9/11/2006
Saturday, September 9th, 2006 -- J. DoeA few days ago Buzzurro and I were watching CNN News on television when an announcer announced that on September 11 of this year they will be showing original footage from 9/11/2001.
I turned and said to Buzzurro “That’s morbid! Who would want to watch THAT ?” and he replied “I do.” He then explained how he wasn’t in the US at the time and is interested in knowing about the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center from an American point of view.
That made me think…”I wasn’t in the US at the time either. I was in Italy on a vacation.” “I don’t really know about thr news that day in America either.”
I remember flying back into the US on September 19, 2001 into LAX. What normally is a busy airport was like a ghost town. Cars were prohibited from driving around the airport, flights weren’t departing or landing (except for my four fifths empty Air France flight) I could even hear my footsteps on the floor. The United States I left on August 31, 2001 was definitely not the same one as the one I returned too.
In the following days and months after I returned to the US I watched hours of television devoted to the World Trade Center disaster, but of course a week after the disaster some answers were forming, namely who actually flew the planes, who masterminded the plan, how and why. Naturally the reporters were reporting this. The large majority of their viewers were Americans in the United States and had already seen the early footage of the disaster. They didn’t need to see it again. All these reporters were poised and a little distant in reporting the news, like they usually are. In the beginning, the early morning of September 11, there was confusion, raw horror and raw tears.
I heard the stories of relatives who worked in NY, or even northern New Jersey. The trains stopped working and cell phones didn’t work either and they couldn’t get home or even communicate with loved ones, but I wasn’t a part of it. I was in a bookstore in Rome, Italy when I found out about both towers being hit by planes and collapsing to the ground. I received words of sympathy from the taxi driver who returned me to the hotel and watched BBC coverage of the disaster which was not the same I’m certain, as an American news channel. The stories might be the same, but the emotions would have been different.
“Maybe I should watch it too.” I thought to myself.
As much as I don’t wan’t to face the sheer terror of that day, especially knowing one of the victims, as an American I probably should watch it.
One should never forget what happened. It needs to be kept fresh in one’s mind. The actual people who flew the plane might be dead, but there are millions of others who would gladly take part in another attack. The masterminds are also alive and free and most likely plotting other attacks. This is a war, not one little incident that will never happen again.
As a side note I will add that President Bush has declared September/11 as ‘Patriot Day’. While the name has not caught on much with the population, I hope some of the memorial activities will. This includes flying at half staff American flag (or another if you live in another nation and would like to show sympathy for the victims), and a moment of silence at 8:46 Eastern Standard Time.
Thanks for sharing your story about 9-11. It must have been a different experience going through it in another country. I have spent the morning with wet cheeks and eyes full of tears. I am amazed at the raw emotion I feel even after five years.
I bought an American flag just after 911. It is faded from too much time in the sun and has been packed away since my move to Italy. Today it will be flying proudly outside of our home.
Cyn
I watched the footage five years ago, i was glued to the tv, and I just rewatched it. The feelings are still there. Shock and complete disbelief.
I stayed away from the news that day. But I see why you might have been drawn. Was it worth it? what did you find out that you didn’t know before?
I didn’t really find out any new information that I did not know ,
but it really hit me how everyone from reporters to eyewitnesses calmly and business-like reported seeing the first explosion in the first tower. They all seemed to think it was just a bad accident. It wasn’t until the second tower was hit that anybody really started to panic that something was really wrong. What I will always remember is one female eye witness in particular discussing the fireball in the first tower in her normal voice and then becoming hysterical as she saw a plane fly directly into the second one.
It is one thing to hear from family and friends what happened that day, a few weeks after, and quite another to practically see it first hand. (Especially those that live near or work in NYC)
I was sad all day, but yes, in answer to your question, it was worth it.
J.Doe
I thought it was interesting to see again all of the misinformation that was coming through that day, like the bomb threats at schools and bombs going off in other places. It was jsut total panic and disbelief. I also learned that *holy shit* best desribed the scene to everyone who witnessed it. I swear that what the most commonly used phrase that day.