planes. i saw the second one hit. >> they hit the other tower. the second plane hit and we had a lot of people. >> stay together.

>> the second plane. >> now the chiefs would have to set up a whole other operation over in tower two. >> when the second plane h hits - that's when we could see fear. >> both of them are on fire. >> we could see it in everybody's eyes. >> we heard boom! >> all the elevators are blocked out. >> it was crowded. people were coming down burnt.

>> upstairs in tower one, the guys from my fire house were now ten floors up and climbing. >> if we did talk, it was to the people coming down. trying to comfort them, it is all right, get out, stay calm. >> i found a woman in the staircase, her arm were all burnt. she was in there and shocked. i picked her up and i put her with a group of guys and i take her down and i knew we had to get out to help people. i knew we had to get up there to help people. people pretty much say why are y'all going up there? get out. >> their concern was to get everybody out. >> that was the key. get as many people out as

possible. >> most of the people in tower one came out above the lobby and then they would get out through another building. >> i want, i want to use lobby 7 as a triage. the chief did not want anybody going through the lobby door. first, because debris was falling outside and then -- it was people falling. >> you don't see it but you know where it is. you know every time you hear that crashing sound is a life, which is extinguished. it is not something you can get used to. >> and the sound was so loud. >> i remember looking up and how bad is it up there that the

be better option is to jump. >> the fbi is investigating a report of the planes high vaking of the world trade center towers this morning. >> piece os of the buildings an planes actually landed blocks away. gideon was walking with his camera when he found a chunk of the plane engine that crashed completely into tower two. this is evidence, you are kicking off. what's the matter with you. >> that's the closest gideon get to the trade secenter without a

firefighter. >> i decided the smartest thing to do is walk back to the fire house and find a way to get to jewels. >> we are getting words now, one of the two planes was hijacked after taking off from boston. >> two airplanes have crashed into the world trade secenter. an apparent terrorist attack. >> fire at the pentagon. >> i was just saying officials are calling this is an act of terrorism. clearly what it is. it is clearly not an accident. >> back at the fire house, yes, no collulue of what to do. >> the pentagon is on [ bleep ] fire, this is war. this is war. >> just by listening to h him -- freaking out and swearing and behaving like i have never seen him behaving. tony was expressing what we all

felt. >> tony just wanted to go there. >> in the lobby, the chief would try to run the largest rescue operation any of them had ever seen. >> i seen the entire -- >> everybody seen the attacks. everybody had seen the towers burning. >> i have seen the pentagon. >> for us, we didn't have a clue. on top of everything else, just talking to the guys in the stairwells was tough. >> the towers' communications had been knocked up by the

crash. that left fire department radio. >> you had seasonally you have hundreds and hundreds of firefighters that are radios. it is becoming more and more difficult. >> you have one guy who's trying to reach anyone in the elevators. and going through the list. anyone in this car. there is about 98 elevators in the world trade center. all of a sudden, the elevator opens up and you see people, not having a clue what's going on. because they have been stuck in

there since the first plane hits. we see the look on the firefighters. it was not fear, it was what's going on? many panicked a little bit. it made me panic. >> it was the first time i have seen the chaplin, he was in the lobby with us, i can tell he was praying.

>> you know father, he would at least make eye contact with you and give you a reassuring look. that was not occurring, almost like he knew this was not good . >> back at the fire house - off duty guys were starting to show up. >> we are just waiting right now. he just had one thing in his mind. to go there. that's when chief barrett arrives. >> larry burns joined the fire department in 1957. he retired in 1998, a battalion

chief. >> i could not wait, i had to get down there. they were my firefighters and my building and my city. >> get a flash flight. >> i remember him asking me to bring him some medical gloves. >> go grab a box of gloves. >> by the time i found them and rushed back, they were gone. >> what are we going to do? >> the retired chief were lost in the crowd, headed down to the trade center. i think at that point, the lobby was pretty empty. there were just a few of nus in the lobby and we were discussing tactics. some of the companies didn't

know what tower one was and tower two. we were just trying to help them out by writing on the desk and making it obvious to people. it was just before 10:00. a little over an hour since the first plane hit. firefighters from all over the city were inside those towers. hundreds of them. >> i remember filming chief pfeiffer and he's on the radio . . and water... full coverage.

