9-11 Untold Stories

In May 2001, I went to China on a tour, met a woman from the Bronx who also owns a pug dog; we became friends and still are.

When the WTC came down, my travel group, The Miserettes, decided to donate some money.

I called Pat, the woman I met in China, and asked if she knew of anyone that died at the WTC. She said yes, her best friend’s son-in-law, Liam Callahan.

I sent out the word about him and his family and we collected over $1,500.

In December, 2001, Pat and two of her friends came to visit me, we had a dinner in Atlanta for them, and presented them with a framed picture of our group who went to NYC in 2000, a poem I had written and the check.

Pat delivered the items to the widow of Liam. I finally received a thank you note about six months later. It was written in a shaky handwriting, rambling, not really sure of what all it said.

She and her three children never received any DNA or any part of Liams body to this day. The story of this family and what happened to them after losing their husband and father has made for tv movie written all over it, I only heard about it two years ago.

It seems that Liam had a girlfriend who lived in Queens, the wife knew nothing about her.

On 9/10/01, he told his wife that he was scheduled to go to work very early on the 11th and was spending the night in town. He spent the night with his girlfriend who was pregnant with his child. They had already had another child before this one.

When the wife went to start collecting her widow’s benefits, she was told that Liam’s wife had already claimed the benefits, this was the point when she found out about the other woman.

I believe that Liam’s real wife did collect benefits, but I think his children from the other woman also got some benefits.

What a total nightmare, after learning about what happened after his death, it was no wonder the wife was in such a state.

This is just one story that has never been told, just think of the thousands of others out there. I have read the websites of Liam’s children and even the girlfriend writes on websites.

Anyway, regardless, I dedicated “Hello” to Liam Callahan, his wife and children. That is the personal connection for me, along with the story of our visits.