9/11 Families' Snapshots of Grief at Moussaoui Hearing

April 10, 2006 — -- Today at the Zacarias Moussaoui hearing, jurors who will decide the al Qaeda conspirator's fate were given several snapshots of pain and grief from family members who lost loved ones on 9/11.

John Creamer, an assistant principal from Massachusetts, lost his wife, Tara, aboard American Airlines Flight 11. She left behind two children. He recalled breaking the news to his young son that his mother was dead.

"How do you tell a 4-year-old child that your mother is dead and she's not coming back?" Creamer said on the stand today.

He said he and his son fell asleep crying in his bedroom. His 5-year-old daughter does not remember her mother. Creamer said the loss of his wife "devastated me. I try to be as strong as I can. It changed me. I have been basically empty. ... I feel empty."

C. Lee Hanson lost his son, Peter; daughter-in-law, Sue Kim; and granddaughter, Christine Lee, who was the youngest victim of 9/11. She was 2½ years old.

Hanson recalled his son calling him from Flight 175. "He told me the plane had been hijacked. His voice was soft, but there was a nervousness. He told me he thought they'd stabbed someone."

Hanson said his son asked him to call United Airlines and hung up.

His son called back and said, "I think they are going to try to crash this plane into a building. ... Don't worry, Dad. If it happens, it will be quick. "

The last thing his son said in a soft voice was, "Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God."

Weeping at the hearing today, Hanson said, "I looked over to the television set and saw the plane crash."

On the morning of 9/11, Harry Waizer, who worked for the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, was in the elevator of the World Trade Center.

There was an explosion, there was fire, and the elevator started to plummet. His pants caught on fire and he tried to beat out the flames. Then there was a ball of flames. The elevator eventually glided to the 78th floor, and Waizer jumped out.

Waizer sustained severe burns to his face and legs and was unconscious for seven weeks. His hospital stay was five months and two days. He's had numerous surgeries and complications from his injuries.