There are those who were very young, and of their father or mother have few blurred memories, those who were at school and immediately understood that their life would change forever, and then there is the 'Generation 11 September', beyond 100 born after the 2001 attacks in which they lost their father.
In all, almost 3,000 children have been orphaned by the attacks that have changed the history of America: now they are young adults and on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary they tell what it was like to grow up with constant nightmares, the pain of never having known a parent, and the burden of being constantly seen as the victims of a historic disaster.
But they also speak of pride in their determination.
Listen to "The Orphans of the Attack on the Twin Towers" on Spreaker.
Ashley Bisman, 36, from Port Washington, New York, for example on September 11, 2001 was following a history lesson in high school and saw on TV the building where her father worked in flames: her body was never found. just his credit card. "There is a sadness that will never go away", he tells the Wall Street Journal, specifying however that life is also made up of hope, love and laughter: "It's not about the tragedy that happened to you, but about how you get up and overcome it ". While 19-year-old Leah Quigley of Wellesley, Massachusetts was born a month after her father died: Patrick Quigley IV was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 175, the second plane to hit the World Trade Center. When he was 7 he found comfort in attending a summer camp for the orphans of the attacks: "It isIt was a great help to know that it wasn't just me. "For her, being labeled as the daughter of 9/11 was difficult," something no one really knows how to deal with. "
Celia Rose Gooding, on the other hand, is a 21-year-old actress, and says acting helped her overcome the pain of the death of her father, a financial trader at Cantor Fitzgerald. Her mother gave her her parent's wedding ring years ago, and she always carries it with her, "to maintain her energy." Then there are two brothers Julia and Michael Gardner, 22 and 24, from New York City: they have found that cultivating their father's hobbies - like listening to his Beatles and Led Zeppelin vinyls - helps them feel closer to him. Nicholas Gorki, 19, from Rye Brook, New York, was not yet born during the attack on the Twin Towers and his mother, about seven weeks pregnant, was late for work due to nausea.He was an analyst at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and was about to enter the South Tower when he saw the first plane hit the North Tower. Unfortunately, the opposite fate befell his father, Sebastian Gorki, a Deutsche Bank executive who worked in Midtown Manhattan: he had volunteered for a last-minute business meeting in the Towers, and died in the collapse.