[00:00.00]As a bewildered public endeavored to assimilate
[00:03.71]this overwhelming event,
[00:05.78]at 9∶03 a.m., a second hijacked jet
[00:09.94]crashed into Two W.T.C.
[00:13.01]Millions of people around the world,
[00:16.08]having been alerted to the incident
[00:18.92]and now watching the terror
[00:20.56]unfold on their televisions,
[00:21.87]watched in shock as the second plane,
[00:24.94]in the blink of an eye,
[00:26.58]entered the south tower
[00:28.43]at approximately the seventy-second floor
[00:31.50]and partially exited the opposite wall.
[00:34.89]Fire and police departments
[00:38.06]were mobilized immediately.
[00:39.48]Rapid evacuation of the buildings was crucial.
[00:44.13]Many workers on upper floors,
[00:46.86]knowing there was no escape,
[00:49.49]committed suicide by hurling themselves
[00:52.88]out of windows to their deaths.
[00:55.39]Then, 62 minutes after it had been crashed into,
[01:00.43]the south tower crumbled into the streets
[01:03.27]in a gigantic cloud of dust and debris.
[01:06.44]Hundreds of police and firefighters
[01:10.06]intent on their rescue mission
[01:12.03]lost their lives as Two W.T.C. collapsed.
[01:15.85]Drivers and attendants of emergency vehicles,
[01:19.14]unable to abandon their posts,
[01:21.55]died where they had stopped
[01:23.30]to give aid and assistance.
[01:25.81]Employees from the two towers,
[01:28.99]rushing to escape the raging fires,
[01:31.94]were caught in the wreckage.
[01:33.91]Pedestrians, uncertain of which way to turn,
[01:37.30]and not convinced of the need for urgency,
[01:40.04]found themselves trapped
[01:42.01]in an avalanche of concrete.
[01:44.08]Members of the media,
[01:46.27]on their way to
[01:47.58]cover the breaking news of the disaster,
[01:49.77]became victims of it.
[01:51.96]Hundreds of commuters,
[01:54.47]on their way to work via subway,
[01:57.10]were trapped below ground with no escape possible.
[02:01.15]Hospital emergency departments,
[02:05.08]having been notified of the explosions,
[02:08.04]quickly prepared for the arrival of casualties.
[02:11.65]When the expected influx failed to materialize,
[02:16.14]it could only mean that there were few survivors.
[02:19.53]One W.T.C. collapsed at 10∶30 a.m.,
[02:25.11]105 minutes after being hit,
[02:28.50]adding to the mass confusion in the streets.
[02:31.67]Seven W.T.C.,
[02:34.25]a later addition to the complex,
[02:36.66]was damaged,caught fire,
[02:38.85]and collapsed later that afternoon.
[02:41.14]Not one of the adjoining structures was left intact.
[02:45.85]In the aftermath of this incredible misfortune,
[02:50.45]the pieces of the puzzle
[02:52.31]began to be put in place.
[02:54.27]Shortly before 8∶00 a.m. on September 11, 2001,
[02:59.67]three commercial airliners were hijacked
[03:02.62]from Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts.
[03:06.45]All were transcontinental flights
[03:09.18]with passengers destined for California
[03:12.02]and their full fuel tanks
[03:14.11]provided the ammunition critical
[03:16.08]to the mission of the hijackers.
[03:18.59] Authorities speculate that
[03:21.43]the pilots were assassinated
[03:23.19]and their places taken by the terrorists
[03:26.03]who had had flight training.
[03:28.22]In all, there were 157 passengers
[03:32.70]and crew on the two planes.
[03:35.00]The third plane crashed in Pennsylvania
[03:38.28]killing 45 passengers and crew.
[03:41.13]A number of the hostages managed to
[03:44.96]use their cellular telephones to
[03:47.25]call their families to say goodbye.
