Part of 9/11 Week on The History Channel(R): Moments of Courage, Acts of Grace, Triumphs of Will ... COUNTDOWN TO GROUND ZERO

Part of 9/11 Week on The History Channel(R): Moments of Courage, Acts of Grace, Triumphs of Will ... COUNTDOWN TO GROUND ZERO

World Premiere Sunday, August 13, 2006 at 8 p.m. ET/PT

PASADENA, Calif., July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Hijackers prepare for their own deaths. A firefighter sends his wife off to work, 81 floors up in the World Trade Center. Loved ones scramble to reconnect amid the rubble. Wives watch on television, knowing their husbands may die. The September 11, 2001 disaster unfolded in many ways for many people, and a myriad of different stories intersected in Lower Manhattan, at what is now known as Ground Zero. The shock, fear, courage, and triumph of 9/11 is presented through the eyes of those who lived it in COUNTDOWN TO GROUND ZERO, a special presentation premiering Sunday, August 13, 2006 at 8 p.m. ET/PT 9/11 on The History Channel.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051031/HISTORYLOGO )

Exactly when the 9/11 story began to play out is a different story for different people. For much of America, it started on the morning news and continued over a terrifying few hours that stretched into days, weeks and beyond. For the firefighters of Ladder Six in New York City, it began when the roar of a low-flying plane interrupted their morning coffee at the station. For hijacker Mohammed Atta, it started months earlier, in flight training schools in Florida. World Trade Center security director John O'Neill, a 25- year FBI veteran and a leading authority on terrorism, had warned America of the looming threat following the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, and even predicted that the terrorists would attack the towers again. COUNTDOWN TO GROUND ZERO follows these storylines and many others in the time leading up to the attacks in New York to the brutal aftermath, with dramatic recreations, personal interviews, and archival footage, in the process showing the tragedy and triumph that became the twin hallmarks of 9/11.

COUNTDOWN TO GROUND ZERO doesn't just tell the stories of individuals, but re-creates how the events unfolded, minute-by-minute, with very real tension and uncertainty building. Would more planes hit? Could the fires be put out? How much time until the towers fall? And most importantly, who was affected. This re-telling of the 9/11 tragedies dramatically conveys the emotional intensity of people's lives, as all the elements rush toward a convergence during 102 pivotal minutes -- starting from the impact of the first plane and continuing to the collapse of the North Tower.

Highlights of COUNTDOWN TO GROUND ZERO include:

* The early efforts to pursue the terrorists, including warnings from
Italian officials) and the secret memos to President Bush advising that
Bin Laden was "determined to strike on U.S. soil."

* The story of John O'Neill, a 25-year FBI veteran who was the U.S.
government's leading expert on Al Qaeda, but who quit his post in
frustration to become head of security at the World Trade Center.

* Tracking the terrorists in their planning for the attacks, including
their preparations for death and the infamous purchase of boxcutters the
night before.

* The heroic efforts of Rick Rescorla, a corporate security head for
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter who was instrumental in helping evacuate the
Towers. Friends and loved ones recall corresponding with him over the
phone as the Towers burned.

* Selfless acts that serendipitously resulted in survival, including the
stories of Ladder Six Captain Jay Jonas and bank executive Brian Clark,
both of whom delayed their escapes from the Towers to help others who
were trapped.

* The reactions to the hijackings in flight control centers, and the
chilling realization that the planes were headed for New York and
Washington.

* Firefighters recall the painstaking climb up stairways carrying 110
pounds of equipment, and the race back down to escape the collapse,
including several who were trapped under the collapse and lived to tell
about it.

Executive Producer for The History Channel is Carl H. Lindahl. COUNTDOWN TO GROUND ZERO is produced for The History Channel by Story House Productions.

The History Channel(R) is one of the leading cable television networks featuring compelling original, non-fiction specials and series that bring history to life in a powerful and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. The network provides an inviting place where people experience history in new and exciting ways enabling them to connect their lives today to the great lives and events of the past that provide a blueprint for the future. The History Channel has earned three Peabody Awards, six News and Documentary Emmy(R) Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's Save Our History(R) campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. The History Channel reaches more than 89 million Nielsen subscribers. The website is located at www.History.com.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051031/HISTORYLOGO
Source: The History Channel

CONTACT: Kathie Gordon, +1-212-210-1320, Kathie.Gordon@aetn.com, or
Jennifer Mann, +1-212-210-9108, Jennifer.mann@aetn.com, both for The History
Channel

Web site: http://www.history.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information and photography please visit us on the web at www.historychannelpress.com

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