This is based on the true stories of the eight children who were victims of nine-eleven. Every child was on one of the two planes; three on United Airlines Flight 175 and five on American Airlines Flight 77. United Airlines Flight 175 was taken over by five terrorists and hit the second tower, the South Tower, at 9:03 AM. The building collapsed at 9:59, and about 599 people died from the building’s collapse. All 60 passengers on the plane died. Five terrorists also took over American Airlines Flight 77; however, it crashed into the first floor of the pentagon near Washington, D.C. at 9:37 AM. All 59 passengers were killed along with 125 Pentagon workers.

American Airlines Flight 77
Rodney Dickens, Asia Cottom, and Bernard Curtis Brown II, – 11 years old:

Rodney: I was so excited. No, no I was beyond excited. We were going to the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary in California. As Asia had put it, this was going to be one of the biggest moments of our lives. Asia, Bernard, and I were all sitting together in one row, with our teacher chaperones in the row behind us. Asia was listening to music and Bernard was drawing in his almost-used-up sketchbook. I had never been on a plane before, and to tell you the truth, it was pretty awesome. The seats were made of a comfortable, blue material and the flight attendants had brought us those little packs of peanuts. I had heard stories before on the news about planes crashing and all, but I wasn’t really scared. I thought of it this way. If the plane was built to fly, it would do so. When planes crashed, it must be user error. Plus, this plane must have made many trips before. As I looked out of the tiny cubbyhole we had for a window, the ground seemed to shrink away, slowly at first, then faster. When we rose above the clouds, I took out my Pokémon game and planned on losing myself in the cartoon world for the rest of the flight.
Asia: I was ready. I had on my lucky Tweety Bird clothes, was listening to my favorite music, and was completely prepared to be spending time at the marine sanctuary. I was so excited and I really wanted to see a dolphin. I thought about my new school. I liked it well enough, and people there seemed to like me. That reminded me. I took my math book out of my bag and opened it to the section on fractions. I was pretty good at sixth grade math so far but I just liked to make sure I completely understood the lesson. Math was, of course, one of my favorite subjects, and I liked having an A in it. My teacher had given me the lessons I would need to do while I was gone. I wasn’t really sure that I would be able to do any homework at the sanctuary, so I guess the plane would be a good place as ever to start. As I was getting ready to tackle fractions, two men stood up and walked to the front of the plane. I thought this very odd, because the bathroom was located in the back of the plane. A few minutes later three more men did the same. I decided to let it go. They must have a question for one of the flight attendants or the captain.
Bernard: Of course, with my irrational fear of planes, I sat nearest to the aisle. I did not need to be reminded of the ungodly height at which the plane was flying. I took a deep breath. “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” I told myself. “Planes are completely safe. Nothing’s going to happen.” I was going to enjoy myself in California. I took out my sketchbook and started drawing pictures of dolphins, manatees, and the Channel Islands. It distracted me for a half hour before four men came storming out of the cockpit pushing the pilot and co-pilot in front of them. “Everyone to the back of the plane! Now! Go to the back!” he shouted. A big burly man stomped up the aisle, forcing people out of their seats and shoving them to the back. He grabbed my arm and yelled something at me in a different language. I froze and he pushed me down. I crawled to the back of the plane in sheer terror. Asia, Rodney and our chaperones followed right behind me. As I huddled in the back of the plane, I thought of what my father and I talked about the night before. I had told him that I was scared about coming on the plane. I was thinking about what might happen and how I could possibly die. Those fears had seemed sort of silly to me then, but now they were all too real. He had said to me, “Don’t be afraid. Just listen to what the people tell you, and the instructions. You’ll be all right; you’ll be fine. Hey, don’t be scared; don’t be afraid to die. Because we are all going to die someday.” Right then it had made me feel better and I hugged him. But as I huddled in that corner at the back of the plane, somehow I knew that I would never be able to hug him again.

