By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ
NEW YORK, N.Y. | Stories abounded today, the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center towers in New York. But one that has lately found an audience is the story of "The Falling Man," a previously unidentified victim of the airliner crash into the North Tower.
His name was Jonathan Eric Briley. He is shown in photo above, taken shortly after 9:00 Ayem that fateful morning. Briley was a sound technician at the Window of The World restaurant at the top of the tower.
Says Wikipedia about him: "The Falling Man" is also the title of an article about the photograph by Tom Junod that appeared in the September 2003 issue of Esquire magazine. Briley worked on the 106th floor of the tower.
It was there, in the restaurant, that he either fell accidentally while searching for fresh air and safety or decided to jump. He was an asthmatic and would have known he was in danger when smoke began to pour into the restaurant."
The jumper had initially been identified as Norberto Hernandez, a chef at the restaurant, but Junod's investigation revealed it really had been Briley.
I love the story behind the story. Incidentally, most news organizations ignored the "jumper" story, even as bodies landed on the sidewalks below, clearly visible to shocked onlookers.
Editors believed such reporting would further hurt grieving family members...
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Man, I'd never heard of this one. Sad but a photo that does tell the story of that damned day. thank you.
ReplyDeleteWhat would you do?
ReplyDeleteNot much you can do. Stay and die, jump and die.
Delete