This is a little YouTube video we made of the pictures from the memorial. It was my effort to reduce the number of pictures plastering on the blog :0)
Some interesting things about 9/11 I learned from the 9/11 Memorial Museum.
"On September 11, 2001 terrorists murdered nearly 3,000 innocent people at the World Trade Center in New York City, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and aboard four hijacked planes.
The events of that day marked the single largest loss of life from a foreign attack on American soil.
Over 400 first responders perished heroically performing their sworn duty - firefighters, police officers, and other rescue workers. The victims represented 92 different countries. The oldest was 85 years old; the youngest was two and a half."
Timeline of September 11, 2001
Between 7:59 and 8:42 am
Four commercial planes depart from three east coast airports for flights across the U.S. Shortly after take-off, each is hijacked by a team of terrorists. The airplanes are intended as weapons in a coordinated attack on targets of high symbolic value for Americans and much of the world.
8:46 am
Hijackers, affiliated with the radical Islamic terrorist network Al-Qaeda, crash Flight 11 into floors 94-98 of the North Tower of the WTC.
***(see below)
9:00 am
The Fire Department of the New York City (FDNY), the NYC Police Department (NYPD) and the Port Authority Police Department (PAPD) mobilize at their highest levels.
9:03 am
Al-Qaeda hijackers crash Flight 175 into floors 78-84 of the South Tower of the WTC.
9:15 am
NYC officials begin closing bridges and tunnels to all except emergency personnel and pedestrians.
9:25 am
Federal Aviation Administration orders the first ever nationwide ground-stop, prohibiting the take-off of flights.
9:37 am
Al-Qaeda hijackers crash Flight 77 into the Pentagon, near Washington DC.
9:40 am
Federal Aviation Administration orders all 4,546 planes in North American airspace to land at the nearest airport.
By 9:45 am
The White House, the Empire State Building, the United Nations, Disney World and other major US sites are evacuated.
9:59 am
The South Tower of the WTC collapses.
10:03 am
Passengers aboard Flight 93 launch a counter-attack on the plane's Al-Qaeda hijackers, causing them to crash the aircraft into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
10:28 am
The North Tower of the WTC collapses. All 16 acres of the WTC site are in ruins. A rescue and recovery effort begins immediately.
11:02 am
NYC Mayor Giuliani orders the evacuation of all of lower Manhattan below Canal Street, including workers, residents, tourists, and school children.
5:20 pm
7 WTC collapses.
8:30 pm
President Bush addresses the nation.
Between the time the first plane crashed into the North tower and before the second plane crashed into the South tower is where I tuned in. So in essence, this is what I witnessed:
***This is where I began learning what was happening the day this all took place. I was heading to school earlier than normal (would have been before 7:00 am MST. I was going to school early because all of the student government people were asked to go early to greet some Russians that were coming to our school that day. All I knew is that I was going to meet the Russians, otherwise I wouldn't have left until more like 7:30-7:45. As I was driving to school I had the radio going, but I didn't actually tune in to what they were saying until I was at a 4-way stop about a mile from my house. I heard the radio announcer say, "We just saw a hijacked plane hit the North tower of the World Trade Center and it looks like there is another heading towards the South tower." I sat at the 4-way stop for a while as I listened to the play by play until they announced that the plane had crashed into the South tower. It was a strange moment. I remember feeling like I was in another world. Like, 'did that really just happen?' I continued to listen as I drove the last mile to school (ya, I lived like 2 miles from school) and then I found a TV and a telephone and I called home to tell my family what I had just heard and for them to get turn on the TV and watch it. I watched it in the Drivers Ed room with Mr. Falslev. His wife was our student government leader and they were the only ones at the school by then. The Russians never came, but I remember watching the TV and watching the events unfold in every class period for the rest of the day. It's still hard to believe that it happened. Sometimes I still feel like I am at that 4-way stop and I hear the radio announcer say, "Another plane is headed towards the South tower." and then I feel like my body shakes with the crash. That's the most real memory I have. Then I fast forward 3 years to when I was a nanny out in New York. I remember seeing gas masks hanging with the coats and jackets as if they were a regular accessory. They purchased them after not being able to breath from all the debris that masked the city. It can't imagine what the people in NY went through on that day. I don't want to. I am grateful for the many brave people who stepped in that day. I mourn for those who lost their family members and friends and I hope they found some sort of comfort. I know we will see them again one day and I hope they too have faith that they will see them again as well.
The Memorial:
The design for the 9/11 memorial at the World Trade Center, entitled Reflecting Absence, was selected in 2004 out of 5,201 entries to an international competition. Designed by architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker, the Memorial covers eight of the original 16 acres of the World Trade Center site. The design consists of two pools, each nearly an acre in size, set within the original footprints of the Twin Towers. The surrounging plaza is populated with more than 400 swamp white oak trees. The 2,983 names of those killed in the 9/11 attacks in New York, at the Pentagon, and on Flight 93- as well as the six victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing- are inscribed in bronze parapets surrounding the pools. Thirty-foot waterfalls cascade down the four sides of both pools, as the water disappears into deeper voides in the pools' centers. The opening of the 9/11 Memorial marked the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
A few pictures that didn't show up too well in the video:
People showing rememberance of September 11:
Two of the new World Trade Center (WTC) skyscrapers being built:
The new WTC museum - it wasn't open when we were there, we went to a different location. But I bet it will be awesome when it opens.
The new World Trade Center (WTC) will include:
-Five new skyscrapers (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 WTC)
-The National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center
-The World Trade Center Transportation Hub
-550,000 square feet of retail space
-A Performing Arts Center
It was a neat experience to visit this site and to take time to reflect and remember some of our country's history. I am glad we didn't miss it and recommend it to anyone visiting the area.
1 comment:
I totally remember where I was too. Nice to hear your story. I miss you friend!
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