Sept. 11, 2026
"And Unborn Child"; A 9/11 Tribute to 11 Would-Be 1st-Time Moms
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RSS Feed On this 25th anniversary, we all remember the fallen victims of 9/11. We hear the names of those who were taken in the attacks on the twin towers, the Pentagon and on United Flight 93 in Shanksville Pennsylvania, but did you know there were 11 unborn babies who also died that day and in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing? We tell the stories of the pregnant women and their unborn children, who remain unaccounted for in the final tally of 2,977 victims, but are memorialized at ground zero with the words “and unborn child” following their mothers’ names.
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00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey there folks, it is Friday, September the 11th, and yes, there are 2,977 names inscribed at the 9-11 memorial. This morning, we want to tell you about 11 of them in particular. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ Ropes. It struck me so, so many years ago when I first walked by that memorial living in downtown New York, when I see, you walk by names, you see random names you don't recognize. Then something that really stands out for you is when you see someone's name and it says next to it, and unborn child. You can't help but stop, Groves, and just take a minute.
00:00:41
Speaker 2: I'll be honest. I've never noticed that before. And you pointed it out.
00:00:46
Speaker 3: And if anyone can hear in TJ's voice if he sounds a little off, that is pure emotion.
00:00:53
Speaker 2: I have been watching.
00:00:54
Speaker 3: TJ sit across from me putting together this episode and he did a deep dive into all of the stories behind and unborn child. And I have watched TJ get up to use the restroom at least five or six times to blow his nose as tears are streaming down his face.
00:01:13
Speaker 2: I know, but your voice actually sounds different.
00:01:15
Speaker 3: And I, I wanted to explain that this has been a really, it's, it's, it's, gut-wrenching, but it's also beautiful just to see that this pain is real and needs to be remembered. There's a reason why we honor the victims each and every year and on this 25th anniversary. These are some of the victims that we don't hear about. These are the unnamed victims.
00:01:38
Speaker 1: In Rome, this is something I realized as well. And we'll say, first of all, that yes, out of all those names, there are 11. So 11 pregnant women who are recognized at the memorial with and unborn child next to their name. Robes also found out that the unborn kids aren't actually counted among the dead. They actually aren't. I'm sure they have their reasons for that. It's not some criticism, but just pointing that fact out. But Robes, I didn't realize there were actually that many, 11. And then once I thought about it, I thought there were more than reason, Robes. I just said to you a second ago, the stories keep getting worse. And I mean that by you hear a woman, an unborn child die. Yes, that's sad. That is gutting. You start reading some of the details, and this one just found out that morning she was pregnant. This one was due next month. This one had a wedding coming up that weekend. Like, everyone is like, Jesus, how can you make a story that sad? That sad sounds sadder, and some of the details were just killing me this morning.
00:02:36
Speaker 3: And to the point where it is a struggle just to to try and be able to tell these stories and not put yourself in that position or someone who loved that woman or was excited about that child. And it's just a reminder of what happened and what was lost and the pain that is still being felt today. All of the what ifs and should have beens are all right there for us to see. And I have never heard anyone actually talk about the and unborn child.
00:03:08
Speaker 1: I was kind of surprised. I'm sure someone at some point somewhere has done so. But again, for us, we've lived down here for a while. I think, oh yeah, we both lived down here quite a while. And I have spent so much time, Robes, and you know this, in difficult times in my life, just wandering in the middle of the night out there at the memorial. So I did look at and see and read a lot of names, and unborn child is just something that stood out. But I didn't know, and we're going to tell you. Eleven, we're just going to give you quick. We're going to let you hear their names and tell you some of these details that are very difficult to hear still 25 years later. But Robes, this is where it starts. Ten pregnant women died in the 9-11 attacks. But there are actually 11 names that say and unborn child next to it. Because one of the women robes, I didn't realize, they also honor, I didn't know this, the five who died in the 1993 World Trade Center attack. That bombing when the van was in the basement, that whole thing. Five died. One that died in that is Monica Rodriguez-Smith. She died in that attack. She was seven months pregnant. And this was her first child. This was actually her last day at work before she was supposed to go on maternity leave. And Rose, they say before this, she had never missed a day of work in 11 years.
00:04:29
Speaker 3: Right?