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what happened? if you are just joining us this morning, you are in for a horrific of surprise. the scene here is one out of the movies you would see in hollywood.

people walking around with cell phones in tears, holding their head s and looking up and shakig their heads in disbelief. >> out on the streets. >> everyone knew what just happened. >> the south tower was gone. >> what the hell is going on? >> they saw it collapsed and ran. >> i waited and times slowed down and everything became pitch black. >> everybody's all right? >> yeah, i am okay. >> how is the way out of here. >> i realized i am not dead. >> yeah, i am right here.

let's turn on my flashlight on top of my camera. >> come on down this way. >> yeah, let's get out the way we came in. >> come on back, buddy. >> inside the trade center, all jewel and chief pfeiffer knew or anyone knew -- is that something had gone terribly wrong. >> you got a light? >> we got to get everybody out. >> i was pointing my light where ever they need it. >> right here. i remember seeing chief pfeiffer. >> evacuate the building.

>> he gave it right away. very calm and didn't wait. >> for him is a precaution. something wrong is happening. let's get everybody out. >> let's have a flashlight. >> from the tone of his voice, i knew it was no normal thing. i knew it was time to leave. >> i remember saying to the guy, we are on our own now. for the first time i looked at someone's eyes and saw fear, which you don't see with a firemen. it was such a long walk, 20, 70, 50, -- i was going down the stairs. i could not find them. telling them may day, evacuate the building. i know a lot of them did not take it serious. >> come on.

i was not consciously filming. i had the camera by my side and pointing the light where ever they need it, to actually help someone and i realized -- i saw the judge. >> he's lying at the base of the escalator where we were. i removed his white collar and i opened up his shirt -- i remember checking for his pulse and realized he's gone. >> all right, we got four guys. >> at the top of the escalator. after that, we had to figure out how to get out. oh boy -- we were -- >> if you go out this way, right

where we are now, people are still jumping and debris are still falling. it is too dangerous, you can't go out this way. >> the world trade center, too at hit. what is it an explosion. >> which way? >> can we get out here? >> chief pfeiffer tells the people carrying june, stdge. >> chief pfeiffer went to check one of the foot, if it was still standing, it would be their best way out.

>> did you hear what happened with the other tower? >> we saw. >> you saw the tower collapsed? >> looked like the whole thing. >> we'll head down >> i wonder for the first time if jules is still alive. i never thought about it before. >> it's a terrible, terrible day. >> i realized that jules could be dead at that very moment. i had to find jules. >> gedeon hitched a ride with three off-duty firemen determined to get to the trade center the only way they could. in a pickup truck.

>> everybody out. >> battalion 1 to division 1. >> we're walking and walking and walking. >> mayday. >> there are maydays being given. we start to figure out, okay, it's going to be worse than we think. because you cannot have that many maydays with all that dust and that noise. >> whoa. >> that's when i felt the danger for the first time. it was all around you. i mean, every single cell of your body is telling you, you

shouldn't be here. everything was radically different. this white powder everywhere. >> got masks. i want to go in. >> just a few people here and there. and this kind of silence. >> the ambulance is straight down. >> no word on casualties. >> the ambulance is straight down. >> but suffice it to say the loss of life presumably profound. >> ambulance is straight down. >> getting north, getting away from the world trade center as well as trying to find out where their families are. >> the south tower of the world trade center just minutes ago collapsed to the ground. only one tower is standing at this point. >> i have a direct line of sight

of what's left of the world trade center. the fire continues to burn. i can see the flames through the thick smoke. >> by this time, chief pfeiffer had found a safe exit. and tried to radio the men in the lobby. no answer. >> mayday. >> so i walked across the bridge back towards the trade center still trying to call on the radio and not getting through. >> the guys that were left there, they're not there anymore. >> they had already gone out another way. carrying the body of father michael judge down the street to st. peter's church. they laid his body on the altar. father mike's death certificate is number 00001.

the first official casualty of the attacks. the chief, his aide eddie fahey and jules walked outside underneath the foot bridge they just crossed and into a scene that none of them could even comprehend. >> and there's debris everywhere. there's dust covering the entire place. and we look, and the tower is here. so we say okay. probably something else. the tower is standing. the other one we can't see it but it's probably on the other side. and no one tells us. we have no clue.

