Book Review: The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11

by Garrett M. Graff (973.931 Gra)

 

Pause to consider — It has been 20 years since the terrorist/jihad attacks of September 11, 2001 on the eastern United States. It was one of those moments where time froze as soon as you learned what was happening.

Four jumbo-jet passenger airplane flights were hijacked and then aimed at: the Two Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, which were ultimately completely destroyed; The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C., heavily damaged; a 4th unrealized target somewhere in that same area, thwarted by brave passengers at the cost of their lives. So many people lost, but tens of thousands of survivors, too.

 

This painstakingly assembled documentation is at once starkly cognizant of the senselessness of it all while also recognizing the courage, fortitude, and optimism that characterize this still-hard-to-comprehend catastrophe. Heartbreaking and yet hopeful, we journey back to the fateful event in the voices of those who lived through it and a number of those who died, as well as catch up with how some have dealt with it up to now (2019).

The title derives from the eventual fact that Air Force One, with then-President George W. Bush on board, was the only non-fighter airplane traveling in the sky that day after all other air traffic over the U.S. was grounded. Although there are a couple of chapters which focus on this, there is much more of the content that deals with the New York and Pentagon aspects. Nebraska will always be connected to this day as the place where the President came in to Offutt Air Force Base for a couple of hours and video-conferenced with government and military leaders who were hunkered down in the Nation’s Capitol before returning there himself once the threat appeared to be contained.

 

The book was made possible in large part by the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. Many of the survivor narratives can also be accessed in the newly-released 6-part documentary “9/11: One Day in America” on National Geographic television, which I found even more affecting due to also having the visual impact of the narrators’ emotions involved.

 

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero by Michael Hingson, or 102 Minutes: The Unforgettable Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn.]

 

( publisher’s official The Only Plane in the Sky web page ) | ( official Garrett Graff web site ) | ( ( National September 11 Memorial and Museum ) | ( 9/11: One Day in America — streaming On-Demand — requires a cable or streaming service, which you must log into )

 

Recommended by Becky W.C.
Walt Branch Library

 

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The Day the World Came to Town by Jim Defede

The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland
by Jim Defede [971.8 Def] 

This is the story of the 38 aircraft, and over 6000 passengers, that were diverted to Gander, Newfoundland and the surrounding towns in Canada when airspace over the US was closed on 9/11. After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and the downing of the airplane in Pennsylvania, hundreds of international flights suddenly had to find somewhere else to land. Those that hadn’t hit the halfway point merely turned back to their point of origin, but the remainder had to continue on to elsewhere, somewhere, anywhere.

The Canadian Air Transport Control quickly organized and diverted over 230 aircraft to 17 Canadian airports. In a nerve-wracking, but exciting read, we learn civilian and wide-body passenger airplanes were entering Canadian airspace at the rate of 1-2 planes per minute. Pilots were advised of the crowding over airspace and to pay attention to their proximity alerts and keep a visual eye out.
Canadian authorities dubbed this “Operation Yellow Ribbon.” Once planes were on the ground, they had to screen passengers, provide transportation to shelter, make food and medications available, and maintain security in the event other terrorists were still hidden on incoming flights.

Over 6000 passengers doubled the population of the Gander area. The book followed several passengers and “Newfies” (those living in Newfoundland) as they dealt with the horrendous events of 9/11 and the logistics of caring for so many visitors. One family had a son in the fire department that serviced the Twin Towers and they were awaiting word on his whereabouts. Two families were returning with adopted children. A few Orthodox Jews required kosher food. Several families didn’t speak English. Animals were in the cargo bays and needed tending. Yet the locals opened their homes and did everything they could to assist.

I discovered this book, in early October, in a manner like I do so many others – someone returned it to the library for check-in and it caught my eye. I had read several anecdotes on this topic that were posted on Facebook and was pleased to learn a book had been written, and that the stories were true (a scholarship fund really has been setup for the area students). This is a heartwarming, poignant, at times sad, other times humorous tale of strangers helping strangers.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Last Man Down: A Firefighter’s Story of Survival and Escape From the World Trade Center, by Richard Picciotto [973.931 Pic].]
[ official The Day the World Came to Town web site ] | [ official Jim Defede Twitter feed ]

 

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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United 93 (on DVD)

United 93
[DVD United]

This is a film that was put out in 2006, about the events that occurred in America on September 11, 2001. The main focus was on the passengers and hijackers aboard United flight 93–the flight where passengers fought back to take over their flight; though there was a good amount of attention paid to the reactions of the Air Traffic Control, as well as the military’s responses. The story goes along in “real-time”, so it feels like it’s actually happening as you’re watching it. In a way, it was difficult to watch, as I kept replaying the actual events in my mind as they progressed throughout the movie. And yet, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. I highly recommend this film to anyone who can remember those events–but I also wonder if it should maybe be considered something to be played for our students in schools these days, as a part of their history lessons? It was, in my opinion, informative without relying too heavily on the emotional impact everyone would have been experiencing.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try World Trade Center or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.] [ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ]

Recommended by Tracy T.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

102 Minutes

102 Minutes
by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn [973.731 Dwy]

This narrative of the World Trade Center aspect of 9/11/2001 was published in 2005. Journalists Dwyer and Flynn are both native New Yorkers, so they had an additional impetus to analyze and piece together what the victims' and rescuers' perspectives were. Not only do we journey from shortly before the first airliner cleaved into Tower One to nearly midnight of that day, but we find out much about what led up to such a catastrophic chain of failure and destruction. By following the timeline through records of radio and telephone communications, and eyewitness accounts, the authors make the account intimate and gripping while yet presenting the facts clearly and cohesively. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try A Nation Challenged: A Visual History of 9/11 and its Aftermath.] -- recommended by Becky W.C. - Walt Branch Library


[ official 102 Minutes interactive web site from the New York Times ] | [ Jim Dwyer page on Wikipedia ]

[Note: This review was the 1,111th review submitted by any staff members to the Staff Recommendations page on the BookGuide site. This fact seems rather symbolic!]

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In the Shadow of No Towers

In the Shadow of No Towers
by Art Spiegelman [SOS 741.5 Spi]

In 2004, graphic artist Art Spiegelman (Pulitzer winner for Maus), a New Yorker, released this oversized hardback compilation of a series of ten full-page graphical remembrances of the events of September 11, 2001 and their political and social aftermath. With a tone ranging from the terror of not knowing the fate of his daughter (whose school was at the foot of the Towers), to inchoate outrage at the Bush administration's political and goverrnmental handling of the "terrorist" issues, Spiegelman has created a 9/11 work of startling clarity and emotion. Spiegelman's artistic style ranges from highly realistic, to extremely cartoony, and he frequently ends up using the "mice" visual persona that he used so effectively to portray himself, his family and the Jewish people in Maus. People with a strong right-leaning political stance may not necessary appreciate this work, but it is a significant contribution to post-9/11 literature. An extra feature in this compilation is several pages of older newspaper comics from the late 1800s through the 1930s, by a variety of other artists. These include entries such as the Kin-der-Kids and Little Nemo, among others. Since Spiegelman's own works in this volume were full-page newspaper strips, seeing these historical examples from other eras places Spiegelman in an interesting historical context. I found this entire book to be a fascinating read. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ Wikipedia entry for this book ] [ Wikipedia entry for Art Spiegelman ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.