00:04:30
Speaker 1: So she's supposed to go on maternity leave the next day. Now, she dies and they want to honor her. They include those victims as well as they should. Her husband said, I would like for you to add this to her inscription. and unborn child. They agreed to do so, but then they went and they offered it robes to the families of the other women that they knew were pregnant as well. So he, a victim who didn't even die on 9-11. is now responsible for this being a part of this 9-11 memorial. I didn't know that part, baby.
00:05:04
Speaker 3: That's beautiful. And yes, she was Monica Rodriguez-Smith. It was her husband. But she was pregnant with her first child that you mentioned.
00:05:13
Speaker 2: It was a little boy.
00:05:14
Speaker 3: And I just like to hear that story. note that she was on her final day before maternity leave. That's such a, like any woman who's pregnant, who's a working mom knows that like that last day is a joyful one.
00:05:28
Speaker 2: It's bittersweet. You're saying goodbye to all your colleagues, but you're excited about what's to come.
00:05:33
Speaker 3: You can't wait to come back with the baby in a couple months and show all your coworkers. But there is this celebratory, excited anticipation on that final day of maternity leave.
00:05:43
Speaker 2: Oh, so sad.
00:05:44
Speaker 1: So she, I guess, and her husband were the ones that kind of started all of this robe. So the 10 women who died, Rose, I'm just going to start with Diana Galante. She was 32 years old from Staten Island. She was expecting her first child with her husband, Anthony. She was on the 106th floor of the North Tower building. She was six weeks from maternity leave robes, and I mentioned expecting her first child. All of these were young women, and they were all expecting their first child. These weren't moms who were expecting another. These are all of them were first-time moms. Wow.
00:06:19
Speaker 3: And then we have Lauren Catuzzi-Grancolas. She was 38 years old. She was from California. She was expecting her first child with her husband, Jack. And she was a consultant for Good Housekeeping magazine. And she had left her job to write a book. And so she ended up being a passenger on Flight 93, returning....
00:06:43
Speaker 2: From her grandmother's funeral.
00:06:45
Speaker 1: And the book you mentioned there was her family. The details are crazy. Her family ended up finishing.
00:06:55
Speaker 2: The book for her.
00:06:56
Speaker 1: Oh, my goodness.
00:06:58
Speaker 3: This is what her husband said of her. Everything had meaning to her and purpose. You just didn't do something. If you just did something, why do it? Put some heart into it was her motto. You don't always have to do it right or it doesn't have to be perfect, but it's got to have some meaning, some heart to it.
00:07:12
Speaker 2: She had a big, big heart that way.
00:07:14
Speaker 1: I like that part. It doesn't have to be perfect. Put some heart into it. It's still going to be meaningful. I thought that was cool. Jennifer Lynn Howley, 34, New Hyde Park from here in New York, in Long Island. She was actually raised in Nebraska. She was expecting her first child with her husband, Brian. She was five months pregnant. She was a senior VP at an insurance company, but she was on the 92nd floor of the South Tower in robes. This is a young lady who, throughout her life, she actually lost her mom to a brain aneurysm at the age of six. She'd been deaf in her right ear since childhood. She came to New York to follow her dreams, Rose, nannying for a family. They leave. She ends up being without a job and homeless for a little bit. Wow. And then works her way up.
00:07:53
Speaker 3: She became a senior vice president at Aon Corporation, which is an insurance company. She was on the 92nd floor of the South Tower when the plane hits. But my goodness, just so much heart, so much passion. perseverance and yes, five months pregnant.
00:08:11
Speaker 2: Oh, all right.
00:08:12
Speaker 3: Next we have Helen cross and Kittle 34 years old from Larchmont, Larchmont, New York here. She was also five months pregnant expecting her first child with her husband. She was on the 103rd floor of the North tower and a specialist for Cantor Fitzgerald, um, wanted to start her family immediately. She had just gotten married.
00:08:35
Speaker 1: Look at the math there, baby. She was five months pregnant. She got married April of 2001. They started immediately. They started trying immediately. And she was five months pregnant. So the timing worked out. My goodness. Vanessa Langer, she's 29 years old. She was four months pregnant, expecting her first child with her husband, Tim. She was on the 93rd floor of the South Tower. And this is the one I just mentioned, I think, Rose, right before we started.
00:09:03
Speaker 3: This one is just gutting because not only were there two victims with Vanessa Lang Langer and her unborn child, there ended up becoming three victims because her husband just was so overwhelmed by grief.
