Family, Friends Of Sept. 11 Victims: 'We Remember'

On the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, NPR's Audie Cornish talks with StoryCorps families to find out how they make their way today. We Remember is an hour-long special that gives an intimate look at lives forever changed by the attacks — the people who lost sons and wives, daughters and grandfathers, and good friends.

"The families are among the most courageous and amazing human beings I have ever met," says StoryCorps founder Dave Isay. "These are hard stories to listen to. But this is about remembering."

To do that, StoryCorps began an initiative with the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum in 2006, on the fifth anniversary of the attacks. Their goal is to record at least one story to memorialize every life that was lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

"The enormity of Sept. 11 is very difficult to conceive. And the only way that we can understand the loss is to break it down into the individual stories, to each of the lives, through storytelling," Isay says. "We're trying to make sure that families have this record of lives of loved ones that will live on, and that all of us can understand the enormity of what happened on that day, can think about the lives that were lost and never forget."

These are stories from families and friends who tell us about their loved ones and their loss. The father who recalls the last words he shared with his son, the recovery worker who discovers a new meaning for normal, the fireman's daughter who knew that her dad who perished in the line of duty wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Here's a list of the participants whose stories are included in the one-hour special We Remember. In cases where their stories have aired on NPR's Morning Edition, we've included links to the original broadcast:

• Alison and Jefferson Crowther discuss their son, Welles
• Frankie DeVito remembers his grandfather Bill Steckman as he talks with his mother, Diana
• Richard Pecorella tells about his fiancee, Karen Juday
• John Vigiano Sr. remembers his sons, John Jr. and Joe.
• Jessica DeRubbio on her father, David DeRubbio
• Jack Murray, recovery worker at New York's Ground Zero
• John Romanowich, recovery worker at New York's Ground Zero
• John Yates, survivor of the Pentagon attack
• Monique Ferrer, remembering her ex-husband, Michael Trinidad
• The late Beverly Eckert talks about losing her husband, Sean Rooney
• Elaine and John Leinung discuss their son, Paul

This special was produced by Kerry Thompson for NPR, and Dave Isay and Isaac Kestenbaum for StoryCorps, in partnership with the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.