The Angels at Ground Zero: Stories America Can Never Forget

0:00The Rob Carson Show is presented by Paramount Plus. You don't need to live with aches and pains. Visit ReliefFactor.com today. Hold it now! Fires from Newsmax Studios in Washington, G.C. The most interesting, informative and funny show in America. On here at the World Wide Web, this is the Rob Carson Show. He said he's at the 10th floor at one World Trade Center. We'll be in the next one, so let's cross the windows.

1:28You know what? It never gets easier. I've never been so emotionally impacted by something 25 years later than I am by this. I loved my father. He died 30 years ago. And I do still think of him often. But this moment, this loss, was so profound for all of us. And I found myself the last couple of days just like it happened yesterday. It's an odd feeling. And it's just remarkable. And the wound isn't healed yet. It's remarkable how long it's taking. Mary Walter, by the way, Mary Walter Radio. We moved your segment a little bit today because I know you have a lot of connections to what happened on 9-11. Let me ask you, just personally, how are you feeling?

2:29How is this 25th anniversary? How is it feeling to you? And then I'd like to hear what you were doing on 9-11. Hey Rob, thanks for having me. Honestly, maybe I'm like, Howard, I can't watch it. Does it connect from it? I can't. I just don't. I don't need to. I know. Yeah. And we went to ground zero. I want to say in September, probably like November, we went down there. And you know, it was still dusty and we were watching them take the steel beams out and stuff. And even then, you know, like two months later, there's people crying watching all of this happening, watching the cleanup and everything. It was just so powerful. But I have no need. Friends of ours came from England and then we went into New York and they wanted to go to ground zero. And I'm like, have at it. I can't go. I can't do it. I've never been able to watch. I've never been able to watch the flight 93 movie. There's no way. I will never. I will never watch that movie. It's just too much to know that what happened there, the bravery that happened that day.

3:37So I can't. I can't do that. And I have to limit. There's a song that I play every, well, every 10 years now, that features a little girl. Talked about her daddy and then now 25 years later as an adult. And it's the same person during this song, growing out without her father. Geez. Yeah. So let's talk about your connection. Your uncle was in the lobby of the South Tower when the North Tower fell. Yeah. Well, the set. He was in the North Tower when the staff tower fell first. And it's actually my father's first cousin. We always call them uncle, but he was very involved in maintaining the building and work for the port authority. And so his office was there because they maintained the two buildings. And I'll make a long story short because I can also talk to you about the boat rescue as well. Yes. Yes.

4:37But I'll make a long story short. But so he was and when the first tower was hit, when he, I mean, he went down the lobby because he was in charge of command. So when the MIPD came in and the fire department came in, he was there. He was part of that command there. And when the first, when the South Tower fell, you know, the impact of that blue everyone across the lobby. Yeah. Like, I'm going to blow it across the lobby now. I'm going to tell you and this is terrible. But when he was standing in the lobby of the North Tower, they could hear and see the body. You know, people who were even pushed out the window jumping, whatever, you know, and but he will tell you and this was so powerful. And he is dead serious when he says that he doesn't care what anybody thinks he said, I saw angels out there. I saw angels with the people. Really? Really? Wow. And he is dead serious about it. And he'll tell you don't care. He'll tell what anybody's reaction to that is. That is he said, I know what I saw. But long story short, it's really comforting.

5:39It's really comforting, Mary. Because he knew the construction of the building. Yeah. And he was saved because the firefighter was blown across and landed on top of him with all of his protective gear. And so they all survived. He was able to get everyone out because they couldn't go out the regular ways that he was able to get them out through other corridors, etc. And they got out long story short. He gets to a battery park. He gets down to the where the boat rescues were happening. He said he doesn't remember getting on a boat, but he got on a boat. He gets off the boat. It doesn't really is. He just wandered into a bar where everybody's watching this on TV. And he just asked for a glass of water. He said everyone was staring at me because they didn't realize he was just covered head still. Yeah. And they took it to hospital. He was fine. I mean, it's great. It's American. He was physically okay. Yeah. You also had friends who helped with the boat evacuation. Right. So what people realize, and it's starting to get some traction now. Tom Hanks actually narrated a very short, like 13-minute documentary on the evacuation of the island of Midhutton.

