Mother and son in famous 9/11 photograph look back 21 years later
NEW YORK - On the sunny morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Brooklyn photographer Alex Webb turned on his television when he heard rumors of an attack on the World Trade Center. When he saw the images on the screen, he and his wife, Rebecca, jumped in a rental car and rushed in that direction.
When they got out of the car in Brooklyn Heights, "someone came out of a building and said 'do you want to see what it looks like from the roof?'" he explains.
Once they climbed to the rooftop, he saw an unforgettable scene: a mother lovingly gazing at her baby, while lower Manhattan was shrouded in ominous smoke. That's when he snapped an iconic photo of the duo.
"I think it poses some questions," he recounts more than two decades later. "What is the nature of the future for that baby with the potential of what may or may not go on thereafter?"
That mother is Jenna Piccirillo, then 31 years old, a grad school student temporarily living in that Brooklyn walk-up.
"The next thing I remember is just lots of smoke," she says.
CBS2's Hannah Kliger met with her and her son, Vaughan Piccirillo-Saley, now 21 years old and a senior at the University of Connecticut. Growing up in suburban Connecticut, he says he didn't know that he was in a famous 9/11 photo until his mom brought it up one day.
"I didn't believe it at first," he says. "And then it slowly set in, that's definitely my mom."
The city's skyline has changed, but so have the faces of the kids who grew up in the wake of the attack. The generation of babies that was born in 2001, like Vaughan, is turning 21 this year. Many of them will be graduating from college and beginning their life as adults.
"I'm looking forward to a future in finance but I'm not done exploring my options, I'm not done exploring the world yet," Piccirillo-Saley says.
Days after the attack, while watching TV, Piccirillo saw the image flash across the screen. Though she didn't know her photo was being taken at the time, she remembers that moment clearly.
"I was thankful that I was able to have a son but at the same time I was sorry that I brought him into this world," she says, describing her inner conflict. "I really did think the world was going to end."
Her son, who never knew the world before 9/11, says many of his peers see it as a moment in distant history.
"Even though I suppose we lived it, we weren't conscious yet," he says.
It's a haunting photo, illustrating a mother's love, protection and devotion, even in the wake of fear, uncertainty and terror.
"Throughout history there's still a common thing, it's mothers giving birth to the future," Piccirillo, who now works as an interior designer, says.
More than two decades later, the photo has become a testament to the passage of time; that cities change, that children grow up, that life goes on.
Have a story idea or tip in Brooklyn? Email Hannah by CLICKING HERE.