Life After September 11 – “Lest We Forget”
Written on June 17, 2008 by Tezza
Like many visitors to New York City, I made my way to the World Trade Center site. I never did see the Twin Towers prior to September 11, 2001 and so my only images of the towers before that fateful day are from pictures. You don’t have to be a New Yorker to have been touched by that event, the ramifications of that one moment in history have reverberated around the world and for some it’s still ongoing. Unless your a New Yorker I think you can never truly understand the events of 9-11, I know i don’t.
Like many i still remember that day, I got woken up by a friend in the early morning and was told that something “big” was happening in New York. I didn’t think anything of it at the time and went back to sleep. Then I get here to New York and everyone has their own personal account as its a day that has been forever etched into their memory. Some New Yorkers have been brave enough to share their story with me, and it’s humbling to listen to them every time. Sometimes we find peace and comfort knowing that our loved ones memories are kept alive, and it is with that thought in mind that I share these stories with you, “lest we forget”.
Spending time in a Benedictine monastery one of the monks wore a NYFD t-shirt during the afternoons when we were working. So one day I asked him about the t-shirt. Turned out he was a firefighter in New York for 20 years. On 9-11 his shift had finished and was almost home when he got called back to the firehouse. When he got there the second tower collapsed. He worked tirelessly, day and night, to try and rescue his “family” who were inside the towers when they collapsed. When it turned from a rescue operation to a body recovery operation he continued to work on the site for months.
Only 137 bodies were recovered from the World Trade Center site. Of the nearly 3000 victims most were only identified through DNA evidence based from body parts recovered and some 1200 victims have not yet been found. The back of his shirt lists the names of the men whose lives were lost “doing their job” that morning.
A woman whose youngest son worked on Tower 2 remembers when word reached that a plane had just flown into the building went into panic as her son worked there. She tried calling her son but to no avail, when she reached her eldest son he informed her that he had just spoken with the youngest and told him to get out of the building. When Tower 2 collapsed the first of the twins to collapse the family held out hope that he had gotten out in time.
When hours went by and no news came through they went to all the hospitals and shelters and set up, as many families did, poster campaigns. As the days went by they began to face reality. Shock, disbelief, panic, anxiety, grief turned into anger and hatred. She told me she never understood hatred until 9-11 and admits that to this day it’s still a daily struggle. Fifty five alumni from his high school died that day, 12 from the same graduating class. They set up a foundation in his name and have raised over $2 mil which has been distributed to worthy causes.
Unless you were there, you probably can’t imagine how difficult the aftermath of the attacks were, the subways and transport systems were shut down, communications were down so cellphones weren’t working and people were on the streets panicking that America was under attack. People who worked in Manhattan like my aunt had to walk home that day and imagine the whole time worrying about whether your loved ones are okay.
One cop who worked for the NYPD was actually at the WTC site during the 1993 underground bombing and was one of the coordinators of the rescue operation for 9-11. Like the thousands of rescue workers and volunteers the clearing of the WTC site was dangerous and slow. Body parts were being taken out in buckets every day and the toxic fumes and particles in the air has meant that many of the rescue workers like her now suffer debilitating respiratory illnesses, in her words they spent hours on end “breathing in dead people” and now her lungs are shattered.
These stories hopefully remind us how precious every day is. One father’s last words to his son on the phone was to “get to the roof” which was what some people did during the 1993 underground bombing. He lives with those last words every day.
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Lets not forget!
It sounded a lot like a dumb movie plot at the time, but man was that scary. Thanks for reminding me that American lives were lost for something so utterly stupid.
Yes, everone wants to forget that 11th september as it was very scary but some things can not be fogotton as they always give the remembrance of that day.