6:45And they estimated that they rescued 500,000 people in nine hours. Awesome. I went bigger than Dunkirk. And what they did, they put out one call. The Coast Guard put out one call. Now I live at the Jersey Shore. I'm actually east of Midhutton. We're actually east. But 16 miles is the crow fly. So that night, you know, we smelled the burning. We smelled all the smoke. Everything. We had it. But one call went out, but it went around by word of mouth. So a couple of our neighbors took their boats and went to Lower Manhattan. Wow. And it was amazing. If you watch this documentary, a highly recommended thing is called boat lift. It's amazing. It's like 13 minutes long and short. They focus on the people who had the big boats and everything like that. But there were people with all size boats. And that's how my uncle got off. Did your uncle, the battery, the battery, parks, she also was on a boat. Did your uncle suffer any ill effects from ground zero? Not that we know of.

7:45Okay. Sister-in-law brother was a police officer. He was in the Bronx and he went down. He and his partner and long story short, they're two. They both survived by seeking shelter in one of the magazine things. The big metal magazine, the big metal magazine, the big metal magazine and stuff. Yeah. They broke in one of those and they survived the collapse of the towers because of that. Unbelievable. But he mentally, like people don't talk about this, you know, they had a calm. They have the NYPD is fantastic and they send someone to your home when something's happened. And he had people who came. But they took his firearms from him. They took his, you know, arms because he was not doing well. Yeah. And most of the short, he lost it. Like he broke with the family. He thought everybody was out to get him. He was supposed to get some kind of a reward because he saved his partner. He wouldn't come back and said they're just going to try to make me go back to work. Like people don't talk about that and nobody even knows where he is now.

8:45Like he just... Oh my god. Yeah. It totally broke him. So, you know, I mean, think about this. You had 350 plus firefighters. Many of them knew they were going to die. Well, I don't think they knew when they were first going in. I don't believe it. No, not the first, but there were many afterwards who knew that they probably weren't coming out. Yes, maybe. But could you imagine how many though? I mean, fire companies losing almost all of their members. What a tremendous loss in your life to have dozens of friends die on the same day. Did you know anyone who passed that day? There was one guy in our town who did. I know more people who were supposed to be there because I'm freaking out all day because I know so many people who commute into the city including my brothers. But for whatever reason, they either relate or they didn't go. Oh, no. And that's why now I always say like if I'm hitting like the red light in the training, I'm interroshing like, okay, maybe this is saving me from something God's putting these obstacles in my path.

9:49And I've been that way ever since that day. I will tell you the road that I live on goes straight up to Sandy Hook. And it was amazing. They got the Jersey barriers. So any cross streets were just blocked off immediately. My husband was told his office because he is a pulmonologist, which is what you need. And an ICU doctor. All of the doctor's offices were shut down. They were all called into the hospital. And he was there. I want to say until eight o'clock at night and all day we had nothing but fire trucks and rescue squad trucks from all over just heading north to get to the water because bringing the boats and decontaminating people and things like that. And then of course setting equipment. We used to our fire department and went and everybody went. But my husband came home that night and I said to him, I said, you know, how did you do that? Because they beat everybody out of your hospital. I don't know. They canceled all the surgeries. If you could walk this, set you home. Because that's the emergency protocol for a lot of casualties.

10:49And he came home and said, you didn't have one no one survived. Oh my God. And he was just got it. He said, you were all just sitting there waiting. I remember that. I remember that. I remember that. I remember that. There weren't. It was silence at ground zero. It was. It was. It was. It was unbelievable. Mary, your perspective today is so valuable. And. You're. You're sharing of the angel story. The sharing of the angel story means a lot to all of us. It means a lot to me right now. But it means what you've shared with everyone means so much. Thank you for sharing that. Absolutely. And that's the one thing that he made sure to tell everyone. Yes. I know that when those bodies were falling when people were dying out there, he said he's done nothing but angels with them.

11:50Wow. So they're real. And this is not a guy. I believe he's going to make, you know, embellish or make stuff up like that. He was dead. He was dead. Because I heard the story not long after in October. In October. And, you know, dead serious. I really wanted to tell that part of the story. You've done a lot today, Mary. Thank you so much for being on the show today. I really appreciate you. I appreciate you as a friend. I appreciate you as a coworker colleague. And thank you for sharing your stories today. I really appreciate it. God bless you. Well, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity. It really means a lot. God bless you as well. And to everybody today, it should bring us closer or not to our other part. Amen. Thanks, Mary. We'll talk soon. Sega break and come back. This is the Rob Carson Show. The Rob Carson Show is presented by Paramount Plus.

