Michael James Ahern, 1947-2015

On Sunday, January 24, as New York City awoke from beneath its snow blanket, I joined several hundred others at the memorial service for Michael James Ahern, who died in November 2015. I worked with Ahern when he annually produced Tribute in Light, the last few years in partnership with the 9/11 Memorial.

My colleagues and I knew Ahern as an incredible force of calmness, professionalism, confidence, and kindness during those early September days when we at the Memorial prepared for the annual 9/11 commemoration. If at any time we expressed a sense of anxiety, he listened, took a deep breath, and effectively said, "Don’t think twice, it's all right."

At the celebration of Ahern's life, I was not surprised to hear that this kindness, humor, fairness, and intelligence permeated his work and family. And he had an extraordinary career, largely producing rock concerts: He was on the production crew for the Rolling Stones concert at Slade Castle in Ireland and did the voice-over introduction for the Allman Brothers at Fillmore East. His friends and colleagues dropped the names Bowie, Prince, and Dylan, along with Live Aid and Amnesty International concerts. They didn't tell the story of how, in the days after 9/11, Ahern came to be setting up lights at ground zero, but it makes sense that he would have gotten himself downtown to hook up generators and restore power.

The best people in our lives challenge us to see ourselves in a better light. Ahern is one of those people.

To his wife Mady and his daughters Hannah and Eliza, we send our deepest condolences. We add our overwhelming gratitude for the gift he gave us all, allowing millions to remember magnificent people with a tribute that rises to the heavens and leaves an afterglow of heartbreaking beauty. With all that Ahern made possible, we are honored that his family chose a photograph of the Tribute in Light as the signature image for the celebration of his life.

"I do know that, in a heartbeat, you can change people’s mood if you change the light." – Michael Ahern

By Amy S. Weisser, Vice President for Exhibitions

This winter, the 9/11 Memorial Museum is inspired by a special artifact that belonged to one of the youngest 9/11 victims, Asia Cottom.

A vivacious 11-year-old, Cottom was just starting her sixth grade school year at Bertie Backus Middle School in Washington, D.C. when she was chosen to attend a National Geographic Society conference with a teacher in the Channel Islands located off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif. On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, she and her teacher, Sara Clark, boarded Flight 77 bound for California. Hijackers overtook the plane and crashed into the Pentagon, killing all aboard.

In late 2014, Cottom’s parents met with 9/11 Memorial Museum curators and donated her Winnie the Pooh earmuffs and other personal items. The earmuffs are now on view in the memorial exhibition, In Memoriam.

Listen to 9/11 Memorial Chief Curator and Vice President of Collections, Jan Ramirez tell the story behind this special artifact.

By Jenny Pachucki, 9/11 Memorial Content Strategist

In the fall of 2001, FDNY firefighter Jason Cascone, dressed in his bunker gear, arrived at a lower Manhattan studio rented by acclaimed Life magazine photographer Joe McNally. Cascone was the subject of a compelling life-size 9-by-4 foot portrait shot by McNally with a unique giant Polaroid camera.

The photo, which McNally donated to the 9/11 Memorial Museum, is part of a series called "Faces of Ground Zero," which McNally conceived in the emotional weeks following 9/11. In the photo, Cascone confronts the lens with an unflinching gaze, gripping various rescue tools. His boots and lower pant legs reveal the dust from his recent posting on the “pile,” where he had been searching for missing first responders at ground zero.

McNally said that his subjects in the series – mostly everyday New Yorkers who were pulled into the heart of this tragedy – demanded the use of the one-of-a-kind large-scale camera because "they truly were – and are – larger than life."

Cascone had just completed his fire department training on Monday, September 10, 2001. Tuesday morning was to be his first day of work as a probationary firefighter assigned to Ladder 9-Engine 33. When the planes crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center that morning, Cascone had not yet reported for duty, arriving downtown immediately after both buildings had collapsed. He remembers riding on a bus heading to the WTC with a chaplain who was “giving absolution to everyone.” On that day, nine members of Cascone’s company were killed.  

Cascone later reflected that the timing of his first day on the job only solidified his resolve to be a New York City firefighter and dedicate his life to keeping the public safe. For the past 14 years, he has done just that, rising through departmental ranks.  Several days before 2015 concluded, the FDNY promoted Cascone to the rank of Battalion Chief.

Through this portrait of determined young professionalism, the 9/11 Memorial Museum acknowledges Cascone for his extraordinary service as well as 61 other accomplished members of the department promoted along with him. The Museum thanks McNally for his generous donation of Cascone’s portrait.

 By Jan Seidler Ramirez, 9/11 Memorial Chief Curator, Vice President of Collections

Retired FDNY firefighter Ray Pfeifer, who suffers from stage 4 cancer, was part of a group who successfully advocated for the extension of health care to tens of thousands of first responders.

His efforts have been recognized by fellow 9/11 health advocates and the city of New York.

9/11 Memorial Board Member and former “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart joined New York Mayor Bill de Blasio at City Hall on Saturday to honor the 57-year-old Pfeifer with a key to the city, according to the Associated Press.

Pfeifer, Stewart and John Feal of the FealGood Foundation, an advocacy organization for 9/11 first responders and recovery workers, were part of the group lobbying lawmakers that led last month to the extension of health monitoring and treatment for Sept. 11 rescuers and first responders across the county until 2090.

“I was a very small part,” Pfeifer said in the AP report.

Staff from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum attended the ceremony.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff