9/11 - A Year On
Posted on 2002-09-11
I'm really not sure what to say. I feel as though nothing I write today will be appropriate, although I feel I should write something.
It's so strange to think that it's been a year since some maniacs decided to fly into the World Trade Centre; a year since over 3000 people died and thousands more had their lives changed forever.
I was in bed when I first heard the news on my radio. I remember climbing out of bed, crawling downstairs and switching on the T.V. just in time to see the second plane collide with the remaining tower. It was as though I was watching some amazing special effects from a film, I literally couldn't believe what I was seeing.
For days the British press printed photos of the collapsed towers, the firefighters, paramedics, rescue workers and the sheer devestation caused, but it wasn't until they began to print pictures and names of the victims that it actually sunk in - someone really had planned this to happen, it wasn't a film, it wasn't an accident, it was real.
A year on there have been many tributes and memorial services for the victims, but one will stick in my mind in particular. A filmmaker and his brother were making a documentary about a rookie firefighter who was based at a fire station near the World Trade Centre. It was a complete coincidence that when tragedy struck the cameramen were already in New York and therefore they were able to capture the impact and chaos that followed the attack; they were even able to capture the collapse of the towers as it happened. The way the material was shot it was as though you were actually there, truely terrifying viewing.
Seeing this again tonight has made me feel so angry. What right does Bin Laden think he's got?
It's not just the victims of the twin towers we should be remembering. It's as if people have forgotten about the events at the Pentagon and the plane that crashed without reaching its destination. These people were also in the wrong place at the wrong time and paid the highest price possible.
I'm from England and as a country we still feel your pain, just like you did ours when Princess Diana was tragically killed back in August 1997. Tonight though my thoughts are with the families of the victims, the fire-fighters and the thousands who witnessed first hand the after effects of one mans evil.
(In my opinion the daily trivia of my life is not important. Out of respect I shall leave this entry as it is, in the memory of everyone who was affected in one way or another by the terrible events of 11th September 2001.)