12:51On September 18th, prepare for Uncivil War. Mobland, the hit crime series from the underworld of Guy Richie, returns to Paramount Plus. The Herrogans are back. And their empire is spiraling into chaos from the inside out. As power plays, fractured loyalties and reckless decisions collide. Their fixer, Harry, is left to clean up the fallout. Don't miss Mobland, starting Tom Hardy, Pears Brosd. and Helen Mirren, let Chaos reign September 18th on Paramount Plus. It is Rob Carson Show. And it is the 25th anniversary of 9-11. And I mentioned earlier that I did some calculating about how many days it's been since 9-11. And I was mistaken, actually. 365 times 25 is 9,125.

13:55Someone told me there were leap days involved there, so it's actually like 9,131. But I am sticking by my original 1-9125. I think it's interesting. It's hard to believe that the emotions can be as raw. I never thought it was possible. I never thought it was possible. Generally, you know, when we mourn, we heal. You know, my mother died in 2018. No, 21, 2021. I miss her every day. I miss her every day. I think of her every day. I miss her conversation. Her amazing wit. I wish I would have taken advantage of it even more. But, you know, when I go to her graveside, I mourn. And my father is very next to her, and I mourn. And there's still a hollowness there.

14:56But 9,111, it's still raw. It's still just raw. And I'm not sure. Obviously, it's empathy because we could have been there. And I'm there there, but by the grace of God and go, I. But we realize the depths of cruelty, man is willing to, the acts of cruelty, man is willing to commit. Now, of course, we've seen the Holocaust. And of course, they know of the centuries, obviously, through the dictatorial regimes, Stalin, Mao, you know, Hitler, all, all socialists and communist, by the way, all leftist. They have committed tremendous acts of horror. They've, they've teeming and square was maybe 10,000 students killed. That day, October the 7th, the same people who danced in the streets on 9,11, either committed the act of raiding Israel or celebrated it.

16:00So it is a deep and resounding evil that still exists and must be extinguished. It's time to extinguish radical Islam. It's time to drive it from our shores. Here is a one of the readers at the 9,11 Memorial in New York City today. And my aunt, Lisa Marie Terry, for 25 years, the deep state has hidden the truth about what happened that day 25 years ago. President Trump, you're our last hope. Release the unredacted files that implicate Saudi Arabia, while what's left of the victim's families are still alive to see it. We've heard that numerous times today. I remember in 2001, I said that Saudi Arabia's number one export was terrorism. Because so many of the terrorists were Saudis. They always something, don't you? They know it's at least an explanation, at least an explanation. I want to play a couple of sound clips. One that was quite profound, not related to 9,11.

17:01It was last night, RFK Jr. delivered what I considered to be a historic speech. I mean, it was, I set their slack-jawed and watched the speech. I posted on my rumble channel at Rob Carson's show in its entirety. I think he did at 25-minute speech. And I wanted you to hear him. And what the Democrat Party has become and what it used to be. These are unbelievable words. Democrats condemned Maritok. I'm, the Democrats condemned Maritok, we're seeing openly and celebrated mediocrity. The Democratic Party became the party of elites, labeling working Americans as deplorables. Democrats cultivated deep ties with big farm-up, big tech, big ag, big food, big insurance, and the mainstream media. They embraced policies that divided Americans along racial lives.

18:04They abolished my uncle's physical fitness test because they said that competition was bad for children. The Democrats abandoned all of these values and all of their traditional values, offering Americans only one policy. The one policy that they stood for, the unbridled sociopathic and blind hatred of a single man Donald J. Trump. And they were so confident that Trump hatred alone was sufficient to win elections if they abandoned accountability and made our government a predatory organism of monumental incompetence and corruption. Wow. Wow. The Democrats dismantled the public,

19:08say, public integrity safeguards and opened the floodgates to thieves and fraudsters who fleeced the American medical regulatory agencies for $100 billion annually during every year of the Biden administration. They somehow lost the world. They lost 360,000 children. And they turned our federal government into the biggest child trafficking operation in world history. Sickly. The Democratic Party ensured it lost its way. I'm one of the fact. And neither my father nor my uncle would recognize the Democratic Party of today. It was a brilliant speech. By the way, Democrat counter-convention in Dallas drew about 120 people.

20:09They all had offensive and awful signs. It was low energy. And they're going to get their asses kicked in the midterms. Yeah, I said it. They are nothing good to offer. The Democrat Party must be reinvented or disappear into the dustbin of history. Coming up. National Fallen Fire Defenders Foundation CEO. Hey guys, it's Rob Carson. As we get older, our bodies start pulling little surprises. We'll just call it that. Your pants shrink miraculously. The scale becomes a pathological liar. Suddenly, you're bending over to tie your shoes, counts as cardio. I've been a longtime fan of taking collagen-based supplements. And that's why I recommend Callotrin. Callotrin is a collagen-based nutrient supplement designed to boost metabolism, lead muscle, joint comfort, and recovery. And unlike those so-called fat burners that leave you vibrating like my cell phone, Callotrin contains no caffeine or stimulants.

