Tragedy and awakening: 16 years after losing his mother on 9/11, Drew DePalma is ready to speak out

Jean DePalma with her two children, Jamie and Drew.

January 6, 2018

By Craig McKee

It is just one story of thousands from that day. But for Drew DePalma, it’s the one that forced him to grow up very quickly.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, the then-17-year-old lost his mother in the destruction of the World Trade Center’s North Tower. Jean C. DePalma was one of 295 employees of Marsh & McLennan Companies who were among those killed in the event that would be used to launch the so-called “War on Terror,” which continues to this day.
Now, shortly after his 34th birthday, the events of 9/11 may change Drew DePalma’s life again, but this time in a very different — and more positive — way. The New Jersey resident has chosen to speak out about his growing suspicions concerning the world-changing event that claimed his mother’s life. Now, for the first time, he is coming to the conclusion that the official story we’ve been told about 9/11 is not true.
Remarkably, DePalma’s re-evaluation of 9/11 began little more than a month ago, when he was attending the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Boston (November 8 and 9). As he walked among the booths of companies involved in sustainable building, he came across one operated by Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, which was participating in the trade show for the first time.

DePalma, who has a Bachelor of Science degree, runs an MEP engineering firm (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) that designs heating, cooling, electrical, and other types of systems. The knowledge he has gained through his job, he explains, helped pique his interest in what AE911Truth has to say about the scientific evidence. He came back the next day to sign the AE911Truth petition.
“I had no idea that the push for an independent investigation was still going on,” he says. “I had no idea there was a whole organization of architects and engineers fighting for the truth. Architects and engineers are not people you tend to think of spinning conspiracy theories. If they are fighting for something, there must be some sort of science behind it.”

After his introduction to 9/11 truth, he realized that he felt compelled to help, so he has joined the organization’s advocacy for a new investigation of 9/11 — in particular, its effort to advance the Bobby McIlvaine Act, which calls on Congress to launch a new investigation. DePalma says he is looking forward to meeting passionate 9/11 truth activist Bob McIlvaine, whose son Bobby was killed by a powerful explosion as he was entering the lobby of the North Tower.

 A day of horror

DePalma’s memories of what he experienced that terrible day begin with students in his high school being called to the gymnasium in the morning for an announcement that no one could have predicted.
“As I was going through the halls, I heard something about a plane hitting a building, but I had no idea it was the Twin Towers, where my mom worked.”

Jean DePalma (left) with Drew and Jamie.


Even after DePalma, a senior at the time, learned that a plane had hit the North Tower, he still couldn’t bring himself to believe that his mother had been harmed. He desperately tried to reach her by phone, but the lines were jammed. The family gathered to await news, and as the day went on and attempts to contact her continued to fail, he says he found his hope starting to dwindle.
An uncle called either later that day or the next day (DePalma is not sure which) to let them know that, based on where his mother worked and where the plane had hit (not far below her office), there was no chance she had survived. (According to DePalma, his mother worked on the highest floor used for offices in the North Tower, which would have to be the 100th, since that was the top floor occupied by Marsh & McLennan.)
“In my mind I was still hoping she would rise from the ashes, or from the rubble. It was not to be.”
In the weeks after the devastating loss of his mother, who was just 42 when she was killed, DePalma did what he could to cope and gave little thought to why 9/11 had happened. He blocked out a lot of the media coverage of the event in those early years and focused on adapting to life without her, which was all the more challenging because his parents had divorced less than a year before 9/11.

“Honestly, I was pretty much numb,” he recalls. “I didn’t cry for a year or more. I wanted to cry but I couldn’t. I don’t know why, I guess it was my body’s coping mechanism.” He adds that he felt considerable anger during this period.

“How could this happen? How could our government let this happen? Why would people even want to do this to innocent people? So many things were racing through my head.”
While DePalma didn’t particularly question the official story of 9/11 during those years, he did begin to doubt whether U.S. interventions in the rest of the world were undertaken for the reasons the government claimed. He says that while he respects those of his friends who reacted to 9/11 by enlisting in the military, he knew this was not the right path for him.

Drew DePalma and his own family.


