9/11: United We Stand – 25 Years Later

Matt Roush says...

An emotionally resonant ABC News special focuses less on the horror and chaos of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York, the Pentagon, and the doomed United Flight 93 but on the process of necessary healing that followed, with sports and entertainment providing a welcome comfort zone. “Our job was to give people something to cheer for,” recalls former New York Yankees superstar Derek Jeter, an executive producer along with Good Morning America‘s Michael Strahan, then with the New York Giants. Saturday Night Live alum Pete Davidson pays homage to his firefighter father, among the first responders who perished that day (“He’s my hero for sure”), while The Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart reflects on how late-night TV, including David Letterman‘s Late Show and SNL, helped comfort a grieving nation. Among the other voices heard: Matthew Broderick, starring in that year’s hot ticket The Producers, recalls the importance of Broadway’s lights coming back on, and Jon Bon Jovi and Billy Crystal provide anecdotes about taking the Madison Square Garden stage a month later as part of The Concert for New York City, organized by the legendary Paul McCartney. A quarter-century later, this is cultural history well worth remembering.

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