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please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. At 912 a.m. on Tuesday September 11, 2001, 24-year-old Wells Crowther left a voicemail for his mother.

Speaking calmly, he said,

Mom, this is Wells.

I wanted you to know that I'm okay.

Nine minutes earlier, a hijacked commercial aircraft had been deliberately flown into the South Tower

of New York City's World Trade Center, marking the second major catastrophe that morning.

Seventeen minutes earlier, its neighboring twin skyscraper, the North Tower, had been

similarly hit.

The 110-story South Tower was struck between floors 77 and 85, several floors beneath the office

where Wells Krautha worked as an equities trader.

After Wells phoned his mother to let her know he was alive, he raced down to the sky lobby

on the 78th floor.

The tip of the plane's wing had torn through the space, leaving burning carnage in its wake.

A group of dazed and frightened survivors huddled at a bank of damaged elevators,

nursing injuries ranging from burns and broken bones to cracked ribs and punctured lungs.

Wells immediately took control of the chaotic situation and directed the survivors to an emergency stairwell that led to the ground level.

Carrying one woman on his back, he guided the group down over a dozen floors before urging them to go on without him. He then headed back upstairs.

By the time Wells made it back to the 78th floor, the area was overcome by thick dark smoke. He stripped it down to his

...