21:10Take Callotrin is directed at bedtime, and let it's collagen-based formula burn fat and maintain muscle while you sleep. Now, Callotrin won't do your push-ups for you and it probably won't help you from ordering dessert. But combine with sensible leading and regular activity it can support your wellness goals. Take it from me, Rob Carson. I'm down eight pounds already. Learn more in order today at toploss.com slash rob. That's toploss.com slash rob. This just in, you're looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center, and we have unconfirmed reports this morning that a plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. There is a major incident in Lower Manhattan. We just got a report in that there's been some sort of explosion at the World Trade Center in New York City. Apparently, a plane has just crashed into the World Trade Center.

22:13We understand that a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. We have serious news of a major possible air crash in the United States. Just a few moments ago, something believed to be a plane crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. We have no idea what it was. It was a tremendous boom. Wow, it is 25 years since 9-11. It's remarkable to be at an age where you can remember something so clearly so long ago. Joining us to talk about this and remember the event and the people who lost their lives, Victor Stagnaro, CEO of the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation, meeting him for the first time on camera. How are you doing, brother? I'm doing really well. Thanks for having me. I do not hear. Hold on. You're there. I am here, yes. Okay, brother. Yeah, you cannot believe me. Yes, sir, I can't. I apologize. First of all, welcome to the show.

23:15Let me ask you first and foremost before we get into your organization. Where were you on 9-11 and how are you connected to it? So I was on duty as an assistant chief in Princeton, just county Maryland. It's a fire department, just a suburb of Washington, D.C. That day we had a brand new chief that was getting supposed to be sworn in that day. And as the events unfolded, of course, that event was canceled. And we really began to prepare for what we thought would be many more terrorist attacks on our areas. And of course, we sent crews out to the Pentagon. Yeah. And the former chief, with whom I had worked very closely with Chief Ron Sartike, just three months prior had become the executive director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. And I had volunteered with the foundation for several years, even before he became the executive director.

24:19And he knew that we needed to be in New York to support those families and support that department. So the day after, we assembled a team and we were able to be in New York and working with the Counseling Service Unit, with the Fire Department of New York City. And we've been there ever since, supporting their Counseling Service Unit, and continue to support them and their families after all this tragedy. Well, I'm quite familiar with P.G. County. I live in the D.C. area. I lived here for a dozen years and then moved to Kansas City for 10, and I am back in the area. So I'm quite familiar with it. You know, not a lot of time is focused on what happened in Washington, D.C. or Shanksville, Pennsylvania. But I moved here three years after 9-E-11. What was it like that day as a first responder? I find it amazing that first responders, your first thought is, if here's not an option, you have a job to do.

25:20Tell me about that. Yeah, I think a lot of it goes back to our training. You know, we just revert back to that mode of preparing and managing emergencies. And that's exactly what happened. The acting chief who had not yet been sworn in, called everybody back to, and we doubled our numbers of crews. We knew we would be supporting the Pentagon and efforts. And we were trying to think about what might come next. You know, is there going to be some sort of a hazmat-related event? What's coming next? So our bomb squads, our hazmat teams, we all just ramped up and we opened up our emergency operation center, thinking that things are just going to probably going to get worse before they get better. And just trying to prepare the best we could so we could serve our communities. I can't imagine what firefighter goes through when they have to arrive on the scene of an accident or something this horrific.

26:25I mean, we forget it. We don't notice this. We think about PTSD when it comes to our soldiers. But an event like this, I can't not imagine finding human remains, seeing people horrifically injured. And even with your training, that has to be a lot, a lot, a lot to deal with as a human being. There's a, you know, we, firefighters are a very resilient group, but you're 100% correct. You know, we, we have done a lot of research over the years. Even as we were supporting the, the counseling service unit for the FDNY, we've been gandered knowledge of the fact that you really, we really need. So, we have clinicians that are culturally competent to deal with what firefighters are seeing. What we learned from New York was they would, they brought in clinicians to help support. And then the clinicians couldn't handle what the firefighters were telling them.