so we walk north just trying to figure out what took place here, and then try to gain some control. it was just a sense that this wasn't a good place to stay. >> chief pfeiffer's priority was to set up a new command post and find his men. right now, they were coming down the stairs. >> at some point, i started to run. i don't even know if i was touching stairs on my way down. when i got about to three or two is when i started to think about my family. i said i've got to get out of here. >> when we reached the lobby, i joked about it. i said the command post was abandoned. the board was set up and nobody was there. i said, oh, this is not a good

sign. >> i knew there was nothing i could really do. i mean, i was not a fireman. but as a cameraman, yes, there was something i could do. it was to document what was happening. >> strange enough, the only thing that was my preoccupation was to clean my lens. >> jules was with chief pfeiffer who was plotting his next move. [ siren ] >> the firefighters from my house had reached the lobby and scattered. >> we were walking at this point. we knew we were out of the building. felt we were safe.

>> unfortunately, there were people jumping out of windows. you could see them hitting the ground all around you. debris hitting the ground. >> let's move. come on. >> basically, everybody was standing right in the shadow of tower 1. it was 10:28 in the morning. >> and this huge roar. and i don't even have time to think at that point. i just run . then i feel someone jumping on top of me, and then the dust .

>> mayday, mayday. >> at that point i realized i was going to die. >> we need help. >> and the only thing i could think about was jules. and i remember telling myself that if i would survive that i would be a better brother. >> let's go before the car blow

up. this way! >> and it's dead silence. nothing. no radio calls. no sound. nothing. and i feel a person who was on top of me get up. >> get out of here. >> you okay? >> yeah. >> and i recognize it's chief pfeiffer, and i realized he jumped on top of me to protect me from all of this. [ radio sound ]

chief pfeiffer says, okay, let's go now. we get up. the dust starts to clear because the wind is blowing in the opposite direction. after that, it was just trying to literally walk around the block and walk back to the scene and see what we could do. [ sirens ] >> this is the most surreal scene i have ever seen. i cannot describe what took place. >> it is a scene just not to be believed. the smoke still billowing. what we do have is a lockdown. you can't get in. you can't get out. you can't go up. you can't go down. >> i see that i'm still in the middle of the street, and i see there's a little deli seems to be open on the corner.

[ yelling ] a lot of people injured. firefighters, bloody nose, things like that. and then it hits me. where is my brother? [ coughing ] i start realizing that i've probably lost my brother. so i try to go back to the world trade center. i need to go find my brother. >> where are the guys? >> i have no idea. i was with chief pfeifer. i'm in the middle of the street walking. a cop approached me and says, who are you with? >> i'm with the chief of battalion one. >> oh, you're battalion one?

you have i.d.? take your letter and your camera and get out of here, all right? go. >> so i go back up, walk north, not really knowing where i'm going. >> police department? >> no, i'm making a documentary on the fire department. >> come on, this ain't disneyland. let's go. >> after a while i said there's nothing i can do here. i need to go back to the fire house. maybe they'll have some news. maybe he's already back there. at that point, i just -- i think he's dead. and it becomes too overwhelming. ♪

[ sirens ] >> it's not easy being a survivor. >> little by little, the guys started to come back, one by one. >> i can't explain why i'm here and there's so many dead. very emotional. a lot of guys are crying. so many thoughts and emotions.

>> we lucked out. we were in one. it fell first. they told us to get out. >> two fell first? >> yeah, two fell first. >> one didn't fall first? >> that's why they were getting us out. >> we got to call our loved ones and tell them we were okay. >> it was sick. we just got out. i got two blocks and i'm like, i'm still not far enough. >> you just needed to be with the guys, you know. >> i couldn't get back in. they wouldn't let me up. >> i was never so glad to see firemen in my life. it was a great thing to know that people were surviving this. >> i thought you guys were dead. >> you're not the only one. i thought i was dead. that was the scariest thing. >> it's like oh, my god, am i glad to see you. we were the lucky ones.

