9/11 Remembrances: Books

The accounts presented in this anthology are excerpts from the interviews and written recollections gathered by the Center of Military History.  Due to considerations of space, only some of the accounts at the Center could be included.  This volume, therefore, does not offer every story or even, in most cases, complete stories.  Then Came the Fire is a mosaic of individual accounts and impressions, arranged in an approximately chronological order, that reflects the reality of 11 September as understood and remembered by the people who experienced it.

The most comprehensive account to date of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and aftermath, including unprecedented details on the impact on the Pentagon building and personnel and the scope of the rescue, recovery, and caregiving effort. Evocative narrative is based on firsthand accounts of survival, tragedy, and heroism drawn from hundreds of interviews, with 32 pages of photographs and more than a dozen diagrams and illustrations not previously available.

Examines the damage to the World Trade Center and surrounding buildings caused by the events of September 11, 2001. Also identifies additional studies that should be performed. This illustrated report presents observations, findings, and recommendations regarding the performance of buildings affected by the September 11 attacks on the WTC towers in New York City. The report examines the performance of the buildings under extreme conditions, determines the probable causes of collapse, and identifies lessons to be learned. It makes recommendations for more detailed engineering studies to complete the assessments and produce improved guidelines for building design and performance evaluation tools. Engineers, especially structural engineers and construction teams, emergency response personnel, fire management professionals, and building architects may be interested in this volume. American citizens and students interested in these fields along with people living and working in skyscrapers or multi-level/floor buildings may be interested in this research.

The narrative first focuses on the immediate medical response at the Pentagon, and the medical transition to recovery on the first day. The story then moves to Army Medical Department headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia, and San Antonio, Texas, where Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) personnel monitored the response. Accounts of the Army's involvement in the recovery of deceased attack victims at the Pentagon and the work of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in identifying human remains at Dover Air Force Base follow. The roles of military and civilian hospital staffs and of military environmental health and mental health specialists in taking care of attack victims and their families are also examined. Late in the volume, a chapter is included on New York City because military medical forces also responded to ground zero. The telling of this story, mainly through the eyes of two MEDCOM officers detailed to New York to support National Guard troops guarding ground zero's perimeter, may provide valuable insights on how to respond to similar events in the future. (Contains some copyrighted material)   

Presents a history of the Air Force Reserve, the contributions Air Force Reservists are making to the security of the United States and the world is a continuum of visionary concepts, ideas, and challenges undertaken at the beginning of the last century in the quest of human flight. Air Force reservists, ROTC members, and veterans may be interested in this volume. Additionally, military science students may be interested in this resource for research.

By following the actions of key Coast Guard personnel, records what the Coast Guard did on September 11, 2001 and in the following weeks. It covers the priorities of port security in New York City, the Atlantic Strike Team's work on marine safety at Ground Zero and Fresh Kills, the response of the First Coast Guard District in Boston, Coast Guard casualties and actions at the Naval Command Center in the Pentagon, and much more.