by Ariana Pekary, producer
On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was at work in Chevy Chase, Maryland. After the news broke that two airplanes had flown into the World Trade Center, everyone in my office gathered around the television in one of the conference rooms. We watched in horror as the towers collapsed. It’s one of those moments that is nearly impossible for anyone to forget.
Three years prior, I had been assigned to work in Two World Trade Center as part of my training for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. They occupied floors 59 to 74 of that building, two floors below where United Airlines flight 175 collided with the glass and steel of 2 WTC. A friend’s fiancé perished that day. Another friend suffered PTSD after shooting photos at Ground Zero for days after the attacks. But I don’t think you needed to have a personal connection to the buildings or people to be strongly affected.
Construction, February 2011 at Ground Zero
The world changed that day, and not just for me, not just for Americans. Doyle McManus points out in his Friday chat with Bob that Islamic terrorism is not at the top of our worry list — but in some way, it has influenced our lives on a permanent basis: from travel to faith and politics to our bank accounts.
American Flag, February 2011 near Ground Zero
Just this week, the Rutger’s Law Review released audio recordings from the morning of 9/11 that had never been made public before. It’s interesting and chilling to listen to them, not to mention frustrating at how clumsy the reaction seemed to be. Kudos to 9/11 commission for persistently pursuing the release of those recordings. It brings new insight into what happened, how emergency responders responded, and how forthcoming government officials can be (or not).
This weekend, services will be held in Washington, DC and New York to commemorate the attacks. You can click here for a description of the weekend’s 9/11 memorial events.