>> i don't think it's luck. it's a miracle that we're here. >> miracle isn't a word you hear much from firefighters, especially not on that day. but what else could you call it? one guy after another was making it back safe. >> two ambulances. >> i can't believe we all made it out. how did we make it out of that building? >> 30 seconds, another two flights higher. >> one guy from the fire house came to me, and i asked him, you know, have you seen jules? do you know where he is? he looked at me and said, yes, he's behind you.

i turn over, and jules was there in the fire house. i didn't even see him coming in. and it was like meeting for the first time. [ speaking foreign language ] >> i asked jules if he's all right. he tells me yes. he tells me that he was all that time in the lobby. >> i tell him i know now what it's like to think you're going to die. then i tell him i got the first plane and i filmed and do you have enough tape.

>> unbelievable. unbelievable. >> you okay? >> yeah. >> close? >> under. >> okay, good. >> it definitely was a miracle, you know. >> we were worried about you guys. we didn't know what happened to you guys. everybody's all right? everybody's accounted for? got everybody? everybody's accounted for? >> everybody come back one by one to the fire house, except one. >> did you see tony over there? >> we were all accounted for except for tony. everybody was wondering about tony.

>> there is not anything recognizable of what were the two trade towers. nothing standing out from those clouds of dust at this time. >> you guys were in the building? >> yeah. ♪ >> that day changed everything. >> you got fibers in there. you got fibers in there. >> when i came back that day to the fire house, one firefighter

came to me and he said, you know, yesterday you had one brother. today you have 50. [ crying ] >> it's hard to even describe the emotions in the fire house that day. >> you heard the ground rumble and debris was just chasing you. we were running, hauling ass. >> on the one hand, you're celebrating. >> very happy to be here. >> somehow the guys from our house, they got out. >> we lost so much in that two-hour period. >> how are you doing? all right? >> we felt like we got the hell kicked out of us.

>> i don't know what to do. go back down there or what? >> at the same time, we knew hundreds of firefighters, thousands of people had to have died in those towers. and every hour that passed, we were more certain tony benetatos was one of them. >> hey, guys. deputy chief hill called. first division. he doesn't want anybody else down there right now. >> but the truth is, the guys had to go back, had to start digging for survivors. >> i had to go back and find the kid. >> hold on. >> it's gone, man.

>> 7 came down? >> i got down there just as 7 world trade finally collapsed. no sign of tony anywhere. it had to be almost 6:00, nine hours after everything started, that tony just walked in. >> i walked in like in a daze. everyone's like, it's benetatos. you're all right. >> what's wrong with your hand? anything? >> no. >> you okay? >> yeah, i'm all right. >> what happened on your end? >> i was in the building. >> were you? >> yeah. >> is everyone from the house -- everyone? >> everyone is accounted for. >> i just asked, did everyone get back? and they were like, yeah.

that felt pretty good. >> i left here right after the first collapse. >> turns out tony had been with larry burns the whole time, the proby and the retired chief. they were right there when tower one came down. >> i checked all the rigs. there were rigs crushed. paramedic trucks covered with rubble, flipped, fires burning everywhere, huge fires. that whole day, i just searched through rubble, lifting things up, checking underneath. >> this is hard for him. just very hard. he's only been a firefighter for, you know, a couple of months. but he proved himself that day to all the guys.

>> there was so much we didn't know about that first day. who had attacked us, how, why. all we knew is nothing would ever be the same. >> just a short while ago, mayor giuliani held a news conference saying it's important not to lash out in anger because of the attacks. >> you all right? >> yeah, i'm all right. >> one of the things that sticks with me more than anything i saw as i sat down next to ted. he looked real bad. said tony, man, it was raining bodies. >> we were on the roof of the marriott. there was parts all over the fucking place. legs, feet. it was nasty. >> the man had been through hell. >> good evening. today our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom

came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. >> it's a very depressed, dismal, miserable mood. hundreds of firemen, thousands of civilians are gone. as much -- as quickly as you blow out a match, flip a switch, they're gone. that's it. those buildings came down. gone. >> it's hard to believe they're not there. they're not there. >> it did happen, right? it's not something that i'm going to close my eyes and open them again and i'm going to see the tower, right? it's not there. >> around midnight we sent tony

up to lower the flag to half-mast, again. >> there's going to be a lot of pain to deal with in the future. a lot of guys, we all lost friends and family. >> i don't want to ever have to put that thing at half-mast again for the rest of my career. that's it. >> until the recall ends, it's 24 on, 24 off, 24 on, 24 off. >> we got word we'd start digging in the morning. some of the guys with wives and kids went home, just for a few hours. they knew it might be days before they'd see their families again. >> my son was sleeping.