00:09:16
Speaker 2: He ultimately died as well.
00:09:18
Speaker 3: And so his obituary, her husband's obituary, Timothy Joseph Langer died. On July 25th, 2005, sadly, an indirect victim of 9-11. Tim now joins his late wife, Vanessa, and their unborn child, who died tragically at the World Trade Center. He just didn't want to live without her, without them.
00:09:39
Speaker 1: That's what they say. They use the word in some of the write-ups about her, that he spiraled. Yeah. That he spiraled. So what was that, four?
00:09:46
Speaker 2: Four years later. About four years later, yes.
00:09:49
Speaker 1: So yeah, you think about it, the robes you see, that's... Like what potential there was. There was a family of three developing and now they're all gone. Yeah. Yeah.
00:09:58
Speaker 2: Then there was Patricia and. Simaroli Massari.
00:10:04
Speaker 3: She was only 25 years old from Queens. She was expecting her first child with her husband, Louis. Get this, and you just, this one gutted you. She found out that morning on 9-11, 2001, that she was pregnant. And she was on the 98th floor of the North Tower.
00:10:25
Speaker 1: It's those, like it's sad. You see Patricia, an unborn child. Then you read into some of these stories. It goes well beyond inscription. It's crazy.
00:10:34
Speaker 3: To think about that just unimaginable joy that she felt that morning. And then for that day to begin with such excitement and anticipation and joy for both her and her husband and to have it. And obviously she shared it with her husband because he wouldn't have known. Can you imagine so many women will keep that a secret and find a moment to tell their husbands or make sure it's real or just wait until they find the right moment. She told him obviously that morning she was so excited, went to work and never came home.
00:11:05
Speaker 1: Renee Ann May, 39 years old from California. She was actually a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 77. I hope she was expecting as well, her first child with her fiancé, her brand new fiancé. I hope they had only gotten engaged the month before.
00:11:22
Speaker 3: She was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 77. And then there was Sylvia San Pio Resta, 26 years old from Bayside here in New York, She was seven months pregnant. She was also expecting her first child with her husband, John. She was a trader at Car Futures, and she was in the North Tower.
00:11:46
Speaker 1: Robes, this is the one I failed to put in here. Make sure I've got the right one here. John, her husband... Worked in the same office building. He died in the same office as her that day.
00:12:03
Speaker 3: So a family of three all died in that one tragedy.
00:12:09
Speaker 1: You see what I mean? As I was going through these, I said, oh, my goodness, this is so sad. And I go to the next one. Oh, my God, that detail. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Every single one of these had something robes that just makes you go, you've got to be kidding me. You've got to be kidding me.
00:12:25
Speaker 2: And next is another family of three.
00:12:29
Speaker 1: Yes, again, another passenger here that was on the plane. Actually, we're going to take a quick little break here, folks. I'm going to tell you about the last two in a second, and I promise I'm going to get it together.
00:12:47
Speaker 3: Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ, and it is a special episode on a very important day. I know sometimes we all have our different feelings. And we certainly have heavy hearts when 9-11 comes around each and every year. But on this 25th anniversary, this was a beautiful tribute, TJ, that you came up with as you have spent so much time there at Ground Zero, just having lived right next door, literally, to it for many, many years. And you would often notice that there was an inscription next to so many women's names that said, and unborn child. And I'll be honest, I had never noticed it. But last night you went And you took pictures of some of those names. And when you start to hear the stories, the stories behind those names, the stories behind those and unborn child who actually aren't counted, I didn't realize that in the count. And to remember not just these unborn children, but the families and the women who loved them, who many of them died along with them. It's overwhelming to just really fully grasp all that was lost, who was lost. I think about those children who would have already graduated from college at this point. You never got a chance to experience what their life could have.
00:14:07
Speaker 2: Been or would have looked like.
00:14:09
Speaker 1: Rama Salee is 28 years old. She was on American Airlines flight 11. She was in Boston with her husband. They lived there, but they were heading to California for a wedding. And she Actually, seven months pregnant, Rose. She was due in November. But, yes, her husband was on that plane with her. She actually grew up in Japan, I believe it was, but moved to go to Wesley... Wesleyan Women's College there? Yes. She went to school there, met him there. He actually converted to Islam to marry her. My goodness.