“I honestly think we should mind our own business,” he says. “We definitely meddle in a lot of stuff. We meddle in a lot of stuff that only the government or the super-rich would care about — like natural resources and power and things of that nature. I don’t really like that we’re the world police.”
Even though DePalma has a lot of information to absorb about the 9/11 evidence, he already knows that this is something he wants to do — to make a difference by sharing what he has learned. He says the family members he has talked to about this, including his 32-year-old sister, Jamie, support his choice to share with others what he has learned about 9/11.
“It is hard to know what to believe unless you do your own research.”
DePalma thinks he can help bring awareness of the evidence to a new generation that either wasn’t around when the event happened or wasn’t old enough to know what was going on at the time.
“If I can help the next generation to fight for the truth, I’ll certainly do that,” he says.
“Nothing has ever happened like this in our history, and I want to make sure that people don’t forget those who died.”
This article was written for Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth.

27 comments

  1. I feel the loss and know what it is to lose my mother. In ReDiscover911.com we learn that the central organizing group (key suspects) are zionists and that Israel was the key beneficiary along with the military industries and bankers.
    “New investigation”? We need to commence indictments, as the investigative evidence is sufficient to indict, arrest, INTERROGATE, prosecute and seize assets of those complicit–and the numbers who are complicit are legion.
    Let us take back the human journey from those ruthless deceivers who have captured the money-making and agenda rackets to promote their own protocols.
    The Pandora’s box is now open–and must be opened completely.

  2. Drew better prepare himself for the next shock that he will receive about 9/11. That shock is the fact that a majority of citizens DO NOT WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH about what happened on that day. This majority will bully him, will ridicule him, will isolate him and will ignore his requests to share what he has learned with them. They JUST DO NOT WANT TO KNOW!

    1. “a majority of citizens DO NOT WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH about what happened on that day
      Perhaps they also intuitively know–and fear having that intuition confirmed. Things are realdely bad–and so bad as a result of our being bamboozled … hypnotically and propagandistically deceived and deluded into supporting our own enslavement. Such a neat trick–until the trick is seen for what it is.
      “I’m mad as hell and not going to take it any more! (statement from NETWORK (1976))
      … now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the human journey …
      That paraphrase is now more true than it was when I used to type it on department store display typewriters.

    2. Not very encouraging stuff for Drew. The more we all stick together, the better off we are.
      I do see bullying and ridicule at YOUR site any time anyone dares to challenge your constant talking point of Putin being a savior and foil to the NWO. The evidence of Putin and Kissinger working together as a team to help advance NWO goals is impossible to deny…………but it is easy to censor as Greencrow so often does.
      https://www.rt.com/news/331194-putin-meets-friend-kissinger/
      https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-kissinger/putin-receives-former-u-s-diplomat-kissinger-in-kremlin-idUSKBN19K2QN

  3. I’m too much into science to believe the ridiculous nonsense that happened on 9-11. I will not be satisfied until every bit of that crap is finally exposed and the culprits thrown in Jail Forever !

  4. I am confident that as more time goes on, there will be many more Drew DePalmas coming forward and speaking out. Hats off to this man for helping set the precedent.

  5. Yes! Come on in. “The water’s fine.” Join those of us who have put ourselves into the ‘whack-a-mole’ playing field. Let’s grow our numbers exponentially NOW. One activist tip: Meet local fire station personnel and give them reading materials. Currently, I’m distributing WAR ON TERROR by Christopher Bollyn to area fire department personnel. I’m also moving to distribute reading materials to local churches–especially zionist-leaning churches. Once Christian zionists awaken to how they are used …