i picked him up and i put him in my bed. i wanted him to be with me. normally, i would take him out of my bed and put him in his own bed. but this night was the opposite. he didn't mind that. he actually had a big smile on his face. it was wonderful to see that smile again. >> probably the best, best entrance i ever made to a place. >> the kids came out, and we just kind of all cried in one big hug. it was -- we just cried. ♪

>> 3 1/2 in the middle -- >> came back to the fire house the next day. i couldn't wait to get back, actually, because i wanted to get down there. i figured, we're going to have plenty of people that are going to be trapped for sure. we're going to get them out. we have to. we always do. >> we're all alive. that's more than we could have possibly hoped for. so our job now is to go and do whatever needs to be done and do it as much and as hard as we can for as long as they'll let us. >> some of the guys took the city bus down to what the media was already calling ground zero. >> you guys get extra surngical gloves. you guys need to put them in your pockets. >> some firemen called it the pile. for us it was still the trade

center, even if it was gone. >> hey guys, you hear three horns, that means something might be coming down. keep your eyes open when you're walking around down there. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ >> i just realized something

that i always wanted to deny, is how evil evil can be. >> i need five firefighters. >> we went down there and formed up companies, five men and an officer. >> let's go. >> we went to work right away, trying to look for survivors. >> can i get some buckets back here? >> guys were digging fast, passing those buckets quick. digging frantically. >> bucket. >> watch your back, guys. >> we'd be digging, and all of a sudden everybody would say quiet. and the whole place would get quiet and people would look.

>> hello! >> then slowly they would go back to work and start again. and that's how things went down there. >> we'd clear what we could by hand. the iron workers would come in, cut the steal beams and lift them out. then we'd just start digging again. >> you have two 110-story office buildings. you don't find a desk. you don't find a chair. you don't find a telephone, a computer.

the biggest piece of a telephone i found was half of the keypad, and it was about this big. the building collapsed to dust. how are we supposed to find anybody in this? there's nothing left of the building. >> bucket! >> we found a body. it was a girl. she was dead. she was definitely dead. all her clothes had been burned off her. she looked to be pregnant. some people thought maybe she was just bloated, but i don't think so. she was encased in rubble. we had her about halfway uncovered and getting the body bag ready, and then they told us to run. and we ran. so i never got to see if they got her out.

it would have felt good saying at least i got one person out, one family will be able to have a decent funeral. >> quiet ! >> our first shift was 24 hours. and in all that time there was one person pulled out alive. one. it was beyond discouraging. it was even hard to understand. walking back to the fire house,

people were cheering us, but we sure didn't feel like heroes. >> every day total strangers were showing up with supplies. >> somebody said you could still use towels. that's the end of the towels. >> thank you very much. >> i know it's early in the operation here, but i just wanted to thank everyone for all the hard work they've been doing. how we're here, only god knows, but again, guys, thank you so much. i really -- you have no idea. [ applause ] >> check the lockers, bro. all the lockers. take whatever. >> listen, we tried to keep hope, but as days turned into weeks, we began to accept there just wasn't anybody to find.

>> hey, chief. >> yes, sir. >> we got another body over here. >> day after day, it pushed guys to their limit, maybe past it. >> a lot of guys don't know if they can do the job anymore. i know it's either this or the army now. and i like saving lives. i don't like taking them. but after what i saw, if my country decides to send me to go kill, i'll do it now. >> every night the fire department would put out a list of firefighters confirmed dead, and every night that list got longer. >> it is with regret that the

department announces the deaths of the following members. battalion chief john p. williamson. firefighter william herrett. firefighter eric t. allen. firefighter manuel rojica. firefighter -- >> we lost so many people, and everybody has lost dear friends, and not just one or two, but dozens. ♪ >> most days there was a memorial service for some guy you knew. some days two or three, some days four. ♪ one of those services was for kevin pfeifer, the chief's brother. he was last seen in the stairs

of tower one, directing guys to the fastest way out of the building. >> i would say that chief pfeifer's brother saved my life. saved a lot of lives. and i remember walking down west street just remembering saying, you know, how much my brother and i used to love being downtown and doing this job. and -- and -- and how now i didn't love it anymore. >> eventually, we started going on runs again.

