I’m watching a documentary called 9/11: 10 Years Later on CBS that is incredible. Two French filmmaker brothers happened to be following one of the NYFD companies around when the events took place on September 11th. The captains allowed them to accompany them to what became Ground Zero and they were there from the beginning, one brother actually caught video of the first plane hitting the tower, until both towers had fallen. If you have a chance, I strongly recommend watching this documentary. It provided a perspective that I thought I would never see, what was actually going on inside. I will definitely purchase it if it becomes available.
I heard a statistic today that 97% of Americans can recall exactly where they were and what they were doing when the planes hit the towers. I had just started my junior year of high school and was walking to my Spanish class with friends when we heard the news that a plane hit the towers. I figured that it had been a small single-engine plane or something like that, nothing big. 45-50 minutes later when class was over, we realized the severity of what had happened and what was going on. Once I arrived to my Human Biology class Mrs. J. brought in a TV and we were able to see what was going on. We all were pretty much sitting there speechless. I immediately began to think about my dad who was in New Jersey for business. We then left the class and the entire school met in the auditorium where we were updated on the situation and told to go home. I came home and sat on the coach, glued to the TV for the next seven or eight hours. My dad was okay, just stuck in New Jersey. He and his co-workers got one of very few rental cars that were available and made the long drive back to Tennessee.
I had the chance to travel to New York for the first time in 2006. There were many places and things that I wanted to see but Ground Zero was not necessarily on that list. While walking to a meet a friend at his hotel, we accidently ran across Ground Zero. We wondered what this massive fence covered by tarps was, and when we looked in, we realized what it was. A chill shot through my body and I stood speechless with my mouth wide open. Once in my friend’s hotel, he showed us the view from his room. It was looking down on Ground Zero. Also, while we were up there, they found the remains of three victims. Five years later and they were still finding remains.
Today, 10 years later, I enjoyed church and lunch with my parents and later spending some time with friends at a park. Thoughts and prayers to all those who lost someone or were involved in the search and rescue after the attacks and all military personnel and their families .
