September 11: Never Forget

 Remembering 9-11

One of the Solemnest Days in American History

Like most Americans, I will never forget where I was when I first heard the news. I had spent all night in the ER, and they had just decided to admit me. They found me an empty hospital bed, but could not find a pillow. As I lay there waiting, my roommate had her TV on. I glanced over at the screen to see a plane crashing into the Twin Towers. I asked my roomie what movie she was watching. She replied "I'm watching The Today Show."

"I must be delirious," I commented. "I could swear I just saw a plane crashing into the World Trade Center."

I was horrified to find out it was not, in fact, a movie and that the Pentagon had been hit as well.

Later I started learning of the many friends and acquaintances I'd lost to this act of terrorism. Several members of my undergraduate class were working in the floor that took the initial strike. Thankfully. my friends and acquaintances at the Pentagon got out, only suffering from trauma. 

As soon as I was able, I traveled to New York, my childhood home, to see the extent of the damage. I stayed just a few blocks North of the destruction. It is hard to describe how eerie The City felt. The smoke was thick, even in Greenwich Village, and South to the Ferry, it smelled of death and destruction.

You could walk down the middle of Wall Street, and you saw no cars. Only soldiers stationed at every corner. Battery Park had been turned into a MASH camp. It sure felt like we were at war, and all available troops had been called out to help protect what was left of The City. The hole in the skyline was noticeable and striking.

I keep this website I developed in the wake of the strike up as a memorial. It looks dated today, but was "state of the art" at the time the Twin Towers fell. It has a few photos of the aftermath, both in New York and in DC. The photos of the street memorials and Washington Square are some of my favorite in the bunch. (The site is at http://www.artistcrafts.com/tragedy/)  The photos in this post are borrowed from that website.

All these years later, I still cannot forget how September 11 made me feel. I will never forget how DC felt, or how NYC was changed. I will never forget the way I felt when I rounded the corner and first saw that hole. I literally fell to my knees. 

Today, we remember and honor those who lost their lives on that fateful day. We remember the heroes on the planes who prevented yet another airplane bomb from devastating DC. We remember all those folks who participated in the rescues in the aftermath. We honor those who ran to help, rather than running to "safety." We honor those First Responders who were  forced to deal with the carnage of terrorism on American soil. We remember those who could not escape and perished in the collapse. 

We leave you with a couple of quotes to honor this tragic day.