27:28So, it's absolutely horrific. And, and you're right. I mean, when you think about those FDNY members as well as those firefighters that responded to the Pentagon and to Shanksville, Pennsylvania. At, at New York, at the, at the World Trade Centers, people were throwing themselves off the building. And this is what the firefighters were facing. And so, yes, you can see the fear of their faces as you look back to some of the, some of the videos. But, you know, they had such a, such a tremendous devotion to duty and responsibility that they didn't cover back. They pushed them aside and went forward. And, and that's what we want to recognize, you know, on this particular day. And the fact that there are firefighters still today that they are willing to do the same. I, I just find it remarkable that people still do it. People, there are men, largely men, but women as well, who are willing to sign up to be not only firefighters, but he empties.

28:32And this, you know, State Troopers, I mean, I can go on and on police, who, who encounter the worst of the worst, the worst possible horrors you could possibly imagine, particularly after 9-11. And they still say, I want to do this for a living. What is, what is within a person who would become a firefighter as a life career? Yeah, well, you know, there's lots of tongue and cheek type of comments. But at the end of the day, it's about supporting people. It's about being there and having the knowledge and understanding of how to bring the extraordinarily chaotic moment to bring some organization to it. And the reward of, of knowing that you're helping people. Yes. And that's, you know, that's the, at the end of the day, that's the, that's the, that devotion to duty that pushes us forward, that commitment. And then just, I think there's a lot to be said for, you know, you walk into a firehouse today.

29:37And those firefighters, they're extraordinarily competent. Yeah. And the amount of knowledge they have to have, whether it's, you know, responding to a vehicle accident, a burning building, a hazards materials incident, you know, all types of different hazards. And what we expect out of our firefighters is, it's pretty extraordinarily when you stop and think about it. Now, Victor, can we take a break here real quick and come back on the other side of the bread? I've got much more I want to talk about about 9, 11 and also a firefighters in general. Your organization is the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, firehero.org, make it a phase favorite on your browser. While we're going to the break, go to it now, firehero.org will continue our conversation with Victor Stechner on the other side of the break. This is the Rob Carson show. One thing I would like to see updated is the word homeless to the word unhoused.

30:39How about new? Yes. How about no? It is a Rob Carson show. It's 9, 11, 25 years later. And I have used the analogy, my father, when he spoke of Pearl Harbor and my English teacher and eight children. He was an at Pearl Harbor when it happened. Both of them would just do the thousand yard stare. I was born 25 years after Pearl Harbor, which is kind of interesting. But it was still as strong with them. And the memories of 9, 11 are still the wound has not been healed. And it's got to be particularly difficult for firefighters, particularly those who were serving on 9, 11, Victor Stechner is the senior. And the CEO of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, 343 firefighters. And many of them knew they were going to die when they went on those buildings. Do you suppose?

31:40Oh, yeah, there's no question. If you look at the footage from that day, you could see it in their eyes. And they knew that their likelihood of coming out alive was not very good. And you know, years later, I was having dinner with a group of FDNY members. And it was right around the time there was a, if you remember in Japan, there was a meltdown of a nuclear facility. And they were looking for firefighters to enter. And somebody said, you know, I don't know who would do that today. These FDNY members looked at each other and they said, I know 343 of them that would. And so, yeah, it's, it is a tremendously courageous thing to think about the fact that, you know, they made that decision when they raised their right hand and took a note. That's when they made the decision that, you know, whatever comes my way, I will perform my duties to the best of my ability.

32:43And, and that's why it's important to recognize them and remember that valor from that particular day. Did you find that the treatment of firefighters, much more respectful, much more reverent since 9-11? You know, immediately after 9-11, there was a tremendous outpouring of support for the fire service and for firefighters across the country. You know, myself, still in Princetoners County, Maryland, when, you know, we go to a grocery store or a, I remember when football started up and we were, we were doing our, you know, we had a command team that would support the football games. And the people would stop us and thank us for, you know, for our, for the work that we did. But, you know, we did a, we did a documentary about five years ago at the 20-year commemoration of 9-11 and one of the firefighters, he said about six, eight months after 9-11, they were responding on a call.