00:14:43
Speaker 3: And I think about she was seven months pregnant on this plane and she was due, you said, in November.
00:14:49
Speaker 2: That to me, I think.
00:14:50
Speaker 3: About being a woman and probably her biggest fear was, is it too late to get on this plane?
00:14:55
Speaker 2: Some airlines even have restrictions.
00:14:57
Speaker 3: Once you're eight months pregnant, you cannot fly because of the risk of actually going into labor and not wanting to have any complications on board the plane. And maybe she even asked her doctor for permission. I think you get to a certain point, certainly after six months, you ask your doctor, is it okay if I get on this plane? Is it okay if I get on this flight? Are there any reasons for me to be concerned? And just thinking about that was probably in her head and on her mind and never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined that this would have been the thing she should have feared.
00:15:28
Speaker 1: The other here, the last one we'll share with you, is Diane Signer. Where was she from? Here in the New York area. She was 32 years old. She was expecting her first child with her fiancé, Paul, who was supposed to be her husband, Robes, that weekend. She was in the 93rd floor of the North Tower, but yes, they were to be married that Saturday. And the priest decided to have a mass. Instead of a wedding.
00:15:59
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness. Like a funeral mass instead of a wedding.
00:16:03
Speaker 1: These stories are nuts.
00:16:04
Speaker 3: It's crazy to think about just all of the hopes and dreams and all of the possibilities that were... On those planes and in those towers and in the Pentagon, it's just overwhelming. And I mentioned this in Morning Run, if you all listened at all, but I had an experience in the elevator of our building yesterday. And our community here, our neighborhood of Battery Park was having a dinner, a community dinner, basically to commemorate.
00:16:34
Speaker 2: The 9-11 attacks and just.
00:16:35
Speaker 3: To kind of reaffirmed the community that's been built around this area where there had been and continues to be so much loss. But it was interesting because this man I had never met a neighbor on our floor just said to me, are you going to the dinner tonight? And I said, no. And I explained why. And he said, I think it's effing disgusting. I lost my wife on nine 11. How could anyone gather to celebrate anything on a day like this? And he, his pain, he actually kind of stormed out of the elevator and I, I kind of took my breath away because I think a lot of us forget just how real and raw and present that grief still is for.
00:17:15
Speaker 2: People who lost someone they loved in that attack. And it's as if it happened yesterday to those folks.
00:17:23
Speaker 3: And look, everyone chooses different ways to memorialize, to commemorate, to honor the people who have fallen, but it's just important to remember to respect where people are. And they might not be where some of us are or where others are, but just to see and feel and hear his pain and his.
00:17:40
Speaker 2: Grief was, it stayed with me.
00:17:43
Speaker 3: And I just thought, wow, we need to recognize sometimes that People are feeling things that we can't even imagine on this day and, frankly, on every day after they lost someone that important to them.
00:17:56
Speaker 1: So we will say it again. If you're ever coming to New York, I know we got a lot of things you got to go see. You got to go to Times Square. You got to go see Taylor Swift's wedding venue. You got to go to Central Park. You got to go see the Statue of Liberty. Yeah, we get it. First stop needs to be the 9-11 Memorial. I have said that from the time they opened that thing. It should be your first stop. You, it's beautiful. It's worth a trip for you personally, but just to take a moment to, to honor. And yes, Rob, don't, you said you didn't, I think most people might not notice that that stuff's there. There are 3000 names and Rob, it takes a little walking around to maybe come upon one of those. So, um, they are there. There are 11 of those women and you just, uh, I don't know. This just came to us this morning to, To share that and put it beyond just numbers, beyond just stats, beyond just moments of silence and give you some names and give you some backstories to, I guess, Robes, 11 women, but 22 victims in that.
00:18:57
Speaker 3: Well, and thank you for noticing that. and for taking the time to tell their stories, because I know that was, I mean, you've cried more in these last few hours than you have probably, and you do cry.
00:19:10
Speaker 1: I felt ridiculous.
00:19:11
Speaker 2: You are crying.
00:19:12
Speaker 1: I couldn't stop. It was absurd.
00:19:14
Speaker 2: It was actually beautiful.
00:19:15
Speaker 1: It was absurd.
00:19:16
Speaker 2: And I think that that is beautiful, to stop, to remember.
