In Memory of Melissa Cándida Doi

Melissa Cándida Doi was 32 years old and from Throgs Neck, New York. (Born: Bronx, New York). Melissa worked as a manager at IQ Financial Systems on the 83rd floor in the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

When the first plane struck the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Melissa was in a state of confusion. Originally, Melissa and her coworkers thought that it was a bomb that had gone off. After making their way down several flights of stairs, Melissa and her coworkers were told it was safe to go back up.

On the 44th floor the elevator opened and it was full and the only person to get on was Melissa. Melissa made her way back up the tower, not knowing the dangers she faced in doing so.

At 9.03am United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the southern facade of South Tower of the World Trade Center, impacting between the 77th and 85th floors.


Recording of part of the telephone call between Ms. Melissa Doi and operator Barnes

On that tragic morning, Melissa made a desperate 9-1-1 phone call from the 83rd floor of the South Tower. In it she is heard saying to the operator, "The floor is completely engulfed. We're on the floor, and we can't breathe, and it's very, very, very hot." Later Melissa says, "Can you stay on the line with me please? I feel like I'm dying."

The full call is 31 minutes long. After the first 4 minutes the operator can be heard as she tries to console Melissa, who apparently died while on the phone.

Her remains were found 3 years later.

10 Years Later - Lest We Forget

Firstly, I would just like to say I am from England and I didn't know anyone connected to what happened that terrible day in America on 11th, September 2001. Like many millions of people across the world I watched it all happen live on TV. That day in New York and all those horrible events have affected me ever since.

It is now 10 years since the 9/11 attacks in America, and it only seems like yesterday. For several years I have been studying the events of 9/11: looking at images, watching videos, reading articles, and remembering the victims. I feel so sorry for those people who suffered such terror.

What I can't get out of my mind are those people waving from the windows and holes in the WTC, those people who decided to jump from the towers, and those who made phone calls just before they died.

When I hear Melissa Doi's and Betty Ann Ong's telephone calls, I cry. Kevin Cosgrove's desperate 911 call from the South Tower of the WTC as it collapses is truly terrifying. The site of Edna Cintron (the Waving Woman), makes me feel so helpless. The pain and terror that these people felt still haunts me. I often think about them. It's a strange feeling really, it's almost as if I knew them personally. Today, I just wish I could help or speak to them, and say hey, I care, I am thinking about you today - 10 years later.

In total nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks on September 11, 2001

On that Tuesday morning, 19 terrorists from the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets. The hijackers intentionally crashed two planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City; both towers collapsed within two hours. Hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth jet, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to take control before it could reach the hijacker's intended target in Washington, D.C.

The Innocent Victims
2,753 civilians at the World Trade Center.
40 passengers and crew aboard United Flight 93.
59 passengers and crew aboard American Airlines Flight 77.
125 people in the Pentagon.

World Trade Center 9/11
20,000 body parts were recovered from Ground Zero. Up to 200 remains were linked to a single person. Only 293 intact bodies were found. Only twelve could be identified by sight. After 10 years, there are still NO remains for 1,123 of the victims who died at the World Trade Center.

I will never forget those poor people who suffered, and my heart goes out to their families -