9/11: A Flag Raising

Award-winning photographer Thomas E. Franklin joins Tim to tell his story of Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, and the story behind that now iconic photo he took that day, one that gave a nation in shock and mourning, something new. A sense of hope. And something to rally around. Our collective sense of patriotism. He captured that image of those three firefighters raising the American flag amidst the ruins of the World Trade Center.  This episode is part of our special series, "9/11: A Generation Removed."

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Tom Franklin had just gotten back from an assignment in the Dominican Republic. It was 8 a.m. on September 11, 2001, and he was in the newsroom at The Bergen Record in Hackensack, New Jersey. He was ready to get back into a normal routine, coving the New York and New Jersey region. It was a beautiful, sunny day.

That all changed at 8:46 a.m., when the first of two jets would plow into the World Trade Center towers as part of a coordinated terroristic attack on America. Tom had to gram his camera and equipment and go.
About 9/11: A Generation Removed
On September 11, 2021, America will mark the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the country that happened on September 11, 2001. In remembrance of the event, the Shaping Opinion podcast will release a series of nine distinct episodes centered on the 9/11 attacks, starting on Friday, September 3rd and culminating on the 20th Anniversary, September 11, 2021.  The series, entitled, “9/11: A Generation Removed,” will feature six new and original episodes for 2021, and three encore episodes, all based on the personal experiences of guests and stories of people who were there in New York, in Washington, D.C., and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Links

Thomas E. Franklin, Website
9/11 Photographers: Thomas E. Franklin Remembers, Lohud.com
About the Photo, About the Flag, Ground Zero Spirit
Behind the Lenz on September 11, Politico

About this Episode’s Guest Tom Franklin
Thomas E. Franklin is an award-winning photographer, multimedia journalist, documentary filmmaker, and educator, based in northern New Jersey.

Since 2016, his multimedia work has explored issues related to immigration and forced migration, shedding light on the highly complex circumstances surrounding global migration and reporting on the personal experiences of many who have been forcibly displaced or seeking asylum. Currently, his project, Seeking Refuge, is display at the Paterson Museum in a virtual exhibit. Originally planned to debut at the Museum in May 2020, the physical exhibition was postponed due to the museum’s COVID-19 closure.

While working on Seeking Refuge, Tom traveled on assignment to Central Mexico, and the Southern U.S. border with Mexico, where his dramatic footage of migrants who breached the U.S. border fence by the Pacific Ocean in Tijuana was published by the Los Angeles Times syndicate. He also traveled to Lesvos, Greece, where he produced, The World Arrived at Our Doorstep, a 10-minute documentary film about a British couple living there who worked tirelessly to assist Syrian refugees, but have been vilified by locals for helping the unwanted arrivals. The documentary and story with photos was published on the i24 News website and appeared on TV segment, broadcast in English, French, and Arabic to countries around the globe, and streamed live on its website.

Tom is perhaps best known for photographs taken at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001. His iconic image of three New York City firefighters raising the U.S. flag above the rubble of the World Trade Center following the attacks is one of the most widely recognized images in history, and was featured on the United States Postal Service’s Heroes stamp, generating over $10 million for those affected by 9/11.

In 2002, he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his 9/11 photo.