Reluctant Hero: A 9/11 Survivor Speaks Out About That Unthinkable Day, What He's Learned, How He's Struggled, and What No One Should Ever Forget (28 page)

To my friends whose loyalty and ever-present encouragement steeled my determination to say what I had to say: Brian “Boozer” Wenrich, Jeff Fernandez, Scott Jenkins, Robert Finkman, Alexandra Gratsas Hollander.

To my family for their unconditional love without which I would be nowhere, silent and indifferent: Evelyn Benfante, Susan Benfante, Angelo and Lisa Benfante, Maria and Marc Guarducci, and my cousin Jimmy Giorgio.

And to the three greatest forces in my life: My wife, Joy, for her love and support.

My son, Michael, for reminding me every day what’s most important in life.

And God, for continuing to show me the way.

M
ICHAEL
B
ENFANTE
became a national hero for his actions on September 11, 2001, when he and a co-worker carried a disabled woman in a wheelchair down sixty-eight flights of stairs and out of the World Trade Center North Tower to safety, just minutes before the tower imploded. He is the recipient of a host of honors and international recognition and has testified at a U.S. Senatorial special hearing about his 9/11 experience. Benfante is a 1987 Brown University graduate. He currently lives with his wife and his son in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

D
AVE
H
OLLANDER
is an author and columnist writing on sports and social issues in national publications including
The Huffington Post
,
AOL Sports
,
SI.com
, and
Interview.
Hollander serves on the faculty for the New York University Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management. Hollander lives in New York City with his wife and daughter. He has known Michael Benfante for fifteen years.

America: A Tribute to Heroes
,117

Andrews, Adam, 39, 40, 131–132,133

anger, 94, 118, 125, 148, 160, 161, 166, 169, 178, 181, 195, 200, 203, 204, 218

A-T Children’s Project, 135

Beamer, Lisa, 128

Benfante, Angelo, 15, 20, 21, 22, 195, 196

after the attacks, 93, 97, 109, 139, 194 9/11/2001, 73–74

Benfante family, 15–19,20, 90–98.

See also specific family members
Dad, 16, 17–18, 21, 109, 149

hospitalization and death, 195–196, 197, 198, 201

lessons from, 208, 217

Mike and Joy’s wedding, 166 9/11/2001, 47–48, 90, 91, 92

trip to Boys’ Latin School of Maryland, 137–138

Mom, 16, 18–19, 90, 104, 140, 180, 201, 215 9/11 memorial, 165 9/11/2001, 92, 95, 96

Oprah
, 134

Benfante, Joy (nee Osuna), 3, 14, 15, 22

day after 9/11, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, 96

first date with Mike, 8, 9, 10

life after 9/11, 98, 140, 142, 146, 150, 160, 161, 163, 164

America: A Tribute to Heroes
, 117, 121

involvement in foundations, 135

National day of Prayer and Remembrance, 110

tradition to honor 9/11, 176

trip to Germany, 151

married life post-9/11, 173, 174, 175, 180, 181, 183, 184, 185, 194, 202, 203, 204

book, idea of, 190

Network Plus and Mike, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 9/11/2001, 31, 40, 74, 75, 79, 82, 83, 85, 86