00:19:20
Speaker 3: And to take some of that pain that we feel and put it into the people who are here, who are around you, who you can still tell you love and to give those folks a big old hug. So that's always been the takeaway from a day like this. So we hope you can do the same. We always appreciate you listening to.
00:19:38
Speaker 2: Us, everyone. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes.
00:19:41
Speaker 1: We'll talk soon.
Speaker 1: Hey there folks, it is Friday, September the 11th, and yes, there are 2,977 names inscribed at the 9-11 memorial. This morning, we want to tell you about 11 of them in particular. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ Ropes. It struck me so, so many years ago when I first walked by that memorial living in downtown New York, when I see, you walk by names, you see random names you don't recognize. Then something that really stands out for you is when you see someone's name and it says next to it, and unborn child. You can't help but stop, Groves, and just take a minute.
00:00:41
Speaker 2: I'll be honest. I've never noticed that before. And you pointed it out.
00:00:46
Speaker 3: And if anyone can hear in TJ's voice if he sounds a little off, that is pure emotion.
00:00:53
Speaker 2: I have been watching.
00:00:54
Speaker 3: TJ sit across from me putting together this episode and he did a deep dive into all of the stories behind and unborn child. And I have watched TJ get up to use the restroom at least five or six times to blow his nose as tears are streaming down his face.
00:01:13
Speaker 2: I know, but your voice actually sounds different.
00:01:15
Speaker 3: And I, I wanted to explain that this has been a really, it's, it's, it's, gut-wrenching, but it's also beautiful just to see that this pain is real and needs to be remembered. There's a reason why we honor the victims each and every year and on this 25th anniversary. These are some of the victims that we don't hear about. These are the unnamed victims.
00:01:38
Speaker 1: In Rome, this is something I realized as well. And we'll say, first of all, that yes, out of all those names, there are 11. So 11 pregnant women who are recognized at the memorial with and unborn child next to their name. Robes also found out that the unborn kids aren't actually counted among the dead. They actually aren't. I'm sure they have their reasons for that. It's not some criticism, but just pointing that fact out. But Robes, I didn't realize there were actually that many, 11. And then once I thought about it, I thought there were more than reason, Robes. I just said to you a second ago, the stories keep getting worse. And I mean that by you hear a woman, an unborn child die. Yes, that's sad. That is gutting. You start reading some of the details, and this one just found out that morning she was pregnant. This one was due next month. This one had a wedding coming up that weekend. Like, everyone is like, Jesus, how can you make a story that sad? That sad sounds sadder, and some of the details were just killing me this morning.
00:02:36
Speaker 3: And to the point where it is a struggle just to to try and be able to tell these stories and not put yourself in that position or someone who loved that woman or was excited about that child. And it's just a reminder of what happened and what was lost and the pain that is still being felt today. All of the what ifs and should have beens are all right there for us to see. And I have never heard anyone actually talk about the and unborn child.
00:03:08
Speaker 1: I was kind of surprised. I'm sure someone at some point somewhere has done so. But again, for us, we've lived down here for a while. I think, oh yeah, we both lived down here quite a while. And I have spent so much time, Robes, and you know this, in difficult times in my life, just wandering in the middle of the night out there at the memorial. So I did look at and see and read a lot of names, and unborn child is just something that stood out. But I didn't know, and we're going to tell you. Eleven, we're just going to give you quick. We're going to let you hear their names and tell you some of these details that are very difficult to hear still 25 years later. But Robes, this is where it starts. Ten pregnant women died in the 9-11 attacks. But there are actually 11 names that say and unborn child next to it. Because one of the women robes, I didn't realize, they also honor, I didn't know this, the five who died in the 1993 World Trade Center attack. That bombing when the van was in the basement, that whole thing. Five died. One that died in that is Monica Rodriguez-Smith. She died in that attack. She was seven months pregnant. And this was her first child. This was actually her last day at work before she was supposed to go on maternity leave. And Rose, they say before this, she had never missed a day of work in 11 years.
00:04:29
Speaker 3: Right?
00:04:30
Speaker 1: So she's supposed to go on maternity leave the next day. Now, she dies and they want to honor her. They include those victims as well as they should. Her husband said, I would like for you to add this to her inscription. and unborn child. They agreed to do so, but then they went and they offered it robes to the families of the other women that they knew were pregnant as well. So he, a victim who didn't even die on 9-11. is now responsible for this being a part of this 9-11 memorial. I didn't know that part, baby.
