On this fateful day, the 11th of September... 14 years ago.
It was already the 12th of September 2001 when I first found out the news about the World Trade Center terror attack. I'm living in the Philippines thousands of miles away from New York City, United States. With my country being 12 hours ahead of time. But I could still vividly remember some of the key events during those time.
It was an ordinary day for me and my family. I was still studying back then and I have a class to attend to later in the afternoon. I woke up at around eight in the morning of September 12th. Grabbed the remote control to check on the early morning news. Then this terrifying news came to my sight. A telecast from CNN feeding the local news channels here the horrific scenes of how Flight 11 crashes into floors 93 to 99 of the North Tower of World Trade Center and several minutes later Flight 175 came smashing down into floors 77 to 85 of the South Tower of WTC.
A blast of sirens from the firefighters and policemen could be heard echoing in the background. Helicopters were flying from every direction. You could feel the tensions were really high by the panicked stricken people down in the streets of Manhattan.
Then the evacuation of people began on both towers as the first responders arrived.
At exactly 9:37 AM, another plane, the American Airline Flight 77 crashes into the western side of the Pentagon building instantly killing 184 people on its wake.
After burning for 56 minutes, the South Tower collapses killing almost 600 people. This was followed shortly by the collapse of the North Tower after burning for 102 minutes killing 1,400 people.
My initial reaction was of course, shocked. I couldn't believe what I was seeing that very moment. I felt terrified. My eyes were glued on our television set. I am loss for words. I felt numb and almost on the verge of tears... I dunno. It was a mixed of emotions. There were a lot of thoughts running inside my mind and I just couldn't think clearly. If these kind of scary things can happen in a first world and high powered countries like the United States what more in small countries like mine? It felt like I was watching an action-packed film but the main difference was that what I witnessed on those moments were all real life events. No directors, no action stars, no camera rolling in the background.
I may not be directly affected by the series of events which occurred on that fateful 11th day of September 2001. I may not have any relatives or friends who personally witnessed these terrible tragedy. I may not a native English speaker. I may not have an American blood flowing in my veins. But I just wanted you guys to know in behalf of the entire Filipino nation, we are one with you in remembering and commemorating the innocent lives of your beloved who perished on this inhumane act of terrorism. A big salute for all the brave men and women in action who risked their own lives just to save others. I truly admire your selfless acts. We will never forget you. My thoughts and prayers are with you. God bless America and the entire world!
Photo from Google
 |
| World Trade Center Memorial Lights |
Reference: http://timeline.911memorial.org/#Timeline/2
0 comments:
Post a Comment