pregnancy and Michael Reyes, 199, 200, 201

wedding day, 167–169

wedding plans, 14

after 9/11, 115, 116, 117, 153, 154, 162, 166

rehearsal dinner, 166–167

Benfante, Maria, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 92, 166

Benfante, Michael Reyes, 200, 201, 202, 204, 207, 208, 212, 214, 215

Benfante, Susan, 21, 22, 92, 135

Bethphage, 135, 136, 218

Bingham, Mark, 129.
See also
Hoagland, Alice

bin Laden, Osama, 161

Biography
, 152

Black Hawk Down
(Bowden), 12, 15, 26–28, 31, 39, 143

Bowden, Mark, 12

Black Hawk Down
, 12, 15, 26–28, 31, 39, 143

Boys’ Latin School of Maryland, 137–138

Brown, Ron, 136

Brown University, 3, 18, 84, 125, 136, 139

Bush, George W., 109, 118, 120, 134, 177, 190

National Day of Prayer and Remembrance address, 110

Carrey, Jim, 117, 118, 119, 120, 134

CBS, 118, 119, 148, 163

Cerqueira, John, 41–42, 78, 104, 111, 113, 168

honors, 132, 135, 138

joining Network Plus, 61

media and, 96

America: A Tribute to Heroes
, 117

Biography
, 152

Good Morning America
, 121

Oprah
, 123, 127, 128, 129, 130, 133

Network Plus meeting, 102 9/11/2001, 76, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85

outside Tower 1, 62, 64, 65–66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 73, 75

survivor’s guilt, 96–97, 103 (
see also
guilt)

Tina Hansen, rescue of (
see under
Hansen, Tina)

Chicago, 123, 124, 126–127, 134.

See also
Oprah Winfrey Show

Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, 138

Columbus Citizens Foundation Gala, 138

CompTel award, 132, 140

corporate America, 159, 195

Craig, Larry, 155, 156–157

Doran, Peter, 103

Early Show
,
The
, 114, 163–164

Fernandez, Jeff, 6, 7, 127, 136, 167, 168

Finkman, Robert, 75, 82, 83, 84, 85, 89

firemen, 91, 92, 93–94, 119, 121, 149, 157, 176, 179, 190, 209, 210, 222

5th floor, 57, 58, 59, 60

55th–33rd floor, 48–51

outside the towers, 64, 68, 70

33rd–21st floor, 51, 52, 53

48 Hours
, 148, 149, 150, 175

freedom, 188

Gaffney, Jim, 34, 35, 102

Gargano, Charles, 138

Germany, trip to, 151–152

Gibson, Charlie, 121

Giuliani, Rudolph, 31, 128, 129, 152

Good Morning America
, 114, 121

Gordon, Gary, 27

greed, 188, 210

Greissinger, Lisa Kay, 104, 113

Ground Zero, 99, 112, 142–146

Early Show
at, 164

pilgrims, protesters, and vendors at 186, 187–188, 189

guilt, 94, 95, 96–97, 100, 103, 104, 118, 123, 125, 132, 146, 148, 160, 166, 169, 178, 183, 195, 200, 203, 204, 218

Halderman, Joe, 150

Hale, Rob, 119, 123, 127, 128, 129

Hansen, Tina, 104, 110, 121, 136, 168, 213

media and, 113–114

People
photo shoot, 104–105, 111–113, 139

Spider-Man
, 152

rescue of, 43–46, 48–61, 137, 144, 156, 165, 203

Hayes, Billy, 81–82, 84, 85, 168

heroism, 50, 72, 133, 158, 209, 210.

See also all related topics

Hoagland, Alice, 128, 129

Holleran, Sr. Sheila, 139

instinct to help, 149

Ipsan, Phil, 39

“I’ve Got You Under My Skin”

(Sinatra), 9

Jacox, David, 135

Jefferson, Lisa D., 128

Jersey City, 15, 140

living in, 3, 10, 12, 23, 98, 163, 167 9/11/2001, 90, 96

John, Sujo, 102

Kittatinny Regional High School, 136, 137

Librescu, Liviu, 211, 213

Lindsey, Chad, 211–212, 213

Longorino, Joe, 39

Lucente, Neil, 103, 168

Manhattan, 5, 64, 77, 111

after the attacks, 112

Martin, Eric, 102

media, 95, 96, 109, 111,113, 114, 117, 120, 125, 135, 147, 150, 155, 60, 161, 162, 166, 169.
See also other media-related topics