00:05:04
Speaker 3: That's beautiful. And yes, she was Monica Rodriguez-Smith. It was her husband. But she was pregnant with her first child that you mentioned.
00:05:13
Speaker 2: It was a little boy.
00:05:14
Speaker 3: And I just like to hear that story. note that she was on her final day before maternity leave. That's such a, like any woman who's pregnant, who's a working mom knows that like that last day is a joyful one.
00:05:28
Speaker 2: It's bittersweet. You're saying goodbye to all your colleagues, but you're excited about what's to come.
00:05:33
Speaker 3: You can't wait to come back with the baby in a couple months and show all your coworkers. But there is this celebratory, excited anticipation on that final day of maternity leave.
00:05:43
Speaker 2: Oh, so sad.
00:05:44
Speaker 1: So she, I guess, and her husband were the ones that kind of started all of this robe. So the 10 women who died, Rose, I'm just going to start with Diana Galante. She was 32 years old from Staten Island. She was expecting her first child with her husband, Anthony. She was on the 106th floor of the North Tower building. She was six weeks from maternity leave robes, and I mentioned expecting her first child. All of these were young women, and they were all expecting their first child. These weren't moms who were expecting another. These are all of them were first-time moms. Wow.
00:06:19
Speaker 3: And then we have Lauren Catuzzi-Grancolas. She was 38 years old. She was from California. She was expecting her first child with her husband, Jack. And she was a consultant for Good Housekeeping magazine. And she had left her job to write a book. And so she ended up being a passenger on Flight 93, returning....
00:06:43
Speaker 2: From her grandmother's funeral.
00:06:45
Speaker 1: And the book you mentioned there was her family. The details are crazy. Her family ended up finishing.
00:06:55
Speaker 2: The book for her.
00:06:56
Speaker 1: Oh, my goodness.
00:06:58
Speaker 3: This is what her husband said of her. Everything had meaning to her and purpose. You just didn't do something. If you just did something, why do it? Put some heart into it was her motto. You don't always have to do it right or it doesn't have to be perfect, but it's got to have some meaning, some heart to it.
00:07:12
Speaker 2: She had a big, big heart that way.
00:07:14
Speaker 1: I like that part. It doesn't have to be perfect. Put some heart into it. It's still going to be meaningful. I thought that was cool. Jennifer Lynn Howley, 34, New Hyde Park from here in New York, in Long Island. She was actually raised in Nebraska. She was expecting her first child with her husband, Brian. She was five months pregnant. She was a senior VP at an insurance company, but she was on the 92nd floor of the South Tower in robes. This is a young lady who, throughout her life, she actually lost her mom to a brain aneurysm at the age of six. She'd been deaf in her right ear since childhood. She came to New York to follow her dreams, Rose, nannying for a family. They leave. She ends up being without a job and homeless for a little bit. Wow. And then works her way up.
00:07:53
Speaker 3: She became a senior vice president at Aon Corporation, which is an insurance company. She was on the 92nd floor of the South Tower when the plane hits. But my goodness, just so much heart, so much passion. perseverance and yes, five months pregnant.
00:08:11
Speaker 2: Oh, all right.
00:08:12
Speaker 3: Next we have Helen cross and Kittle 34 years old from Larchmont, Larchmont, New York here. She was also five months pregnant expecting her first child with her husband. She was on the 103rd floor of the North tower and a specialist for Cantor Fitzgerald, um, wanted to start her family immediately. She had just gotten married.
00:08:35
Speaker 1: Look at the math there, baby. She was five months pregnant. She got married April of 2001. They started immediately. They started trying immediately. And she was five months pregnant. So the timing worked out. My goodness. Vanessa Langer, she's 29 years old. She was four months pregnant, expecting her first child with her husband, Tim. She was on the 93rd floor of the South Tower. And this is the one I just mentioned, I think, Rose, right before we started.
00:09:03
Speaker 3: This one is just gutting because not only were there two victims with Vanessa Lang Langer and her unborn child, there ended up becoming three victims because her husband just was so overwhelmed by grief.
00:09:16
Speaker 2: He ultimately died as well.
00:09:18
Speaker 3: And so his obituary, her husband's obituary, Timothy Joseph Langer died. On July 25th, 2005, sadly, an indirect victim of 9-11. Tim now joins his late wife, Vanessa, and their unborn child, who died tragically at the World Trade Center. He just didn't want to live without her, without them.
