We spent two hours in the museum, but could’ve spent days. As we exited the museum we saw Tom not far away. We hollered his name and ended up chatting a bit longer. Before leaving he said in his Northern accent, “See us Yankees aren’t so bad after all. You never know what you’ll learn about people until you sit and talk to them.” This made me reflect a little…while I was talking to Tom, probably ten or more visitors came up to him and asked where is the bathroom, where is the museum entrance, nearest restaurant, and the list goes on. But I got the feeling that not many people took the time to ask him about 9/11: the reason we were all here. No one knew everything he had been through. I could only be thankful it was raining that day and I picked that particular awning to run under, or else I might have missed this happenstance and humbling conversation of fate. I can only hope he was equally as touched to share his story with us as we were to hear it.
When we told him goodbye, I let him know that we would bring his story with us back to The South, which is why I felt compelled to share with you today. I may never see my FRIEND Tom again, which makes me sad, but every September 11th I will fondly remember him and all of the other men and women who died and lived in the face of pure evil. As always, I am Proud to be an American.”
9/11 Survivor, Thomas Canavan, and Others Featured in National Geographic Docuseries
National Geographic will be covered the story from survivor, Thomas Canavan’s perspective, along with other survivors’ and first responders’ perspectives in a 7-hour docuseries. The series is called 9/11: One Day in America, created by filmmakers, Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin, who interviewed 54 people over three years.
Those featured shared some minute-by-minute accounts of how they responded and how each survivor survived. The series also includes footage that has never been seen before from the area around the towers. Survivor, Thomas Canavan, is featured in the third episode, “The South Tower,” which aired August 30, 2021. In the episode, an announcement initially tells survivors of the attack to remain where they were just before these individuals watch the north tower be struck by second plane. At that point, those in the south tower had to race to safety, where first responders are swamped with injured survivors like Thomas Canavan. Survivor, Thomas Canavan was filmed that day as he began to leave the tragic site. He spoke to the cameras about what he’d experienced saying, “Big boom. Coming down the steps everything was fine until we got to the basement and then everything just fell in. I was trapped under there with another guy and crawled out. I kept getting hit in the head and bashed around. We finally made our way out over the rubble.”