  6. There’s a saying: “Every time a baby is born, the world starts all over again.” The point is that no matter how long something (including planet Earth) has been around, it is unknown to each newborn. Then the learning begins.
    It’s similar, for those already born, regarding vitally important events on Earth. Until an individual learns of these it’s as if they didn’t happen.
    But that’s just a start. Just as babies born centuries ago were taught the Earth is flat, so people alive today can learn certain events happened on Sept. 11, 2001—but not really understand their nature.
    It’s not until a sufficient number of accurate details of these events are known that the Round Earth account can be understood.
    To me this seems illustrated by the experience of Drew DePalma. As Craig McKee reports, “remarkably” it was not until Drew learned, only a month or so ago(!), a number of accurate details of 9/11 sufficient that he came to understand that the official version he had heretofore believed was the flat-Earth version. This despite his mother’s perishing in one of the WTC towers 16 years ago was one of the “details.”
    Seeing the rounded version is changing DePalma’s life and is inspiring him to help others learn those perspective-changing details.
    We’re all like babies in respect of so many “knowns” and “givens” of history.
    During my lifetime I’ve learned that perhaps what I was taught about most significant events, for instance the standard accounts of most wars, are seriously off-base. There’s a pattern. The official accounts generally serve and perpetuate the interests of the victors and those who follow in the footsteps of the victors.
    The standard accounts obscure their motives and omit details of the wrongs committed by the victors. And especially the standard war accounts censor out arguably the most significant aspects of wars—the techniques of starting them, the main one virtually always being the false flag operation.
    What percentage of history books about wars, even ones well back in history, illuminate the triggering deceptions engineered to start them, and give sufficient weight to the significance of these deceptions? The answer is a very small percentage.
    But those few books, such as Robert B. Stinnett’s Day of Deceit, a remarkably detailed account of Pearl Harbor, are revelations. And for each person, one by one, accepting the revelation, the world starts over again, to some extent.
    Drew DePalma is helping others re-invent their world. And our world.

  7. This story is strong encouragement for AE911Truth, and I hope Drew graduates soon to David Griffin, who is much farther along the road to truth. The time lag between external and internal events, i.e. between what happens in the world and what happens in our minds, can be huge. It took me 25 years to understand what happened in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, and that mind event was triggered by an external event in the form of a TV documentary by Nigel Turner (“The Men Who Killed Kennedy”), which I happened to watch in 1988.
    Information has a lot to do with what the mind does, as Drew’s story illustrates. But there is more to it than that. The mind has to be ready for the information to register and have an effect. I can attest to that from another personal experience, because in spite of becoming “radicalized” after seeing the Turner film and becoming active for years afterward on many fronts, 9/11 froze me in my tracks. I was suspicious, but only suspicious, when the Afghanistan war started, and if I had stayed in that place I suppose I would have the same opinion as Noam Chomsky et al. about that. However, on the advice of a friend I read Griffin’s New Pearl Harbor soon after it appeared, and that did it. My reaction was not as dramatic as when the truth about JFK registered, I suppose because it was the second time that same truth had arrived in my head, which is that my own government was the enemy. That just shows how hard a truth that is to take in, especially for Americans brought up in what Griffin calls the “nationalist faith.” I’m not surprised at all that it has taken Drew 17 years to begin to question 9/11.
    I have the greatest respect for Griffin, AE911Truth and all other activist “truthers,” and it is unfortunate that so much energy is wasted on internecine warfare, which I suppose is inevitable and encouraged willy-nilly by gatekeepers and agents spreading cognitive dissonance and paralysis. Hence the 9/11 Consensus project, and I suppose this also explains why AE911Truth limit themselves to the WTC and calling for that “new investigation” — which I don’t think will ever happen, but Drew’s story is proof enough of the need for the effort to continue.
    If there is a better way to get people “ready” for the truth to at least start seeping in, I don’t know what it is. Griffin suggests targeting people like Bill Moyers and Robert Parry, who are otherwise rational, and of course Chomsky. (My correspondence with him, documented in Looking for the Enemy, shows just how rational Chomsky can be!) Chris Hedges would be another good target, and maybe David North of wsws.org. (The latter two seem to get along well — cf. their upcoming webinar on resisting internet censorship.)
    The problem is that all of these “leaders” will say that there are more immediate and pressing problems than exposing the truth about 9/11 (e.g., internet censorship), and of course they are right. What importance does 9/11 truth have compared to the immediate danger of nuclear and/or environmental holocaust? And since “everybody” (with any sense) agrees fully on the latter, regardless of their blindness or resistance to 9/11 truth, should not all our efforts be devoted to first ensuring human survival? Should we not focus on getting Moyers, Parry, Hedges, North, Chomsky et al. (and that’s a big al.) together (make them organize themselves and practice what they preach!) and form a vanguard to resist war and environmental destruction? Unfortunately, I see no signs of this happening either.
    One thing that I would think all “truthers” have in common is that truth cannot be expected from the govt, that this applies, more or less, to all govts, and that is the mainstream media cannot be expected to report the truth. This is one truth that everyone (again, with a brain) should be able to agree and and organize around. But then what? Maybe North and Hedges are right in resisting first and foremost internet censorship.

