'Inside 9-11' looks at pieces of tragic puzzle
By Stephanie Gaskell
Associated Press
The authors of "Inside 9-11: What Really Happened" don't try to explain what happened to the world on Sept. 11, 2001. They don't attempt to make sense of it or analyze it.
What they do instead is present a comprehensive reconstruction of the events surrounding the attacks, like putting the pieces of a puzzle together.
"Inside 9-11: What Really Happened" by the editors, writers and reporters of Der Spiegel magazine, St. Martin's, hardback, $25.95.
The authors work for Der Spiegel, a major news magazine in Germany. They profile the many people involved in the attacks: terrorists, victims, survivors, rescue workers, investigators, military people and public officials.
The book opens with Jan Demczur, a window washer at the World Trade Center who arrived at work just before 6 a.m on Sept. 11.
At 8:46 a.m., he was in an elevator in the North Tower — just 30 floors below the impact of American Airlines Flight 11. Stuck somewhere between the 44th and 74th floors, he would not learn for nearly an hour that a commercial airliner had slammed into the building.
With accounts from people inside the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and four hijacked airplanes; air traffic controllers; firefighters who rushed into the burning towers; and federal investigators, the staff of Der Spiegel reveals the magnitude of what the victims of Sept. 11 were up against that day.
"Inside 9-11" uses official records to tell its story, such as this part of a 911 phone log from the morning of Sept. 11:
"9:47:15 a.m. — 'Female caller states 2 World Trade Center — Floor 105 — states floor underneath her — collapse.'
"9:47:23 a.m. — 'Man waving jacket — man just jumped.'
"9:49:21 a.m. — 'Twenty people on top waving — they are alive — please send help.'
"9:54:36 a.m. — 'Male caller hears people crying.'
"9:55:28 a.m. — '2 World Trade Center — 106th and 105th floors — collapsing."'
There are also personal accounts from survivors, including one man who escaped from the 81st floor of the South Tower.
"(Stanley) Praimnath crawled on his belly from the Loans Department into what had once been the lounge. Next, into telecommunications, where the door to Stairwell A should have been located. 'Oh Lord, help me, send me help.' The exits, however, were blocked by debris. Then on a piece of ceiling he saw the reflection of a flashlight. He started pounding against the wall, screaming, 'Please don't let me die, wait for me. It's me, Stan, from the Loans Department."'
The book also follows the hijackers as they prepare for their mission. Motel owners and flight instructors in Florida reconstruct the trail the men left behind across the country.
Then the investigation heads to another front line — Hamburg, Germany, where many of the suspects plotted the attacks, and where the offices of Der Spiegel are located. With great attention to detail, the authors examine the complex web of terror that investigators must unravel.
Full of information, the book includes an extensive appendix with a timeline, a transcript of the Osama bin Laden videotape from mid-November and excerpts from the terrorists' manual.
