9/11 Video Tribute

To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, we have assembled a collection of the most memorable and compelling footage related to that day—some of it iconic and unforgettable, like the images of the planes crashing into the towers, some of it more below the radar, like Jon Stewart’s first show after the attacks.

They run in a generally chronological order.

If you have other videos that you think should make the list, post them in the comments box and we’ll add them.

(Warning: Many of these videos are extremely graphic and disturbing. And although some may find this presentation unnecessarily morbid, we present it because we had forgotten how viscerally powerful these images are. This is due to the fact that not long after the attacks, most television networks and stations decided en masse not to continue airing the images, as viewers apparently found them too disturbing. Well, five years later, we feel it’s appropriate and, yes, necessary to remind our people of the barbarity of those who attacked us on Sept. 11. )

CNN footage (culled from the work of an amateur photographer) of American Airlines Flight 11 crashing into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. Also includes professional footage of United Airlines Flight 175 crashing into the South Tower at 9:02 a.m.

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Amateur footage, from close up, of UA 175 crashing into the South Tower.

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The entire 911 (not 9/11) phone call made by Kevin Cosgrove, a 45-year-old vice president of Aon Corporation, headquartered on the 105th floor of No. 2 WTC. Heartbreaking.

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People leap from the Twin Towers to their deaths.

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Defense Department footage of American Airlines Flight 77 crashing into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. (The camera filmed a new frame only about once a second, so there exists only one frame of AA 77 in flight before it crashes.)

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Amateur footage of the South Tower collapsing at 9:59 a.m. (contains heart-wrenching screams of pedestrians gathered around the photographer).

Watch it here.

Professional footage of the North Tower collapsing at 10:28 a.m.

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Professional footage of No. 7 WTC collapsing at 5:20 p.m.

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“Bush’s Response to 9/11” –- amateur but expertly assembled movie that juxtaposes the New York City-based events of 9/11 with Bush’s Florida-based “response.” Devastating.

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Bush’s “bullhorn moment” standing atop the rubble of the WTC. Some call it his finest moment –- never mind the fact that it happened on Sept. 14th –- three days after the attacks.

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David Letterman’s first show after the attacks, widely praised by critics as setting the tone for the days to follow.

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Dan Rather cries twice during the interview segment of the same Letterman show.

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Jon Stewart delivers a heartfelt –- and at times funny –- monologue in his first show after the attacks. Pitch-perfect.

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For a more crass response, listen to the Howard Stern show while the attacks are actually happening.

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The trailer for the soon-to-be-released movie “9/11: Press for the Truth” –- about the efforts of the “Jersey Girls,” women who lost husbands in the World Trade Center attacks, and who almost single-handedly goaded Republican lawmakers into holding hearings into the attacks.

Watch it here.

For the conspiracy theorists among you, here’s the full version of “Loose Change” –- the mother of all “The U.S. government was responsible for 9/11” videos.

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