Posted on 09/26/2007 9:41:29 PM PDT by neverdem
Tania Heads story, as shared over the years with reporters, students, friends and hundreds of visitors to ground zero, was a remarkable account of both life and death.
She had, she said, survived the terror attack on the World Trade Center despite having been badly burned when the plane crashed into the upper floors of the south tower.
Crawling through the chaos and carnage on the 78th floor that morning, she said, she encountered a dying man who handed her his inscribed wedding ring, which she later returned to his widow.
Her own life was saved, she said, by a selfless volunteer who stanched the flames on her burning clothes before she was helped down the stairs. It was a journey she said she had the strength to make because she kept thinking of a beautiful white dress she was to wear at her coming marriage ceremony to a man named Dave.
But later she would discover, she said, that Dave, her fiancé, and in some versions her husband, had perished in the north tower.
As a matter of history, Ms. Heads account made her one of only 19 survivors who had been at or above the point of impact when the planes hit. As a matter of emotion, her story deeply moved audiences like college students to whom she spoke and visitors at ground zero, where she has long led tours for the Tribute W.T.C. Visitor Center for visitors including Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and former Gov. George E. Pataki.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Sounds like someone was looking for significance in her life and latched onto 9-11. I credit her for apparently avoiding financial fraud in the situation where so many others jumped in only for the money.
Reminds me of phony war “heros”. Some people just want to be famous so bad they’ll crawl through the mud to get it, and hope nobody will question why they are so dirty because of the supposed protections a hero deserves.
This is America, and this woman can pretty much say or do anything she wants, but I hope this really affects her ability to find love or happiness, because her actions have tainted something that was already incredibly painful to many Americans.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
Another manifestation of “Stolen Valor”
——every incident like this seems to bring out these people: remember the young kid who dressed up in fatigues and kept taking the stage at all the ceremonies after the first Gulf War?
This woman needs professional help.
I grieve for the families that she has mislead. This must be very painful for them.
Yep...another out-of-left-field wackjob.
Pure fiction: “It was a lot of death and destruction, but I also saw hope.
Yeah right.
Put her on melaril and lock her away.
She never shared those details [about who gave her the ring, bla bla bla], and it was nothing we wanted to probe,
Gee, thanks.
Wrong thread?
No, it was next to a NY link on my thread.
< /s>
I wonder if she really did avoid financial fraud. It says that she spoke to audiences. Colleges pay guest speakers. She might not have cashed in on the federal victim's money because she couldn't give real employment verification, but she might have cashed in on other opportunities.
You have to wonder where her money does come from, though. Living in Manhattan is expensive.
odd that NYT would run this...
Indeed. “Fake but accurate!”
Lol. Fake but accurate. That’s such a great phrase.
Very weird. I knew her (not very well) when I was a member of the WTC Survivor’s Network and always thought very highly of her.
She was always very quiet, spoke softly and never seemed to want to draw attention to herself. In fact, “quiet dignity” is the phrase that was often used to describe her.
(I left the WTCSN because it had turned into a left-wing circle jerk and was becoming a group of apologists for radical Islamists.)
It’s very sad that she apparently has some serious personal issues.
Judging by where she lives, I don’t think she needs money. Probably just attention. :(
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