Children of 9/11

1 September 2011

TX: Sunday 11th September, 2011, 9pm, Channel 4

On September 11th, more than 3,000 children under the age of 18 lost a parent. Of those, some were not yet born - they were still in the womb when the towers collapsed.

Ten years on, as the world marks the anniversary, Children Of 9/11 gives a voice to some of the young people who lost parents on that fateful day, many speaking for the first time

Over the course of a year cameras have followed eleven children from six families from across America, charting how one day's events touched children of all ages, religions and backgrounds. But their lives are linked by a terrible accident of fate that has made their childhoods part of the most significant and terrifying event of modern times.

Some are only just beginning to comprehend what they lost on that day, while others are entering adulthood and forging their own lives.

Their honest recollections of this confusing and catastrophic day, as well as their difficult and inspiring journeys in the years since, offer moving new perspective on the far-reaching consequences of September 11th.

The film accompanies the children as they go about their daily lives, interweaving powerful interviews with home movie footage of their families to create a unique and intimate portrait before and after the tragedy.

The children of 9/11 - whether they were in the womb or on the brink of adulthood - reveal how children come to terms with tragedy and how families confront grief. From resilience to despair and from strength to anger, their stories are a diverse and fresh insight into the story of 9/11.

Caitlin Langone was 12-years-old when her father Tommy was killed on 9/11. ‘Every time I see those towers come down it's watching daddy die...over and over and over again', she says.

Tommy, a volunteer fire-fighter and NYPD rescue worker, was last seen ferrying people to safety on the 20th floor of the South Tower. His body was never found, but his handcuffs and gun were discovered in the rubble of Ground Zero and returned to the family.

Like many children, Caitlin and her brother Brian received compensation for the death of their parent. But, although it has helped her to study at university and move into her own flat, the money has brought Caitlin little solace.

11-year-old Rodney Ratchford lived on a military base in Washington with his parents and two younger sisters. His mother, Marsha Ratchford, was an IT Specialist with the US Navy who worked at the Pentagon.

Marsha was one of 125 dead at the Pentagon on September 11th and Rodney heard the explosion from his school just across the interstate.

Rodney was sent to live with his father's family in Alabama, but without his mother's guiding hand, he went off the rails and began selling drugs.

Now 21, Rodney has his own family and is planning a memorial to his mother - planting a garden on the site of the shack where she grew up.

Fahina Chowdhury's father, Mohammad, moved to New York from Bangladesh to give his kids a better start in life. He worked as a waiter at the Windows on the World restaurant, at the top of the World Trade Center and was one of 60 innocent Muslims who were killed on 9/11.

Fahina was five at the time of the attack. Her brother Farqad never got to know his father - he was born 2 days later. In 2002 the Chowdhuries decided to move to Oklahoma to escape the simmering anti-Muslim feeling in New York. Fahina wants to realise her father's dream for her - to study at Harvard to become a doctor.

Three young sisters - Anna Clare, Madison and Halley Burnett - lost their father on 9/11. Tom Burnett was a medical research executive who was flying home that morning from a business trip to New York.

He called his wife Deena several times from United Flight 93 to let her know that the plane had been hijacked and that some of the passengers were going to try to get into the flight deck.

Deena broke the news to her three daughters that night. ‘She said there were some bad people on his plane, and they took over it but it's okay because your dad tried to stop them,' says Anna Clare. ‘But there wasn't enough time left and so it crashed... he's not going to come home, but he's with Jesus right now.'

The Burnetts found themselves thrust into the media spotlight and met President Bush. ‘It's one thing to say my dad died in 9/11, it's another to say my dad died a hero in 9/11,' says Anna Clare. ‘I am very proud, I'm really glad that I can say that he's my dad'.

Thea Trinidad's father Michael was a telecoms analyst at the World Trade Center. Trapped on the 103rd floor of the North Tower, he called his family to say goodbye.

A decade on, Thea has followed her father's dream and become a professional wrestler - she will be in the ring on September 11th.

Justin Strada was born just four days before 9/11, when his proud dad Tom was killed. Tom was a senior partner with bond broking firm Cantor Fitzgerald at the World Trade Center. The firm lost 568 employees  - all of their employees who were in the office that day.

While Justin never knew his father, his older brother Tommy has bottled up his feelings. And the family faced more heartbreak when Justin was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2006. He's now in remission and raising money for cancer research.

Every summer, dozens of kids who lost parents in the 9/11 attacks meet at a special camp in upstate New York. Camp Haze was set up by Janice and Charles Hazelcorn, who lost their eldest son, Scott, on September 11th.

‘It's just awesome, I feel a bond with these campers that I don't feel with anyone back at home,' says Tommy Strada. ‘When I'm too old to be a camper, I want to work here. I don't want to leave, I don't want to grow up, I want to keep coming here.'

As the tenth anniversary approaches, with Bin Laden gone, and the Ground Zero memorial almost finished, the children of 9/11 will be marking the anniversary in their own, different ways. While Thea Trinidad will be wrestling, the Burnett girls will attend a special ceremony at their father's old university, where they plan to study in the future and Caitlin Langone will be at the place she regards as her father's spiritual home - his fire-station.

 

Director: Janice Sutherland

Producer: Nacressa Swan

Exec Producers: Julian Ware, Tom Brisley