Tuesday's Children

Of all the things we've heard about 9/11 among the most troubling is this — about 3,000 children lost a parent that day. Their average age was nine years old. With the fifth anniversary, 60 Minutes wondered what has become of this 9/11 generation.

What correspondent Scott Pelley discovered is that, for many of them, it has been a bewildering, painful time. For some it feels like its still September 12th. To help them move forward, a group called "Tuesday's Children" has organized counseling, mentoring, summer trips to shepherd the children who lost a parent all the way through college.

Two of Tuesday's children are Bridget Fisher and Brielle Saracini, best friends who never would have met had Brielle's dad not been a captain for United Airlines and Bridget's dad a security specialist at the World Trade Center.

Bridget's dad, John Fisher, had left the World Trade Center before the attack but ran back when he heard the explosion. Fisher helped direct the evacuation from the command center. As he went in, Pilot Victor Saracini's hijacked Boeing 767 was zeroing in on the second tower. Saracini's daughter, Brielle, was 10 when her mother came to pick her up at school.

"She took me aside and she was, like, 'Dad's hurt.' And I was, like, 'Oh okay,' just thinking nothing of it and she's, like, 'He's really hurt. I don't think we're ever going to see him again,'" Brielle recalls.

Victor Saracini left behind two daughters. John Fisher was the father of seven, Bridget's brothers and sisters.

"After it happened, I stayed up with them and I comforted them. There were so many that my mom couldn't take care of us all, so I helped her with that," Bridget explains.

"I was more the strong one, I couldn't let my family see me cry. It was weird, I went to school the next day, um, and people were shocked to see me there," Brielle remembers. "I tried to be normal but I secretly hoped, months after I still hoped maybe he just couldn't remember where he lived or he was just in the hospital recovering, but, I eventually, five years from now, realize that he's just not coming back, and that's difficult but you just gotta move on."

How far has the 9/11 generation moved on? To find out, 60 Minutes went with Tuesday's Children on a summer trip to Costa Rica. The kids told Pelley they like to be together because they understand each other — there's no pity or awkward conversation because they're all coming from the same place.

A group of children volunteered to talk to 60 Minutes even though the questions would be hard to answer and—frankly hard to ask. Pelley found 9/11 is still present even in kids eager to move on.

"After 9/11, I used to hate everybody around me. And just - I was so mad," recalls Erik Abrahamson. "I used to hate just everyone, how they looked at me, just everything."

"I always thought my dad would like be there for me like forever," says Marina Wang. "But, it's kinda, like, you know."

Asked how she is different today, Marina says, "It's just that, you know the people who did this, they don't know that like you can't destroy love no matter what you do."

"You can't destroy love," Pelley remarks.

"Yeah," Marina replies, crying.

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."

The children hold on every way they can. Because once they lost their parent to terror now they're losing them to time.

"Sometimes I remember from when my brothers put on his cologne I remember his smell but I don't really remember him. I don't remember what he loo…," Bridget Fisher says.

"When you lose someone those memories tend to fade when you don't see them all the time," Pelley remarks.

"Yeah, I don't remember him that much, it's sad," she acknowledges.

"After five years some of my memories are fading away and in a way it kind of scares me because I don't want them to be gone of course," says Brielle.

Asked if she remembers her father's voice, Brielle says, "I remember his voice because my mom keeps it on his voice mail."

"Do you remember what it is?" Pelley asks.

"Yes, he gets on the phone he says 'Hi this is Victor. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Please leave a message, thank you.' and then he hangs up. Sometimes it bothers me cause I know he won't get back to me, sometimes. But, I don't know. It's the best we can do," Brielle replies.

The kids in Costa Rica told 60 Minutes some of the worst memories don't fade because the media won't let them. Pelley got an earful about showing those pictures of 9/11 over and over again.

"Even when you're just sitting down like eating dinner and watching TV, you'll just have a nice conversation and then all the sudden you'll see like pictures of 9/11. You can't escape it. It's just like everywhere you go its always like you're always reminded of it somehow even in the littlest thing," explains Amy Gardner.

"They're showing my dad's death and everyone else here. It's just really offensive. Every time I see it, it brings up so much and it actually really hurts," says Erik Abrahamson.

Erik, who lost his dad, William, may have had a harder time than many, you can almost see it in his eyes. He told 60 Minutes that hatred he felt for everyone has faded and just now, he's putting some distance between himself and 9/11.

"This past two years or maybe, this year, I've started to really come to grip of what went on and how I was affected by it, and how much I've changed from it, actually," he says.

9/11 will always be about the sky. After an airplane killed his dad Erik was afraid, afraid of planes, afraid of flying, afraid of remembering.

Today, in the same skies of New York, Erik puts 9/11 behind him by soaring straight into it," flying a glider.

"I'm starting actually to do the take off now so I'm kind of concentrating, on not screwing up now," he remarks inside the cockpit of his glider.

"Once you are at a certain altitude they let you go and you start soaring," he says. "It's really great if you look out the window you see everybody flying by you but you are the one that's flying. And then you just kind of go right up and by then you are just kind of climbing and climbing it's a really great feeling."

The passage of five years has been a transforming time. The 9/11 generation is raising the courage to face what was painful and in searching for meaning they've found answers in themselves.

"I don't think I would be the same person if 9/11 didn't happen to me," says Brielle. "I wish it – I would change it if I had the chance, of course, but, I think it has made me realize that I need to be nicer to people and maybe if I can help give back it will spread and people won't do things like hijack airplanes and take the lives of other people."

"After 9/11 happened, I was laying with my sister – I remember telling her, 'I'm so sad. How, how, how am I gonna to make myself happy?' And I figured it out. It's by making other people happy. Other people around you. It's by doing good deeds for other people. That's how—that's what makes me happy," says Bridget.

"You know some people never figure out that secret of life," Pelley remarks.

"I'm lucky," she replies. "I'm lucky in so many ways."
Produced By Rebecca Peterson and Shawn Efran