September 10, 2009 1:34 PM

Tuesday's Children

By
Daniel Schorn

Losing a parent on 9/11 is unlike anything else. There were no goodbyes. The murder was so public and reminders never end. There's a feeling of helplessness still and that's what Costa Rica was all about.

Tuesday's Children brought them here to lend a hand easing poverty. The village school sorely needed repairs and paint — and the Garcia family which only had an outhouse would get a bathroom built by the end of the week.

"They need to start giving back to help ease their pain. They're trying to turn the pain into something more positive," says Kathy Murphy from Tuesday's Children, who organized this first trip centered on helping others. "So giving back is a tool that will — that will do that and it will build resilience in the children."

"The youngest child in Tuesday's Children is four and a half, which really begs the question how long do you go on?" Pelley asks.

"Well we certainly go on to see that four and a half year old completely through college, for sure, and then into, you know, the job market," Murphy says.

Tuesday's Children has also had its troubles. The charity fired its founder Christopher Burke after he was caught stealing donations. Burke pleaded guilty to grand larceny and was sentenced to five years probation. Burke's parents repaid the money.

The idea of summer camps for 9/11 kids started right away in 2002. 60 Minutes looked in on one called, "America's Camp" in August in Massachusetts. There were 250 9/11 kids.

Jennifer Angelini is 12, her sister Jacqueline is ten. They've found comfort in the company of kids.

"Because everybody knows how everybody else feels. Like, they know what they're going through. So like, like 'Oh if you can do that, I can do that too.' They're not afraid to be embarrassed," Jennifer says.

"And, they can talk to you — like, about how you feel, cause they can say like,
'I feel they same way, or something,'" Jacqueline says.

On 9/11, the Angelini kids lost their father and their grandfather, both New York City firefighters. They were Joseph, Sr. and Joseph, Jr.; Joseph Angelini the third was three on 9/11.

"I forgot who said it, but they said that my grandpa went in after my dad," Jennifer remembers.

"Yeah, cause he knew that he might — he knew that my dad would go in there," Jacqueline adds. "And, even if my dad was home, he would have went because they called firefighters from all over the world. Even if you were on the other side of the world you would've came in you would have had to."

In these first five years, the 9/11 generation has been growing up. Some like Joseph Angelini III are in grade school with very few memories of that day.

Others are in college now. Zach Zion, who 60 Minutes first met in 2001, weeks after the attacks, was 18 at the time. He talked about his dad, Chuck, who was a senior vice president of the financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center.

Zack was in high school when 60 Minutes spoke to him the first time in 2001; today, after five years, he's finishing college.

"Does September 11th, 2001 feel like it was yesterday? Or does it feel like it was a long time ago?" Pelley asks.

"It feels like it was very recent. And, you know, it's buried there in your past. But at the same time, you have so many opportunities to see it all over again every time you pick up a paper, turn on the TV. There's always reminders there," says Zack.

Reminders come in the most unexpected ways. Like a receipt from his father's desk that was found burned and blowing down a street in Brooklyn. An artist found it and framed it.

"He was such a great teacher and he was taken away from me right when he was about to start teaching," Zack says. "And I've come to realize that since our last interview, you know. Over the five years, I've really seen, you know, that from his perspective, he was probably just on the verge of being able to really teach me."

A mentor in Zack's chosen profession—his father's profession, finance. In fact, we were surprised at how many 9/11 kids want to follow their dad, like Captain Victor Saracini's daughter Brielle, who is taking flying lessons now.

Asked why, she says, "I think when I'm up in the air flying around, it'll give me a sense that I can be connected to my dad and I know that one day he was my age sitting in a plane flying around."

What is it like for her in the cockpit of the airplane?

"I don't know, it's a mixture of emotions," she says. "I feel really happy just knowing that, like my dad used to do this stuff and he used to – this was his profession."


Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved.
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