00:09:39
Speaker 1: That's what they say. They use the word in some of the write-ups about her, that he spiraled. Yeah. That he spiraled. So what was that, four?
00:09:46
Speaker 2: Four years later. About four years later, yes.
00:09:49
Speaker 1: So yeah, you think about it, the robes you see, that's... Like what potential there was. There was a family of three developing and now they're all gone. Yeah. Yeah.
00:09:58
Speaker 2: Then there was Patricia and. Simaroli Massari.
00:10:04
Speaker 3: She was only 25 years old from Queens. She was expecting her first child with her husband, Louis. Get this, and you just, this one gutted you. She found out that morning on 9-11, 2001, that she was pregnant. And she was on the 98th floor of the North Tower.
00:10:25
Speaker 1: It's those, like it's sad. You see Patricia, an unborn child. Then you read into some of these stories. It goes well beyond inscription. It's crazy.
00:10:34
Speaker 3: To think about that just unimaginable joy that she felt that morning. And then for that day to begin with such excitement and anticipation and joy for both her and her husband and to have it. And obviously she shared it with her husband because he wouldn't have known. Can you imagine so many women will keep that a secret and find a moment to tell their husbands or make sure it's real or just wait until they find the right moment. She told him obviously that morning she was so excited, went to work and never came home.
00:11:05
Speaker 1: Renee Ann May, 39 years old from California. She was actually a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 77. I hope she was expecting as well, her first child with her fiancé, her brand new fiancé. I hope they had only gotten engaged the month before.
00:11:22
Speaker 3: She was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 77. And then there was Sylvia San Pio Resta, 26 years old from Bayside here in New York, She was seven months pregnant. She was also expecting her first child with her husband, John. She was a trader at Car Futures, and she was in the North Tower.
00:11:46
Speaker 1: Robes, this is the one I failed to put in here. Make sure I've got the right one here. John, her husband... Worked in the same office building. He died in the same office as her that day.
00:12:03
Speaker 3: So a family of three all died in that one tragedy.
00:12:09
Speaker 1: You see what I mean? As I was going through these, I said, oh, my goodness, this is so sad. And I go to the next one. Oh, my God, that detail. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Every single one of these had something robes that just makes you go, you've got to be kidding me. You've got to be kidding me.
00:12:25
Speaker 2: And next is another family of three.
00:12:29
Speaker 1: Yes, again, another passenger here that was on the plane. Actually, we're going to take a quick little break here, folks. I'm going to tell you about the last two in a second, and I promise I'm going to get it together.
00:12:47
Speaker 3: Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ, and it is a special episode on a very important day. I know sometimes we all have our different feelings. And we certainly have heavy hearts when 9-11 comes around each and every year. But on this 25th anniversary, this was a beautiful tribute, TJ, that you came up with as you have spent so much time there at Ground Zero, just having lived right next door, literally, to it for many, many years. And you would often notice that there was an inscription next to so many women's names that said, and unborn child. And I'll be honest, I had never noticed it. But last night you went And you took pictures of some of those names. And when you start to hear the stories, the stories behind those names, the stories behind those and unborn child who actually aren't counted, I didn't realize that in the count. And to remember not just these unborn children, but the families and the women who loved them, who many of them died along with them. It's overwhelming to just really fully grasp all that was lost, who was lost. I think about those children who would have already graduated from college at this point. You never got a chance to experience what their life could have.
00:14:07
Speaker 2: Been or would have looked like.
00:14:09
Speaker 1: Rama Salee is 28 years old. She was on American Airlines flight 11. She was in Boston with her husband. They lived there, but they were heading to California for a wedding. And she Actually, seven months pregnant, Rose. She was due in November. But, yes, her husband was on that plane with her. She actually grew up in Japan, I believe it was, but moved to go to Wesley... Wesleyan Women's College there? Yes. She went to school there, met him there. He actually converted to Islam to marry her. My goodness.
00:14:43
Speaker 3: And I think about she was seven months pregnant on this plane and she was due, you said, in November.
00:14:49
Speaker 2: That to me, I think.
00:14:50
Speaker 3: About being a woman and probably her biggest fear was, is it too late to get on this plane?
00:14:55
Speaker 2: Some airlines even have restrictions.
