I will never forget…
The 20 Year Anniversary.
Twenty years ago feels like both a lifetime ago and also like just yesterday.
Normally a late riser, I woke before 8AM on September 11, 2001. I can’t remember why. Before even getting out of bed, I also turned on the TV. Again, I don’t remember why. That was not my normal habit. There was no real reason. I just did. What a saw on TV came as a shock. In disbelief, I flipped channels when I saw that all the Networks were covering a disaster involving the World Trade Center. The reporters seemed confused as to exactly what had really happened.
They said that a few minutes earlier, an airplane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers that my husband & I knew well from when we lived in New York. There was a gaping hole in the North Tower; with dense smoke pouring out. However, none of the news commentators – on any channel – initially knew exactly what had really happened. There was only speculation about an airplane perhaps flying into that tower.
Feeling a connection to New York & the World Trade Center, I felt shock and a great sadness about this horrible “accident”. Somehow, I moved from the bedroom to the kitchen where I then stood – in stunned disbelief - glued to another TV set. I continued to watch as live coverage of the tragic day kept unfolding in real life. Initially, news commentators were still trying to figure out what had happened. There was chaos at street level as evacuation and rescue attempts went into action. Was a plane crashing into the building just a freak accident??? The next hour was a scene of sheer chaos and horror and speculation.
While I reporters droned on, I suddenly saw - on live TV - another plane come out of nowhere & fly into the side of second tower of the World Trade Center: the South Tower. My heart stood still as reality hit. The moment that second plane appeared & then plunged into the South tower, it was clear to America that the homeland was under attack. My mind immediately went to the innocents who were inside the Twin Towers. Were there any people we knew? Could most (if not in the direct path of the plane strikes) safely get out and survive? In addition to the thick smoke, horrendous, billowing flames poured out of the second tower.
At street level, first responders tried to rush in to try to help. Word came that there was still another (a 3rd) plane involved in the attack. That one had crashed into the Pentagon. Still, all eyes and the TV coverage stayed on the World Trade Center in New York.
Shortly after I was finally able to reach my husband (who had been in a meeting and knew nothing about the news unfolding), even more tragedy struck. The South Tower of the World Trade Center - that I had watched the plane fly into while it was happening live - imploded. The 110 story tower abruptly disappeared in a mushroom cloud of smoke and debris. The second plane deliberately crashing into the World Trade Center on live TV news (and the aftermath) was IMO more horrific than any fictional movie I’d ever seen. It defied imagination.
Soon, after the South Tower collapsed, news came that there had been a 4th hijacked commercial jet. That one had crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Later, it was revealed that plane’s real terrorist target had been the US Capitol.
Less than a half hour later after news of the 4th plane’s crashing, the North Tower of the World Trade Center (the first tower hit) suddenly also came crashing down. Tearfully, I watched as the North Tower fell. The tower was flatten in an unfathomable plume of blinding toxic dust that rose up above and enveloped the entire New York skyline. This was soon after 10 AM; just when I normally would be waking up. As if part of some alternate reality, the iconic World Trade Center had totally vanished from the New York skyline.
At that point, both civilians - and those running to help those inside the World Trade Center - turned to run for their own lives. The scene was a mixture of chaos and terror. Reporters were frantic. However, soon after the second tower had fallen, first responders again went forward toward the site of the former Twin Towers. Although live TV news only showed a small fraction of what was really happening, it was clear that these first responders were heroic beyond belief.
Around 11 AM, New York’s mayor then ordered an evacuation of New York’s lower East Side. This scene of exodus seemed unreal. But not as unreal feeling as what had led to it. First responders and reporters stayed on the scene. When my husband got home from work at 5 PM, I was still glued to continuing live TV coverage of what was happening in New York. Then, just after he got home, even more disaster hit the World Trade Center complex; with a third high rise (47 stories tall) collapsing. Few people remember this. Luckily, unlike the Twin Towers, it had been evacuated prior to collapse.
Later in the evening, the US President addressed the Nation with a confirmation that America’s homeland had come under terrorist attack.
The memory of that day will never leave me. That day changed our world forever…
Twenty years ago, I really didn’t know how to express what I felt. Not knowing what else to do, I took a photo on 9-12-01 that was meant to say (the best way I knew how at the time) that America is stronger than any terrorist attack: https://pbase.com/britestar/image/14585405
On 9-12-01, I also put an American flag in my car. That little American flag indicated how much I loved my country that had come under attack the day before. Twenty years later, that same flag still goes with me everywhere I go in my car. So many years have passed, but I have not forgotten.
Another small flag - that was held by my dog in my photo from 20 years ago - is now in my photo of today. For the past 20 years, this American flag has sat in a mug in my kitchen as a daily reminder of how much my country means to me. The dog, in the original photo, has been at the Rainbow Bridge for the past 13 years. Although I can no longer reach out and touch him, he is also in my photo today. Words still escape me. However, I have not forgotten. I never will.
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TODAY
In a speech marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, George W Bush (Republican US President on that day fateful day of 9, 11, 2001) said my feelings today better than I can. He called on Americans to confront domestic violent extremists on 9/11 anniversary.
Bush said the US has seen "growing evidence that the dangers to our country can come not only across borders, but from violence that gathers within. There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home. But in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit. And it is our continuing duty to confront them”.
Bush's speech at the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, came eight months after violent insurrectionists breached the US Capitol on January 6 in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election for President Joe Biden.
We are all Americans and need to come together for the common good of the United States of America.
We do not have to sacrifice our lives like the brave passengers of Flight 93 (strangers to each other but united) did back on 9-11-01. But we do need to stop this new found hatred of Americans against Americans. Read more about what President Bush had to say 20 years after 9-11: https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/11/politics/george-w-bush-9-11-speech-domestic-violent-extremism/index.html
