9/11- Ground Zero

September 11, 2001. A day the whole world will never forget.

Do you remember a world when September 11th was just another day? It’s hard to believe, but this year marks the 13th anniversary. It’s been 13 years since 9/11, 13 years since terrorists hijacked several airplanes, flying two in the World Trade Center in New York City and one each into the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

World Trade Center(WTC) New York 2001, International space station pictures from space.

 

Jumped from the tower

Even in impending death below, 2 people give some solace to each other. “You’re not alone!” No, none of those who were in those unfortunate upper floors of the Towers “deserved” what happened to them, but a couple of people here & there (there were 200+ people who fell from the burning buildings without any hope of rescue) held hands to help each other.

 

9/11 Memorial

A decade after the 9/11 attacks, two gaping voids still sit in the ground where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once loomed. But today the towers’ footprints are filled with reflecting pools and waterfalls, in what is now the 9/11 Memorial. Bronze parapets engraved with the 2,983 names of those who perished in the ’93 WTC bombings and at the hands of terrorists on September 11, 2001 wrap around the pools. The names of the victims are listed not in alphabetical order, but in “meaningful adjacencies” that reflect where they were, their affiliations, or personal relationships (as requested by their surviving loved ones).

 

Robert Peraza, who lost his son Robert David Peraza in 9/11, pauses at his son’s name at the North Pool of the 9/11 Memorial.

After 13 years gone by it still brings goosebumps when we see the documentaries which are telecast. The people who lost their life’s may not be from the same blood but it still feels like they were no different.

Today, tomorrow or 10 years from now – we will remember 9/11, for the husband who told his wife ‘I love you’ one last time before his plane went down. For the wife who stopped in the stairs to call her husband to say ‘I will love you forever’. For the mothers and fathers who kissed their kid goodbye the morning they died. For the policemen who rushed in with the fireman to help others only to die themselves. .

“We lost a lot, but we gained more. United we stand. We learned freedom isn’t always free..”