Remembering the victims

The court that tried Moussaoui has put nearly all of the trial exhibits on line. This is an unprecedented amount of stuff. All that’s redacted are a few classified items, and the actual audio of the Flight 93 CVR (cockpit voice recorder). But the transcript is there.

One of the most moving is a video of the collapse of Tower Two synchronized with the audio of Kevin Cosgrove’s last telephone call with a 911 dispatcher. (Viewer discression is advised, and it’s a big download. Also, the web site has been getting a lot of hits, so patience is required.)

Cosgrove was in an office on the 105th floor. Hedid not die stoically. He was angry. Frightened. Begging.

Human.

Who hasn’t imagined the Brave or Important things we’d like to say when facing death? Cosgrove’s panicked voice ripped away my veneer of bravery and told me the truth. In a situation like that I, too, would probably panic. The best I could hope for is to, like Cosgrove, keep trying. He was still talking to the helpless 911 dispatcher when the end came, spelling out the name of the person’s office where he and two others were trapped. And he heard it coming.

KC: We’re in John Ostaru’s office.
O. S. T. A. R. U.

DP: A. R. U.?

KC: Right. That’s the office we’re in.
There are three of us in here.
O. S. T. A. R. U. Hello?

KC: HELLO! We’re looking… we’re overlooking the Financial Center.

Three of us.

Two broken windows.

OH GOD! OH!

Kevin Cosgrove left behind a family with young children. He didn’t want to die. He shouldn’t have. Not that day.

He died because religiously-motivated savages from the 8th century hijacked the lives and technology of the 20th century and turned them into weapons.

We’re not going to survive, let alone win, this war if we don’t keep a clear concept of exactly who the enemy is and what the enemy has done. Were it up to me, all of this evidence would be required viewing. I’ve just started to go through it. I hope a lot of people find it and dig through it.

We must remember.