Author who penned oral history of 9/11 says he 'cried almost every day' compiling harrowing stories

Journalist, Garrett M Grath, who recently wrote an oral history of the September 11th terrorist attacks, claims he was in tears every day while compiling testimonies from survivors, and transcripts from the dead.

The book was been written in anticipation of the 18th anniversary of the day when Al-Queda radical Islamists hijacked a plane and crashed it into the World Trade Centre. Grath's The Only Plane in the Sky focuses on the men and women who experienced the horrendous tragedy first-hand.

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In a recent interview with British tabloid newspaper The Daily Mail, Grath stated: "This probably sounds dumb in hindsight, but I was really unprepared for how emotional the writing of this book would be. I cried almost every day when I was drafting the book last summer, poring over these intimate stories of the worst day imaginable."

He also said: "Stories of the loss of loved ones on 9/11— parents losing children, children losing parents, siblings, the last telephone calls from the hijacked planes or those trapped above the attacks in the World Trade Center. Those stories are just heartbreaking."

Watch the moment a bald eagle appeared on the 17th anniversary of 9/11:

Grath continued: "In the book, Ileana Mayorga, who worked for a volunteer agency in Arlington, Virginia, where the Pentagon is located, talked about how undocumented immigrants started to call and ask to help She explains how suddenly the phones were ringing and saying, 'This is the country that we chose to come [to]. Nobody will destroy our country.'"

He added: "They would say, 'I'm not legal in the United States. Do you think they will accept me to do volunteer work?' Especially given the political environment today, I thought that was so inspirational."

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Almost 3,000 people were killed and a further 6,000 injured as a result of the 9/11 attacks - which remains the worst terrorist attack in the history of the United States. Although countless people were left dead or maimed, the memory of the victims, and the pain of the survivors will never be forgotten.