>> feels good, though. >> and trying our best to love the job again. but things will never be the way they were. >> as for jules and gedeon, it's strange how things work out. in the beginning they came to me and said let's make a documentary about a boy becoming a man. during this nine-month probationary period. turns out tony became a man in about nine hours trying to help out on 9/11. >> you know how you could tell that? he's not bragging about it. >> do i feel like it's given me more of a sense of self-worth? yes.

has it made me a man? what's a man? >> i don't think it's so much the severity of an event that alters who you are. i think it's how you interpret it that changes who you are. >> we keep forgetting how many people were saved on that day. >> stay together. stay together. >> on 9/11, firefighters saved 20,000 people. >> to have that much respect for human life, i'm honored. sometimes i still don't think i'm worthy. but i am honored to be a fireman. ♪

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here in the 9/11 memorial museum the last column, as it's known, reminds visitors of the 343 members of the fdny who lost their lives. the largest loss of firefighters in this country's history. 9/11 was a day that defined the end of an era and the dawn of another, making us understand we are vulnerable as a nation. and ever since, we've been adjusting to our new normal. wars overseas, acts of terror at home and abroad, and an ever-present fear of where the next attack will come from. tonight we meet again some of the firefighters from the documentary who live the true meaning of heroism every day of their lives. >> the firefighters of engine 7 and ladder 1 have a new responsibility soaring over the neighborhood, the freedom tower, world trade center one.

the fire house on dewayne street is busier than ever. only a handful from 9/11 are still there. one of them is john mcconachey. >> the new guys that are coming on are just as good as the guys we had before. they're so eager to learn and work. now i'm one of the old guys in the fire house. there's nothing like getting on the rig, hauling down broadway with the lights and sirens. >> johnny mac, as he's called in the fire house, had been there for eight years on september 11th, 2001. >> it was just a terrible day, and it's tough being the hero. that's why i don't like that whole thing and whatever anybody says about that. we were there. we saw it firsthand. for me, the best thing i ever did was stay at the fire house and stay down there. i think that was my therapy. a lot of guys after 9/11 had a lot of trouble. drinking and depression and

post-traumatic stress. that's real. it's definitely real. we had a lot of support groups, but the only real support group for i think were the firemen were the other men. that's all. the fire house for me. >> all right, babe. have a good day. >> i'll call you. >> still that same fire house for steve rogers, too. >> the fire house is a big family. you have your family at home and your second family is the fire house. when something happens, guys gather together. everybody steps up and does the right thing. that's what a family does. >> and that's what steve did when he rushed into work on 9/11, his day off. >> i think truly 9/11 should be a national holiday. a lot of heroes that day. there were people that were doing extraordinary things. they should be remembered. >> driving to work for 31 years, the changing skyline has meaning for him. >> when i used to come over the bridge from staten island, come to work and look at the skyline,

you always see the trade center towers and everything. for a long time, there was nothing there. now actually it fills a void. it just makes you proud. we're not going to stand for it. >> dennis tardio retired in 2002. >> even if 9/11 never happened, it's a tough job to leave. there's no other job like it. the brotherhood, camaraderie. >> he says not a day goes by without remembering. >> when my head hits the pillow at night, i can see that plane hitting the tower. >> it's hard to believe they're not there. they're not there. >> that's etched in my mind and will always be there. >> the memories also used to haunt ron schmutzler. he was promoted to chief the year after 9/11 and asked for a transfer.

>> i felt like i wanted to leave because every day you'd be driving by the site. it was a reminder of my 343 guys. >> but the fdny had other plans for him. >> i thought for sure i'd be moved. and the chief of the department said, we lost so many guys in lower manhattan, i'm going to ask you to stay. stay for two years and help us out down there to rebuild. rebuild the fire department. get us back to where we were. so i did. and after the two years was up i stayed. and i became a battalion chief, and i watched the fire houses grow again. and it was like a breath of fresh air to see the young guys coming back into the fire house again. but it took years and years for us to rebuild and to get back to where we were. >> quite a view.