  8. Drew DePalma I am sorry for your loss and yet I am glad to see that you have decided to take on the big lie told to us all on 9/11. I salute you for stepping forward into this struggle for truth and justice. Many of us have acquired over the years a vast knowledge base about the crime of 9/11 and all of us would love to pass on what we know to you and help you and all of humanity destroy the lies surrounding that fateful day so many years ago. You will have to expect to be approached by many good researchers along with many agents of disinformation as you navigate your way to the most dangerous truth in the world, the truth about 9/11.
    My recommendation to you Drew is that you stick with A+E at first and learn what you can from them and then begin to carefully branch out from there. Many liars and agents are going to descend upon you Drew to mislead you, discourage you, confuse you, and absorb your time and energy. The reason they will choose you is because you are a 9/11 victim family member and because you are new to the voluminous information about the crime. I can recommend a few really good sources for you to study and warn you about some of the larger disinformation themes surrounding 9/11 but ultimately it is you that must find the way to the truth. That having been said I recommend the following to start you down the right path.
    Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth – Best source for Information about the controlled demolition of the WTC towers and building 7.
    Citizen Investigation Team – Video – National Security Alert – Best information about what happened at the Pentagon on 9/11. CIT also has an extensive research forum packed with information.
    Cristopher Bollyn – Author and Journalist – Will fill you in a great deal about who did 9/11 and why.
    There are many films you should watch about 9/11 I can recommend as well.
    People and disinformation you should avoid like the plague:
    Judy Wood and directed energy weapon arguments.
    Jim Fetzer and mini nuke arguments.
    Hologram plane arguments.
    Avoid all corporate media information about 9/11 because it is virtually all a lie.
    There are many videos out there that promote bogus disinformation which you should avoid. Just ask me and I will give you a few to see and a few to not see.
    That should get you started down the right path but I want to again warn you that there is an absolutely massive disinformation campaign in place to thwart the 9/11 truth movement involving thousands of people in media, government, and the truth movement itself has been penetrated by many disinformation operatives. 9/11 truth is VERY dangerous to the powers that be Drew and they will try to stop you, slow you, discourage you, and mislead you in particular. Be warned Drew, this is no joke, they will assign people to you and they may have already approached you. Contact me any time if you want to talk about any of this. My specialty in 9/11 research has to do with the cover-up and the ongoing disinformation campaign so I can help guide you to avoid some major pitfalls along this journey. Good luck to you Drew. Reach me at ruffadam2003@yahoo.com.
    *** Note to Craig Mckee – If you can pass this message along to Drew or tell me how I can contact him I would appreciate it and I authorize my phone and e-mail to be given to him. Every new truther should have a few mentors. ***

    1. I feel for Drew, I’m sure that was the most horrible day in his life, and for many others also. Don’t give up, the truth can never be buried. For like Dandelions in the Spring, they’ll just arrive blooming again and again.

  9. Though nine eleven isn’t the biggest lie or conspiracy put over on us, it ranks up there very high on a very long and extensive list. And it is contemporary. It still affects us all, but some like Drew, much more personally. It is as good a place as many to start that journey of unlearning everything that has been fed to you by our society since birth. It is also a valuable lesson in whom or what not to trust.
    Many are ignorant and unwittingly passing down learned lies. Government and media are there to keep you off track and easily controllable. Both need your confidence. They have it of the general masses.
    Richard Nixon said the American people don’t believe anything until they see it on television. Nowadays we take it with us wherever we go.
    The truth will indeed set you free, however it won’t make you a friend to this world. It is a constant battle for the mind and soul that has been in the making throughout the generations of mankind.

    1. I remember the JFK episode and that lasted for 40 years before cracks in the Warren Commission Reports showed up that it was an inside job. George Washington was right, don’t ever trust government because its nothing but a vicious animal.

      1. The CIA’s scheme in 1967 to implant in public psyche a rejection of “conspiracy theories” and those promoting narratives that expose official mythology seems directed to quell growing public discourse about magic bullets, inside job and shots from the front.

