New York
The city of New York last week released a massive archive of the Sept. 11 rescue effort, providing a fresh glimpse of the horror four years after the attacks. In 15 hours of radio transmissions and hundreds of interviews, firefighters and paramedics painted a picture of a brave but confused response, with many rescuers cut off from their commanders and forced to take action on their own. A court ordered the documents released after The New York Times and the families of eight victims argued the material should be made public under the Freedom of Information Act. Anything that would shed light on something would be healing, said the brother of a firefighter who died.