33:51And the driver, the engineer made a turn and one of the, one of the people in the car flipped in the bird and he said, yep, things are back, things are back to normal now. And, you know, a dark humor, the fire service, but, you know, that is faded, I think, but, but I think there's still, you know, still a large level of respect for the firefighters. I think there is. I think there is. I, I, I'll just tell you real quick, there's a fire truck came out to my apartment when I first moved to this new apartment here and, and I ran up to the, to Duncan and I bought a dozen donuts. And I'm not saying the firefighters eat donuts, what I just thought it was. And I, so I got there there and they do, I don't know what they're working on. And, and I, I just opened the, I just, the window was open, so I just set them on the passenger seat in the front of the, of the rig. And, and I walked up to the fourth floor and I looked down and these guys come out and they open the door and look dumbfounded. And, and I said, hey, and they looked at me and said, thank you. What the hell is that? Do I, I do that ever once while I go to fire, fires, I'll do go by fighter station and they're always don't know what the hell to think of me.

34:56They're like, who's this guy bringing us bagels? Who's this guy bringing us donuts? I, I, I got it, I do, I just do. I do, I do because, you know, they are willing to pull my ass out of a burning car, wouldn't think twice about it. There's some, maybe, you know, there's, the least I could do is express my appreciation for what they do for a living. What do you guys do though for the families of, of, of firefighters who've lost in the, in the call of duty? Well, how do you help them out? What does your organization do for, for them in general? Yeah, well, our mission is to honor all of our firefighters and want to do one of the ways in which we do that is we host the national memorial. It's an Emmetsburg Maryland, it's the home of the United States Fire Administration and the National University Training Center. And so every first Sunday in May, we host that memorial and we cover the costs for the immediate family to come to that memorial so that the nation can pause and express its gratitude for the sacrifices of that, that family and that firefighter.

36:01Would you mind if I came up this May from, from the DC area I'd love to come up? Our court would be honored to have you there, yes. We'll stay in touch. That would be fantastic. We'd love for it to have you there and to see what we do. And you know, and when those families come forward, so we will have a candlelight service the night before and then on Sunday morning on Saturday nights the candlelight service on Sunday morning we have the national memorial. And those families, each firefighters name is called the families come forward. They receive a flag that's been flown over the United States Capitol and as well as the national memorial for fallen firefighters. And I'll tell you, you know, our honor guards come together and they fold those flags with just just an extraordinary amount of care. Every flag is perfectly folded. It gets inspected if it's not perfect. It goes back.

37:01So we make sure that we honor those fallen firefighters every year and then we do scholarships, kids, camps, all kinds of things. Well, listen, we got to run Victor Stagnar. I appreciate you and I will be there. I brother, as long as I live here, I'll come up every May. I'll promote it. Can't guarantee I can bring notes for everybody. But you know, I'll do my level best. And brother, I thanks for sitting here at the board. Thanks for the way you look out for firefighters and care for them. And you know, we'd love to have you come up to Emma's bird and witness what we do. I would be honored and I know this is a this is a day of heavy hearts for many firefighters. And I just wish you the best God bless you and your brothers and our appreciate you. Thanks so much. Thank you Rob. Appreciate you. Let's take a break. Fire hero dot O R G fire hero dot O R G making a favor on your browser. Take a break and come back. This is the Rob Carson show.

38:01So former Air Force lieutenant Heather Lucky Penny was one of the military members that jumped in an F 16 on the 1911 in Washington DC to protect the Capitol. Her plane was called up so quickly she it was not armed. So she knew it was going to be a suicide mission. If she had to take a plane down, she would have to hit the plane. Here she is. We knew what the target would be. It would be an airline or full of innocent Americans. But we didn't have any life misses. We had no real weapons on board. So we knew that this would be a suicide mission. And if we were to take down an airliner, we would have to ram our jets into the aircraft. And so as I was zipping my G suit up, Sass says to me, I'll take the cockpit. So his plan was he would fly his jet into the cockpit to take out the terrorists and the flight controls.

39:03And that I would ram my jet into the tail of the aircraft. Wow. We had to assume that the White House, that Congress, are our most cherished national institutions, the foundational bedrock of our democracy, would be the next target. We had to assume that. We did not know that 93 had crashed. We did not know that the passengers had already done the job. In many ways, I feel like a mission failure. No, I don't know. Not only because our nation liked the imagination, we weren't sitting alert. We didn't have life weapons. And frankly, we were too late. That is not, I hope I'm sorry that she feels that way because she was 26 years old at the time. And she was prepared. She was prepared to give her life.

40:05I mean, deliberately, give her life to save lives. And we just talked about firefighters. Okay. I'm just so glad we have people like this among us. I'm just so glad we do. 343 firefighters. And 26 year old woman, very young woman, gets in an F-16 and says, I'm zipping up my suit. I prepared to take down an airliner and then my life. We got amazing, amazing day. Let's take a break and come back. Final hour of the Rob Carson show, 9-11 special. Don't go anywhere.