        1. Yes, then covered it all by landing on the Moon in 69, wonderful. They made sure that all avenues of intellect wound up as conspiracy theories. All they did was dodging a bullet, they knew eventually the citizenry would be after them. More conspiracies and more theories while they’re running to the bank; what a game.

          1. Some of those things they have been most vehement about labeling ‘conspiracy theories’ are those they fear will cause the greatest blow back. If you research that ‘landing on the Moon in 69’ today, you will find it a hoax. Today nasa says they lost all that telemetry data and can’t figure out how they actually got there. They say they are hopeful to get past low earth orbit…
            It’s been truthfully proclaimed: “The whole world is a stage…

          2. Amen…..the Moon surface temp in the Sun light is over 300 degrees F. You can’t have an air conditioner in your suit because there’s no such thing as a heat exchanger in a vacuum atmosphere, so how could you keep the body cool to withstand Oven temperatures ? Ah but it sure blew the JFK investigation pursuit under a bus ! I’m glad younger ones like yourself can see the truth….we need more intellects !

          3. Vacuum of space. LOL. If it were so, they would have been exploded like the Michelin man, keeping them from being able to move about freely. And with no lunar atmosphere while supposedly flying through space, they would have had to held on to something for dear life!
            It’s so funny to watch it all now and sad that it is still taught as fact in school like the nine eleven myth.
            The moon, however, is an interesting thing. For instance, moonlight is usually around 10 degrees cooler than moon shade. Interesting and easy to test, though also never taught us in school.
            Aside from all the [im]possibilities teevee brought us, it remains an outstanding propaganda tool.
            ‘Younger ones’, you say. I guess I could be considered young. I was 12 in 69 andhad no clue the government could not be trusted.

          4. Oh Okay, you’re a couple of years younger then I. I was born in 55.
            A good experiment of understanding the temperature of the Sun is a jar under vacuum with a thermometer in it…..Storm Doors literally cook the paint on the interior door and to touch it is to get burnt. These experiments are proven on Earth, it’s no need to go to the Moon to find out. When it comes to 9-11, I’m with Dr. Judy Wood on that mess…you can’t take 6 massive buildings like that and bring them down in an hour and a half. The seventh one didn’t come down until 5:30pm, and that was a distraction for the other 6. The other problem to their plan was they didn’t expect to have all those fire-fighers still alive under the stair well of the North Tower….the jig is up ! 550,000 tons of steel above and Fire Fighters come walking out without a scratch ?

  10. Drawing focus to fringe hypotheses is an indication of efforts to conceal who did 9-11 by distraction and division. A wedge was struck to divide 9-11 activists–noticeably in the split of Scholars for 911 Truth in the presentations at the Chandler, AZ “9/11 ACCOUNTABILITY” conference in Feb, 2007. Camps developed around no planes, holograms, Judy Wood and mini-nukes.
    Is it conceivable that red herrings would be introduced to divide us?
    Get a clue about what Judy Wood is to the efforts to achieve justice.
    When asked to speculate about who did 9-11, Judy Wood stated that we must first fully define what happened.
    The perpetrators have had 16+ years to conduct their agenda which is based upon 9-11 lies.
    Willingness to talk about WHO did 9-11 is my litmus test for trustworthiness. Continued conversations about the “how” on the part of some prominent posters here keeps us from the important effort to expose the real perpetrators.
    In case someone reading this hasn’t seen the litmus test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6O4LE0eTYc

    1. You can be sure that location was “hot” that morning. It was all one hundred percent controlled, but I pity them when they finally feel the wrath of God coming down on their heads, and that day is coming.

      1. Do you invite us to be passive–relying upon the ultimate judgement of God?
        I have no pity for those who have falsely blamed muslims and created such misery.
        Let’s use the tools at hand to achieve justice and stop the harvest of misery the perpetrators continue based upon the big lies. Now that we have ample evidence of who the key suspects are, we should be moving to indictments, arrests, interrogations, prosecutions and seizure of assets (perhaps per Trump’s EO allowing him to freeze assets).

        1. I have a lot of friends who are Muslim…..I never thought for a minute the so called attack of 9-11 was concocted by them….it’s impossible ! I get tired of hearing the stupid stories too !

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