Remembering 9/11

 

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks.

Hard to believe that it has been almost two full decades since that unbelievable day.

The memory of that day lives on among many people, myself included. At the time, I was unemployed and living at home with my parents (although married). Earlier that year, I had graduated college, but had not found a job yet. It was depressing, and the events of that day certainly did not serve to cheer me up any. In fact, that autumn of 2001 is one of the most depressing chapters that I can remember, personally.

September 11th also happens to be the anniversary for my parents, so everyone in the family was home at the time. In fact, we were discussing the plans to celebrate their 30th anniversary, when my mom went into the bedroom to watch some television. She returned almost immediately, and said that something had happened at the Twin Towers again. Since she worded it in that manner, which brought to mind the earlier terrorist incident in 1993 (now largely forgotten, obviously overshadowed by the September 11th attacks), I immediately assumed it was a terrorist attack, even before the second plane hit.

Right away, everyone knew that this was a huge news event, and quite possibly, our generation's "where were you when" moment, kind of like the JFK assassination had been that moment for my parents, where everyone remembered exactly where they were when they first heard the news.

Also, there was the realization that this would dominate the news for a long time to come, although I did not know just yet for how long, and how much the world would change. Who could have known that these attacks would lead to multiple wars, as well as other crimes committed, allegedly in the name of fighting the "Global War on Terrorism?"

On this anniversary, I wanted to share some of my thoughts and memories of that fateful day, as well as remember the heroic efforts of the first responders, both alive and dead. Also, to remember the nearly 3,000 victims on that day, as well as the memory of the hundreds of thousands who died in unnecessary wars indirectly following it.

The following is a link to some of the reactions in other countries following the September 11th attacks:

How 9/11 Was Displayed In Non-American Countries. This Is Eye-Opening. published by Tickld:

http://www.tickld.com/x/jaw/how-9/11-was-displayed-in-non-american-countries-this-is-eye-opening?utm_source=tickld&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=nonamericans911&ts_pid=2&ts_pid=2

I wanted to post the pictures from a recent visit to the World Trade Center (WTC). I had been very near the WTC a few times since September 11th, but had never actually gone to the site of where the towers had stood, and which I had come to know as Ground Zero. For some reason, I had assumed - wrongly, obviously - that the ground was closed off behind fences. The last time that I specifically remember being there was when Barack Obama went to lay a wreath, I believe, just days after the death of Osama Bin Laden. My ex and I brought our son, thinking it might be something special, and to see the sitting President of the United States. We saw him, but he unfortunately does not remember it. Of course, he was very young, not even six, so that makes sense. But one thing that I remember was that it seemed that everything was fenced off, and they may even have been completing the memorial still by that point. The impression that I had was that this was off limits and inaccessible to the general public, unless you paid for a ticket to the museum.

But it is open to the general public (although they closed it off for some reason when it started to rain fairly heavily). This is a fitting and moving tribute to the victims of 9/11. The falling waters of the fountain more or less drown out the sounds of the surrounding city life, including the traffic and horns and people and such. That makes this a place of solemn reflection, and it is a beautiful and moving memorial, as such.

In any case, we went there after Van Gogh, and discovered that it was indeed open to the public. It was my first visit to the actual site of where the towers stood since before that fateful day. Back in 1998, my father and I saw a concert in between the towers. it was Phillip Glass, with a French group, Autour de Lucie, as one of the opening acts (perhaps the only opening act). It was hot and sunny, as I recall. Surely, I saw the towers after that, but that was the last time that I would be so close to them.

This visit felt so strange. I saw the square fountains outlining where the towers had stood. It still sometimes feels surreal. It was a moving experience, not unlike the Vietnam Wall in Washington, or Dealy Plaza in Dallas. You definitely get the sense of a somber recognition of something memorable and tragic. But I was not yet born for either the Kennedy assassination or the Vietnam War, really (technically, the war was still going on when I was born in October of 1974, but American involvement had largely ended by that point). However, I was definitely around and old enough to remember September 11th. How could I forget? How could anyone?

These were some of the pictures that I took there yesterday. The one that I posted on the top, and which begins the collection below, actually moved me quite significantly. To see the rose that some loved one placed in memory of somebody who was lost on that day, somebody who had gone to work as usual and was not expecting the tragedy that was about to unfold, was very sad, and I almost felt myself welling up. So I took a picture, and felt that it would be fitting to post it here.

RIP to all of those lost on that fateful day.