>> now you look at the entire landscape down here has changed so fast, so rapidly. the high-rises that are going up, one building's bigger than the next. seems like they can't build them big enough and they can't build them fast enough. we're looking at new ways of getting the firemen up faster to the fires. there's that many more people in the building to worry about. >> worrying about the public safety is also front and center for chris connor. he retired from the fdny and became a safety expert on construction sites. >> as my luck would have it, i was assigned to work back at the world trade center. i was back at the scene of the crime, so to speak, back in a place where i never wanted to go again. >> he spent seven of the last ten years within the 16-acre site. >> when i started to work there, it was still very much a hole in the ground. you had to literally walk down a ten-story ladder into the bottom of what we called the pit as firefighters.

eventually when the below-grade construction was completed and the buildings started to come out of the ground, for me that's when the magic happened. you really saw these beautiful, beautiful buildings. >> the first of five towers planned for the site opened in 2014, world trade center one. at 104 stories, 1,776 feet high, it's the tallest building in the united states with a bomb-resistant base, and like most new high rises, a concrete core. >> they've gone above and beyond the new york city building code, which is very strict. >> also now open, the marble transportation hub with its startling sculpture oculus. it took 12 years to complete and is the most expensive train station ever built. cost, $4 billion. safety for the rebuilt area, as

well as all of new york city, rests on the shoulders of fdny commissioner daniel nigro. >> since 9/11, buildings have become stronger, and the record of high-rise buildings is that they are safe. as the city continues to grow vertically, and that's happening at such a rapid pace, we hope we have the ability to keep up with it, but it is certainly taxing to our people. >> chief joseph pfeifer, who lost his brother kevin, a lieutenant in the fire department, has turned that personal trauma into purpose. >> the thoughts of my brother and losing him on 9/11 actually shifts a lot of my own thinking of how do we make it safer for our firefighters? >> he was the fdny's chief of counterterrorism and emergency

preparedness. he's invited to speak around the world and went to paris after the november attacks. >> let me tell you some of my nightmares. >> to share strategies with the french first responders. >> the thing we're worried about is a vertical threat, multiple floors. >> one of the things we need to prepare for is to deal with a terrorist attack on high-rise buildings. the use of automatic weapons and explosives and the use of fire as a weapon. >> the 9/11 firefighters who now make up the fdny's top brass talk about managing the next attack. >> terrorism is always on your mind today. so when this does happen again, i think we will be a little more prepared. >> prepared so that nothing resembling that devastating death toll, losing 343 in one day, ever happens again. >> there is such a thing as survivor's guilt. i would have to say most of us who made it out that day have

it. as somebody who was in charge that day, i probably have the biggest case in the department. but it's something one must learn to live with. >> new york firefighters are also learning to live with the physical toll working at ground zero took on so many of them. diagnosed with a variety of cancers linked to breathing in that 9/11 dust. in 2006 we talked to retired chief larry byrnes about the gathering storm of disease. >> there's something out there cooking in all of us, and i fear for what ten years are going to bring us. >> our beloved chief larry byrnes died from a 9/11-related cancer. the third from the dewayne street fire house.

now there are names inscribed at the fdny headquarters, firefighters who died from 9/11-related diseases. among them john sullivan, who died of pancreatic cancer. his son mike is a legacy kid. the fdny's term for the new generation related to firefighters who died in the line of duty 9/11. >> it's not the day he passed away, but it's the day that made him pass away. >> mike works in upper manhattan, ladder 34, the same fire house as his father and grandfather. >> what i like most about being on the job is, hands down, the family and where i am. seeing your guys in the house, they're so amazing. they're like my uncles and now are brothers. they've taught me a lot between cooking -- that's the big thing. you know, i was a hot pocket guy before.

now, watch out. i've spent my career at hook and ladder 34 because that's what i love. it's the most beautiful rig on the job. those tillers are -- you know, that's sexy right there. >> the fire house's street has been named for his father, john p. sullivan way. >> the only thing i can hope that one day is that i make an impact, that at the end of my career i can put my boots next to his. i don't want to fill his. i can never fill his. i'm too emotional to fill his. he's tough. tough box of nails, that guy. i'd do anything to have him back. you could have this job if it meant my father standing in front of me today. >> all legacy kids are special.

i think it says a lot about what's inside them. it most likely says a lot about their parents and how they lived their lives. >> it was after 9/11 when i knew that i have to make sure i get on this job. for me wanting to always be a firefighter, but for also me wanting to carry on my father's legacy. >> another legacy kid, josephine smith. her dad kevin was a hazmat specialist. her father rushed to the towers after the first plane hit. he never came home, and his body was never recovered. >> i'm always looking up at my dad. i'm like you're going to see, dad. i'm going to be a firefighter one day. i'm going to work with you. and he never said no. he never said, no, i don't want you being a firefighter. no, you can't be a firefighter. like, girls can't be firefighters. he never told me that. he would just smile. i always remember he would just look down at me and smile.