Chesley Sullenberger and, 210, 211

Le Monde
, 158

obsession with scandal, 210

political discourse depicted in, 188

Telco Networks press release, 163

Vanity Fair
, 158

memorials. See under 9/11

Menschen 2001, 151. See also Germany

Morfogen, Paul, 139, 169

Morfogen, Zachary, 139

National Day of Service, 221–223

Network Plus, 3–6, 7, 10, 22, 24, 34

after the attacks, 78, 98, 99, 101–103

closure, 154, 155, 156, 162

dot-com/telecom crash, 11

new office, 111, 114–115, 120, 134, 143

staff trip to Chicago for
Oprah
, 123–133

stocks, 10, 153

New Jersey, 3, 4, 25, 139, 153

Bloomfield, 3, 184

Kittatinny Regional High School, 136, 137

Montclair, 15, 164

Network Plus office, 5, 6, 98, 146 9/11/2001, 89–90

Orange, 14, 77

Verona, 3, 15, 90–98

New York City, 3–4, 77, 80, 135, 184, 199

after 9/11, 115

Network Plus office, 5, 6, 25 9/11/2001, 64

New York Times
, 72, 212

Kakutani, Michiko, 193

Nichols, Kevin, 25, 32, 38, 102, 124, 130, 168 9/11, 19, 20, 94, 99, 100, 113, 114, 149, 188, 200–204, 209–210, 218.

See also all related topics

memorials, 161, 164–165 9/11/2001

after the explosions, 71–77, 78–86

before the attack, 31–34

81st floor in Tower 1, 34–39

exit from Tower 1, 40–60

outside Tower 1, 60–61, 62–75

Tower 1 collapse, 67–71

Tower 2, 63, 72–73

one-year anniversary, 163, 164, 165–166

survivors, 118, 123, 164, 189, 190, 209 9/11 fatigue, 176–177, 189

North Tower.
See under
Twin Towers

opportunism, 187, 188

Oprah Winfrey Show
,
The
, 19, 126, 175, 188.
See also
Winfrey, Oprah

interview of Network Plus staff, 129–134

negotiations to appear in, 122–125

Pataki, George, 138

PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson), 6, 12, 23, 24, 31, 90, 186

Pentagon, 75, 79, 91, 158

Pleasantdale Chateau, 14, 167, 168

People
, 104, 118, 139

photo shoot, 104, 110, 111, 112, 113

Powers, John, 8

Racioppe, Lou, 140

Red Cross, 71

Reinstein, Marc, 13, 32, 33, 34, 37, 102, 146, 168

Reynolds, Jen, 136

Ridge, Doug, 141

Rubicam, Paul, 34, 168

Schlesinger, Richard, 148

Shughart, Randy, 27

Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, 139

Smith, Shepard, 176

Sotack, Jen, 32, 33

Spider-Man
, 152

South Tower.
See under
Twin Towers

Sullenberger, Chesley, 210–211, 213

Sullivan, Tom, 78, 168

Survivor
, 159, 160

survivor’s guilt.
See
guilt

Tavern On Rush, 126

Terzano, James, 18

Telco Networks, 162, 163, 173

Today Show
,
The
, 114, 135, 210

trauma, 92, 99, 101, 105, 154, 178, 181, 193, 195, 203, 209

Twin Towers, 26, 62, 72, 78, 90, 124, 157, 143, 158, 189, 210

Tower 1 (North), 4, 24, 26

collapse of, 67–71

81st floor, 34–39

exit from, 40–60

Tower 2 (South), 2, 47, 48, 55, 58, 62, 63, 72–73, 78, 97, 100, 102, 103, 131, 186

Toussaint, Angela, 124, 125, 130, 131, 190

Toussaint, Jeff, 125

United States Senate Hearing, 155–157, 175

unity, 127, 158, 159, 175, 201, 207–215

USA Today
, 81, 96, 103, 118, 119

Wall Street Journal
, 132

Wenrich, Brian “Boozer,” 28, 75, 77–80, 84, 168, 217

West Side Highway, 59, 60, 62, 63, 71, 73, 74, 75, 78

Winfrey, Oprah, 122, 123, 124, 125, 134. See also
Oprah Winfrey Show
interview with Network Plus staff 129–134

World Trade Center, 5, 6, 24, 26, 110, 119, 187, 218.
See also all related topics
9/11/2001, 37, 66, 75, 79, 103

Wright, Mike, 32, 38, 39, 102, 127, 131