Posted on 09/11/2026 8:45:49 PM PDT by chickenlips
I was working for New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner when the unthinkable happened on Sept. 11, 2001.
As a death investigator, I would usually go to an apartment or the streets to investigate a homicide, a suicide or an accidental death.
Now it was my job to “work the pile” — that is, to recover and catalog the shattered human remains found in the burning, smoking rubble of the World Trade Center.
I had been at the OCME for nine years and had seen all manner of death. After some months my boss, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Charles Hirsch, called a meeting — even in the maw of death, there must be meetings.
SNIP>>>>>>
As Dr. Hirsch spoke about those who died in the impact zone where the planes hit, someone in the group made a reference to “the jumpers, the suicides.”
My boss was always calm and dignified, but at that moment I saw the strain on his face as he tried to maintain his composure.
His anger was palpable.
He put his hands flat on the table in front of him and said, “Never use those words. Never.”
They were pushed out, he explained, by flames and smoke.
SNIP>>>>>>
The terminology matters deeply, because the medical examiner determines the manner of death by strict protocols.
Suicide refers to “death at the hands of oneself with intent to die.”
Homicide is defined as “death at the hands of another.”
SNIP>>>>
That’s why every single death certificate of those who died on 9/11 reads “Homicide.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
“A 'jumper' is somebody who goes to the office in the morning knowing that they will commit suicide…Jumping indicates a choice, and these people did not have that choice. That is why the deaths were ruled a homicide because the actions of other people caused them to die. The force of the explosion and the fire behind them forced them out of the windows.”
“They were pushed out, he explained, by flames and smoke.”
Of course this is the case.
RIP
Citizens,Pilots,First Responders,
Americans.
The terrorist’s death certificates read “Suicide”
What human remains were the ME classifying as such, when the ruble of the falling buildings destroyed everything?
At this point in history, the disputed term becomes a matter of semantics, not much more than that. The victims are just as dead either way.
EXACTLY.
Murdered by mohammedans.
The truth ALWAYS matters.
He put his hands flat on the table in front of him and said, “Never use those words. Never.”
They were pushed out, he explained, by flames and smoke.
******************************************
I thought that a fitting punishment for any terrorist caught in relation to 9/11 would be to have a shipping container up on the roof of a building, open to the parking lot far below. Stuff it half full of hay and oil, put the terrorist in the container and light it. Figure it out so it is a slow burn but enough heat to finally make the terrorist decide his fate. Not very Christian of me I know, but...
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In their defense, they might have lived longer in free fall than they would have if they had stayed to be burned and suffocated. They might have even had a better chance of survival by jumping than staying were they were.
You really ARE an asshole.
As a child everyone at one point or another touched a hot stove. You withdraw your hand lightning quick, and there is no thought behind it.
The medical examiner was correct, they were pushed out by flames and smoke.
It does matter, for the victims, their families, society and history. Its an important distinction.
Not everything. Thee were still large numbers of body parts.
Agreed, it was not suicide.
It’s also an important distinction, as some insurance will not pay if death was by suicide, ultimately depending on the policy.
Words mean things and history should be accurate.
Don’t forget t add the pork fat to that fire.
To call any of those deaths a suicide is disgusting. No one showed up to the towers that day to commit suicide. They were all murdered. Murdered by radical Islam.
Why are radical Islamists allowed anywhere near our country?
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