They’re some of the images and videos etched in our collective memories of Sept. 11, 2001, and the days and weeks that followed.
There’s the cross that still stood, made out of the framework of the World Trade Center ...
... A photo of first responders, raising a flag, similar to that which flew over Iwo Jima ...
... An American flag, larger than a house, being unfurled, blanketing the seat of our nation’s defenders.
Here are their stories, told by the men and women who were there: