Most Americans are bracing for a pretty powerful and emotional week. Friday marks the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. For so many of us, it will take us back to that horrible day; for others, it is the anniversary of the death of a loved one, a friend, or a coworker.
We can't look at photos from that day without getting angry all over again (and we should). But there is one picture that, every time I see it, brings me to tears.
The Sept. 11 attack’s “falling man” photo was one of 9/11’s most iconic and haunting images, fueling a mystery over his identify that remains unresolved a quarter century later. https://t.co/DLJayuu3pD
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) September 8, 2026
The picture in question is of a man who appears to have jumped from one of the floors above the impact. He is free-falling in mid-air. There is no parachute, no safety net. We are literally witnessing the end of his life. He has been dubbed "Falling Man." 25 years later, his identity is still unknown. Some names have been out there, but nothing has ever been confirmed. A 2016 Time Magazine piece called him "a makeshift unknown soldier."
Like other Americans, I have seen this photo many times. But let's go back in time, back to the very start of Falling Man's day. Like all who we lost on 9/11, his alarm went off. Also, like the rest of us, he likely stumbled to the shower. As he stood there, maybe he thought about the day ahead. Was there an important meeting or presentation? A lunch date? If he was married, was he thinking about after work, maybe a dinner date with his wife? If he had children, did he have a child to take to a sports practice after work, or maybe just to pick up from school and hear how their day was?
Fast forward maybe just three or four hours. A plane has crashed into the tower he works in. It likely doesn't take him long to figure out that he and all the rest of those who are above the point of impact do not stand a good chance of getting out. He and others probably try to phone loved ones just to say "I love you" one last time. Now, there is a choice to be made. It's one that no one could comprehend unless we were in such a situation. Do I stay here and most certainly burn to death, or do I go out on my own terms, through a window?
Welles Crowther known as the man in the red bandana who saved many lives on 9/11 in the South Tower has posthumously been awarded the presidential medal of freedom by President Trump! pic.twitter.com/8TkzNZtchK
— Ultra MAGA Joyce Day (@Daytobehappy) September 8, 2026
Just a few hours ago, life was completely normal. Now, you are deciding how you will end your life. You can't wrap your head around it. We all know what his decision was. In the photo, you cannot see his face, which is no doubt for the better. But his body language looks like someone who is at peace. He has a few seconds to fully comprehend what is happening to him. What is going through his mind? Is he scared? Is he thinking that he is prepared to meet God? How he will miss his family? What is he experiencing physically? Has he passed out? Around 200 people made that unthinkable decision that day.
Photographer Richard Drew took the photo that certainly changed those who saw it. He very plainly stated that “We're seeing him in the last moments of his life.” When you think about it, that is a pretty private and personal thing. Usually, those moments are spent with loved ones. Falling Man wasn't allowed that. Those last few moments, where he may have thought, be it ever so briefly, about regrets or things that he might have done differently or not at all, were on full display for the entire world to see. It's almost making him endure a second attack by the terrorists.
25 years later, many say that Americans have forgotten what that awful day was like. There is an entire generation of people born after that day that do not comprehend the gravity of it. Many will not learn about it in public schools; therefore, it is our responsibility to teach them what it was like and why it happened.
Falling Man wasn't just a guy falling to a tragic death in an iconic photo. He had a family and a life. I hope that I have given him the respect and justice he was denied by terrorists in his last few moments.
Every 9/11, I try to reread this incredible essay about the falling man. A couple days late, but I hope you find it as meaningful as I do:https://t.co/FDWGf7nYE7
— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 14, 2024