Dana Falkenberg – 3 years old, and Zoe Falkenberg – 8 years old:
Dana: I was crying. Everyone around me was screaming and crying and I couldn’t find my mommy or daddy. It was so loud. I didn’t like it. I crawled under a seat and covered my ears and squeezed my eyes shut as tight as they would go. When I opened them I spotted my Lambie a few seats in front of me. Lambie always made me feel better. I struggled to crawl under the seats to him, but I was stuck. I looked around and saw my tutu was caught on the seat I had been hiding under. I pulled and pulled on it but I could not get it unstuck. I heard my mommy call my name and I answered her. A few minutes later she was crouched down next to me and told her my tutu was stuck and asked her why people were yelling. She told me to shush, that everything would be fine. Zoe came up behind her a few minutes later with Lambie. She was crying too. My mom unstuck me.
Zoe: This wasn’t supposed to be happening. A trip to Disneyworld wasn’t supposed to start like this. As my mom stood up with Dana, I handed my little sister her stuffed Lambie. All I wanted was to be home right now. My mom and dad were frantically making calls as I sat hugging my sister and all I thought about were the nights we sat in our living room reading a story together as a family. Then my mom and I would go upstairs to read Harry Potter. I thought about my best friends Katie Fenster and Zoe Craig and my teammates on swim team and my friends at the ballet studio. I wasn’t really sure what was going on, but from what I could gather, there was a chance we would not make it home. I looked towards one of the open windows. We were no longer above the clouds and I pointed this out to my parents. We all sat in a group and my mom said to us, “I love you all from the bottom of my heart.” As we hugged, an explosion rocked the plane and I thought of how lucky I was to be able to tell my family how much I loved them one last time.

United Airlines Flight 175
Juliana Valentine McCourt – 4 years old: My mommy and I were going to Disneyland! I couldn’t wait and I fidgeted in my seat on the plane. Mommy had told me that the flight would take a long time because we had to fly to Los Angeles. Since I hadn’t started kindergarten yet, I wasn’t really sure where that was. I just took her word for it. She was usually right. I started thinking about home. I hoped Phoebe, my little white dog, would be alright while we were away. I knew she would miss me because I was going to miss her very much. I also wondered about my dance school. Would they miss me? I sure hoped they did. I had promised them I would bring back lots of stories and pictures for them to see. Finally I felt the plane start to move. We were going! “Here we come, Disneyland!” I said. Mommy looked over at me and smiled. “Are you ready?” she asked me. Eagerly, I shook my head yes. This would be the best vacation ever!

David Gamboa Brandhorst – 3 years old: I sat in between my daddy and poppy. I was sad to leave our friends’ house this morning. We had had so much fun in the place my daddy and poppy called “Maine.” Our friends had a house there right next to the water! We went swimming every day and even when I got cold I still swam. We also ate lots of fish because that is what you eat in Maine, apparently. Before we left to go back to our home in Los Angeles, I gave all my friends a big hug. Then we got in the car and then onto the plane. Going back home would be ok though. My Legos were there and daddy and poppy could take me to the playground, where I was the King of the Slide. I looked out the window at the puffy clouds. They reminded me of marshmallows, which made me hungry. After a while, looking at them made me sleepy so I decided to take a nap on my poppy’s lap. When I woke up, my daddy and poppy seemed concerned. It would be a few minutes before I found out why.

Christine Lee Hanson – 2 Years Old: I sat between my mommy and daddy on the plane. I was ready to go to Disneyland! It was my first time ever riding on an airplane and I didn’t know if I liked it or not. My ears kept hurting, but my mommy gave me gum to chew and that helped a little. I had called my Namma the night before and told her all about my day at daycare and how we were going to Disneyland. I told her all about how excited I was to meet Mickey Mouse and ended the call with “I love you, Namma,” as usual. As I was thinking about this, a man came walking down the aisle towards us screaming something and pointing to the back of the plane. He looked angry. By the time I looked to my mommy she had already picked me up and was hurrying to the back of the plane. I started to cry. I was scared. Did this usually happen on planes? If it did, I did not like it at all. Everyone was screaming and yelling and they were on their cell phones, even my daddy. My mommy looked at me and said, “Shhh, baby, it’s ok, you’re ok.” As I looked at her face I stopped crying, but hugged her tighter. I knew something was wrong, because daddy seemed worried and he was the bravest person I knew. Mommy was holding me tightly as daddy was talking on the phone. I heard him saying, “It's getting bad, Dad. A stewardess was stabbed. They seem to have knives and Mace. They said they have a bomb. It's getting very bad on the plane. The plane is making jerky movements. I don't think the pilot is flying the plane. I think we are going down ... Don't worry, Dad. If it happens, it'll be very fast....Oh my gosh... oh my gosh, oh my gosh." This made me worried and I began to cry again. I was terrified now. As my daddy hugged us both tightly and told us how much he loved us, the plane shook and I heard a loud boom.