September 11, 2001, 9/11 is a day to remember. Of the 2,977 people who died that day, I want to remember the estimated 200 jumpers.
When the plane hit the first tower, all elevators and stairwells to the upper floors were demolished; there was no going down to save yourself and no first responders going up to the rescue. Because of the fire, no helicopter rescues were possible. The only way to escape the inferno was to jump.
The Twin Towers were about one-quarter a mile high, 1,368 feet tall, or 110 stories. The media stayed away mostly from broadcasting the jumpers. You can find some pictures and videos, but the jumps were so horrendous that the public couldn't stomach the visual.
The firefighters who gathered for direction at the doors of the Twin Towers would hear these thuds, thinking it was debris falling about, aghast that it was the bodies of men and women. Every few seconds, there would be a thud. Bodies of husbands and wives, sisters and brothers, friends and schoolmates were smashing to the ground. A few people jumped together, holding hands. The first firefighter casualty was a falling jumper.
What is it that the public couldn't stomach, the view of people jumping to their deaths, that the jumpers found falling a more tolerable death? I must paint a picture that I can only imagine why they chose to jump.