00:14:57
Speaker 3: Once you're eight months pregnant, you cannot fly because of the risk of actually going into labor and not wanting to have any complications on board the plane. And maybe she even asked her doctor for permission. I think you get to a certain point, certainly after six months, you ask your doctor, is it okay if I get on this plane? Is it okay if I get on this flight? Are there any reasons for me to be concerned? And just thinking about that was probably in her head and on her mind and never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined that this would have been the thing she should have feared.
00:15:28
Speaker 1: The other here, the last one we'll share with you, is Diane Signer. Where was she from? Here in the New York area. She was 32 years old. She was expecting her first child with her fiancé, Paul, who was supposed to be her husband, Robes, that weekend. She was in the 93rd floor of the North Tower, but yes, they were to be married that Saturday. And the priest decided to have a mass. Instead of a wedding.
00:15:59
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness. Like a funeral mass instead of a wedding.
00:16:03
Speaker 1: These stories are nuts.
00:16:04
Speaker 3: It's crazy to think about just all of the hopes and dreams and all of the possibilities that were... On those planes and in those towers and in the Pentagon, it's just overwhelming. And I mentioned this in Morning Run, if you all listened at all, but I had an experience in the elevator of our building yesterday. And our community here, our neighborhood of Battery Park was having a dinner, a community dinner, basically to commemorate.
00:16:34
Speaker 2: The 9-11 attacks and just.
00:16:35
Speaker 3: To kind of reaffirmed the community that's been built around this area where there had been and continues to be so much loss. But it was interesting because this man I had never met a neighbor on our floor just said to me, are you going to the dinner tonight? And I said, no. And I explained why. And he said, I think it's effing disgusting. I lost my wife on nine 11. How could anyone gather to celebrate anything on a day like this? And he, his pain, he actually kind of stormed out of the elevator and I, I kind of took my breath away because I think a lot of us forget just how real and raw and present that grief still is for.
00:17:15
Speaker 2: People who lost someone they loved in that attack. And it's as if it happened yesterday to those folks.
00:17:23
Speaker 3: And look, everyone chooses different ways to memorialize, to commemorate, to honor the people who have fallen, but it's just important to remember to respect where people are. And they might not be where some of us are or where others are, but just to see and feel and hear his pain and his.
00:17:40
Speaker 2: Grief was, it stayed with me.
00:17:43
Speaker 3: And I just thought, wow, we need to recognize sometimes that People are feeling things that we can't even imagine on this day and, frankly, on every day after they lost someone that important to them.
00:17:56
Speaker 1: So we will say it again. If you're ever coming to New York, I know we got a lot of things you got to go see. You got to go to Times Square. You got to go see Taylor Swift's wedding venue. You got to go to Central Park. You got to go see the Statue of Liberty. Yeah, we get it. First stop needs to be the 9-11 Memorial. I have said that from the time they opened that thing. It should be your first stop. You, it's beautiful. It's worth a trip for you personally, but just to take a moment to, to honor. And yes, Rob, don't, you said you didn't, I think most people might not notice that that stuff's there. There are 3000 names and Rob, it takes a little walking around to maybe come upon one of those. So, um, they are there. There are 11 of those women and you just, uh, I don't know. This just came to us this morning to, To share that and put it beyond just numbers, beyond just stats, beyond just moments of silence and give you some names and give you some backstories to, I guess, Robes, 11 women, but 22 victims in that.
00:18:57
Speaker 3: Well, and thank you for noticing that. and for taking the time to tell their stories, because I know that was, I mean, you've cried more in these last few hours than you have probably, and you do cry.
00:19:10
Speaker 1: I felt ridiculous.
00:19:11
Speaker 2: You are crying.
00:19:12
Speaker 1: I couldn't stop. It was absurd.
00:19:14
Speaker 2: It was actually beautiful.
00:19:15
Speaker 1: It was absurd.
00:19:16
Speaker 2: And I think that that is beautiful, to stop, to remember.
00:19:20
Speaker 3: And to take some of that pain that we feel and put it into the people who are here, who are around you, who you can still tell you love and to give those folks a big old hug. So that's always been the takeaway from a day like this. So we hope you can do the same. We always appreciate you listening to.
00:19:38
Speaker 2: Us, everyone. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes.
00:19:41
Speaker 1: We'll talk soon.