>> josephine is now on the job with more than 11,000 men. >> i'm small and petite, but i can still do the job. i want them to be able to trust me that i can have their back just as much as they can have my back. i don't think there's one guy in the house that doesn't believe i can do the job just as much as they can. my father is a hero. he's someone i look up to still every day. >> woodley joseph looks up to a hero, too, his brother. carl henry joseph. >> my brother being on the job was probably the number one reason why i probably became a firefighter. >> his rig was found at ground zero, crushed. no remains have ever been recovered. ridley finds solace visiting the 9/11 memorial. >> being on the site, trying to imagine like where he was, now

knowing i'm a firefighter and trying to imagine like how he felt that day. >> his brother's name is inscribed with all those who died at the reflecting pools next to the 9/11 memorial museum which opened in 2014. it holds a collection of more than 11,000 artifacts, including visceral reminders of all those firefighters who headed straight towards danger. a crushed fire truck we remembered seeing in the street that day. chief pfeifer's helmet is on display, as is gedeon naudet's camera. >> to see braveness, to see courage right in front of you for me has more of an imprint than the fear i experienced on that day. >> the naudet brothers were made honorary members of the fdny. they have continued to live in new york and still make documentaries together. >> this film for us is all about hope.

it's all about the best of humanity at a moment when the worst is there. >> i am now a director in hollywood. i go to work now and i direct television, and i go home at the end of the day. and when i lie in bed and my head hits the pillow, i'm like a and when i lie in bed and my head hits the pillow, i'm like a firefighter. >> and everyone always asks about tony benatatos, the proby from our film. >> now being a lieutenant, being in the fire department and being able to make a difference, it's the best -- best profession i could ever hope to have. >> he thinks he may have found the answer to the question, what makes a man? >> maybe getting up for work every day and then coming home

and reading to your children and doing the dishes and taking care of your family. maybe that's what defines a man. >> family is at the center of the lives of all these firefighters we've had the privilege of getting to know over these years. >> the chief's son, steven, is now a firefighter in manhattan. >> you know, i go to work and i go to fires, and you just do your job. you don't really think about the danger until my son got on. i think for the first time, i realized what my wife was going through for the last 30 years because i go off to work, and she's wondering if i'm coming home the next day. >> they all say the horrors they witnessed and the challenges they faced pale in comparison to the rewards of being on the job. >> every day is a great day in the fire department. but the danger is always there .

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tonight, the strength and beauty of this city is on display once again. from the top of the freedom tower, one world observatory, now standing tall where the twin towers once stood, a symbol of this nation's resolve, rebirth, and resilience. i'm dennis leary. thanks for watching and good night. ♪ oh danny boy ♪

♪ the pipes, the pipes are calling ♪ ♪ from glen to glen and down the mountainside ♪ ♪ the summer's gone and all the roses falling ♪ ♪ 'tis you, 'tis you must go, and i must bide ♪ ♪ but come ye back when summer's in the meadow ♪ ♪ or when the valley's hushed and white with snow ♪ ♪ 'tis i'll be here in sunshine or in shadow ♪ ♪ oh, danny boy, oh, danny boy ♪

♪ i love you so ♪ ♪ and when you come and all the flowers are dying ♪ ♪ and i am dead, as dead i well may be ♪ ♪ you'll come and find the place where i am lying ♪ ♪ and kneel and say an ave there for me ♪ ♪ and i will hear though soft

you tread above me ♪ ♪ and on my grave will warmer, sweeter be ♪ ♪ for you will bend and tell me that you love me ♪ ♪ and i shall sleep in peace until you come to me ♪

♪

hi. welcome to all of our viewers around the world. i'm robyn curnow live in atlanta. you're watching cnn. just ahead, flights resumed from kabul's airport as you can see here. that's one step towards a return to normal, allowing much-needed aid to arrive. and celebrations in the streets in guinea as the country's long-serving president was ousted in an apparent coup. and the paralympics come to a close while japan still struggles with