Libby McDonald Schaefer

Our Brothers' Keepers Libby McDonald Schaefer

The stories in OUR BROTHERS' KEEPERS stand as a reminder to those who have forgotten the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as the failed attack and crash of United Flight 93 in Shanksville, PA. Told by survivors, responders, family members and onlookers, the stories also provide an insight into that day and the days that followed for those too young to remember and those were not alive on 9/11. The idea for the book came from one man who shall remain nameless, who working for the Sanitation Department, went immediately to Ground Zero after the attack to help. As a result of the toxins he was exposed to, he now is battling stage 4 cancer. It was his plea that those affected be able to tell their stories as he felt they were all forgotten, except for once a year when ceremonies are held. It is the individuals who tell their stories in their own words. There are those who worked in one of the Trade Towers and the responders who came to lead them to safety. There are New Yorkers who were the observers and, in many cases, helpless except to be onlookers. There are those that came after, including one woman who brought her therapy dog to provide solace for the workers who had the horrific jobs of searching for victims and sorting through what remained. There is the story told by the air traffic control supervisor at Pittsburgh Airport and also the one told by the Shanksville fire chief, who hurriedly left his job to go help find survivors of United flight 93, only to find the were none. Then there is the chaplain at the Pentagon who survived the attack and then, as a Catholic priest, had to celebrate the funeral mass for his best friend.