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May 15, 2002 -- "In Memoriam: New York City, 9/11/01"
Sunday, May 26 at 9pm on HBO


LIKE thousands of other New Yorkers, my friend Louis Viel who lives downtown walked out of his house on his way to work on the morning of Sept. 11.

He was expecting to grab a cup of coffee, and then stop by the local photo shop. That's why he had his camera with him.

Then the first plane struck. He instinctively raised it to record what his eyes knew couldn't be real. Hundreds of other people who live, work or were visiting Wall Street that morning also happened to have their cameras with them and did the same thing.

"In Memoriam: New York City, 9/11/01," a brutal, overwhelmingly heart-wrenching documentary by HBO, is made up of those shots - film, tape and still photos - of 115 amateur and professionals who just happened to be there when hell happened.

Make no mistake. This is not a whitewashed version. This is not some awful Hollywood reproduction of the events - this is the real deal.

Yes, we do see people flying out of the windows, we do see them smashed on the ground. We do hear screams, and see terror and horror beyond our wildest imaginings.

We also see people being calmer than you can imagine, people more courageous than you can calculate, and sadder than you can begin to estimate.

It was the worst of times, and the best of us.

The questions will inevitably arise whether or not this is exploitation. Is it too soon to see the horror? Are the terrorist attacks now being used as entertainment?

Let me be the first to answer. No, no and no.

What this harsh, ugly film shows us is the reality of terror. It shows us that this day should never, ever be turned into a national holiday with 9/11 White Sales at Macy's.

It shows us that we must never forget what happened and never forgive the animals who did this.

Did it rip my guts out? You bet.

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, while not the narrator exactly, does act as the guide - with camera footage of the mayor and his staff from the second they realized what had happened, through the first horror-filled days.

Also on record is the former fire commissioner, Thomas Van Essen, and former police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, Operations Chief Joe Lhota, and Beth Petrone, an exec assistant to the mayor, whose husband, Capt. Terry Hatton, died that day.

Petrone even says, "I was grabbing the dust, thinking he was in the dust." If that doesn't break your heart, you have none.

Also on hand to speak is the mayor's girlfriend Judith Nathan telling us that Rudy went home that night and, to put things in perspective, read about Winston Chruchill.

It is heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. And it's also necessary.

So, before you read about exploitation, let me point out that the archives of the production will be donated to the permanent collection of the Museum of the City of New York, where it can be screened by the general public forever.

The score, chosen and recorded by the New York Philharmonic, is breathtaking.

Brad Grey Productions and HBO should be very proud of themselves - for realizing that all that footage was out there somewhere and bringing it all together.

I hope someday there will be another film - this one devoted to the Port Authority police who lost their lives, and the Army National Guard units who secured the area without even ammunition for their guns. And all the little-known stories of courage and help that we might not otherwise ever know about.

This is a necessary and needed film. The real heroes speak for themselves.

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God Bless America

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Captain Hatton was a friend of mine

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