Chatham NC First Responder Memorial

09/12/2026

09/12/2026

How 9/11 hero flight attendant Betty Ong identified her plane’s hijackers ..

By : Susan Edelman
September 10, 2021

At 8:20 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, Betty Ann Ong spoke in a low voice on an Airfone from the rear of American Airlines Flight 11.

Calm and businesslike, she told ground employees: “The cockpit’s not answering. Somebody’s stabbed in business class — and I think there’s Mace … I think we’re getting hijacked.”

Betty, 45, had asked to work an extra shift on Flight 11, bound for Los Angeles out of Boston’s Logan Airport, so she could join her sister Cathie for a vacation in Hawaii. But 14 minutes after takeoff, the hijacked plane made a U-turn and headed toward New York City.
Thanks to Betty’s furtive phone call, the world knows that terrorists critically wounded flight attendants Karen Martin and Bobbi Arestegui, slit the throat of business-class passenger Daniel Lewin, and “jammed their way” into the cockpit, where they likely killed co-pilots John Ogonowski and Thomas McGuinness Jr.

We also know that they sprayed Mace — which was prohibited on flights — and that passengers huddled in coach to escape the toxic fumes as the plane flew erratically toward the NYC skyline.
Authorities were able to quickly identify the five hijackers because Betty and fellow attendant Madeline Sweeney relayed the seat numbers of the men.
Ong’s last words: “Pray for us. Pray for us.” Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower at 8:46 a.m.

09/12/2026

At 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11, NYPD Officer Moira Smith saw the first plane hit and called it in. Hours later, she became the only female New York City police officer to die that day. Twenty-five years on, her cousin is keeping her story alive: http://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/history/remembering-911/moira-smith-nypd-officer-911/507-79bd5e3a-6b9a-4ca0-b707-77a9aab60a9d?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_WFMY_News_2

09/12/2026

09/12/2026

The youngest FDNY member to be killed on 9-11 was Firefighter Michael Cammarata.

At just 22 years of age, he had been on the job just 9 weeks. When his company, Ladder 11 in Manhattan, was called to the scene of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, he left a message on his father's voice mail saying he was heading to the scene of the disaster. Mike, his family said, had always wanted to be a firefighter. He was also a star hockey player for New Jersey semi-pro team. Ten years before 9/11, Michael played in the Little League Baseball World Series for South Shore Little League of Staten Island, N.Y. Today, only one number is officially retired from use in the Little League Baseball World Series. It is Michael Cammarata’s No. 11, and it is still proudly displayed on the right field wall of Lamade Stadium, where he patrolled proudly as a member of his team at the age of 12. The Huguenot resident is survived by his brother Joseph Jr, parents, Joseph and Linda and his sister Kimberly Cammarata.

Mike was last seen conducting fire operations at the Marriott Hotel at the foot of the WTC.

Mike's remains were never recovered.

On June 7, 2003 a vial of blood donated by Mike during his time at the fire academy was buried with full department honors.

This is Michael Cammarata's list that his brother found inside his night table a day after he died. 1. "Take care of Jenna," referring to his girlfriend of 7 yrs.
2."Don't mourn me. This is the career I chose.
3."Make my spirit live on." 4."Remember I love you all will be waiting for you upstairs."

Mike's entire company of Ladder Co. 11 perished on 9/11.

May he continue to rest in peace with his brothers...