[03:49.44]Everything occurred
[03:51.52]in such a short period of time that,
[03:53.49]other than alerting a handful of people
[03:56.12]that there were some hijackings,
[03:58.30]no one had any idea why.
[04:00.60]The dilemma was that there were no warnings,
[04:03.89]no demands for ransom,
[04:05.63]and no hints that this bright,
[04:07.93]sunny September morning was about
[04:10.66]to become a day that will live forever
[04:12.85]in the minds of those
[04:14.16]who witnessed the tragedy.
[04:15.70]It will be years
[04:18.54]before the final toll of damage
[04:20.41]will be known.
[04:21.61]To consolidate information,
[04:23.57]compute the financial losses,
[04:26.20]designate a monetary value for loss of life,
[04:29.59]fill the void left on the terrain,
[04:32.11]to make sense of this misfortune
[04:34.51]intended to undermine the foundation of America
[04:37.69]is a formidable assignment.
[04:40.21]We do know that
[04:42.17]destruction of the World Trade Center
[04:44.36]cost the lives of more than
[04:45.90]three thousand innocent people
[04:47.64]in the buildings, in the hijacked airplanes,
[04:50.81] and in the surrounding streets.
[04:52.78]Who can erase the mental images of those planes
[04:57.49]smashing into the twin towers?
[04:59.57]Who is unable to visualize the spectacle
[05:02.85]of terrified men and women
[05:04.93]jumping to their doom?
[05:06.68]How can those of us
[05:08.76]who observed the collapse
[05:10.30]of the buildings fail to dwell
[05:12.04]on the loss of life caused by men,cowards,
[05:15.65]who lacked the fortitud
[05:17.73]to proclaim war on their alleged enemy?
[05:20.25]Today, October 22, 2001,
[05:25.61]nine more corpses were
[05:27.68]discovered in the rubbl,
[05:28.89]the first such discovery in several weeks.
[05:32.06]This may seem trivial when one considers
[05:35.45]the multitude of people who died.
[05:37.86]However, the fatalities
[05:40.71]aren't the only victims
[05:42.23]of this tragic event.
[05:44.32]Their families, friends,
[05:46.72]and colleagues need closure.
[05:48.80]They need to know with certainty
[05:51.76]that their loved ones are dead
[05:54.16]and they need to bury the remains.
[05:56.68]Unfortunately,most of the casualties
[06:00.83]will probably never be found
[06:02.81]because the heat produced
[06:04.66]by the ignition of jet fuel
[06:06.74]and the damage incurred by the impact
[06:09.37]would have instantaneously vaporized everything
[06:13.20]and everyone in the immediate vicinity.
[06:16.37]Others, in the buildings
[06:18.67]or on the streets as the towers collapsed
[06:21.51]are under so much debris
[06:23.70]that their bodies may
[06:25.13]not be found for months.
[06:26.87]The list of buildings collapsed
[06:29.61]and damaged includes all seven buildings
[06:32.45]of the W.T.C.complex comprising W.T.C.6,
[06:37.48]the U.S. Customs House to the north;
[06:40.77] W.T.C.3, the 22 story Marriott World Trade Center Hotel
[06:47.01]just west of Tower Two;
[06:49.20]W.T.C.4 and 5, the Plaza Buildings,
[06:54.33]and One Liberty Plaza, a 54 story,
[06:58.38]743 foot high building to the east.
[07:03.09] Firefighters and recovery workers
[07:06.48]remain on the scene.
[07:07.90]The fires still smolder beneath the ruins.
[07:11.08]The American spirit has been bruised
[07:15.12]and the land has been scarred.
[07:17.09]The citizens of this powerful nation
[07:19.94]now realize just how fragile
[07:22.67]and vulnerable their country is.
[07:24.86]Nevertheless,they are defiant.
[07:28.36]They do not consider themselves
[07:31.20]easy prey for terrorists.
[07:33.28]They are still optimistic
[07:35.47]about their place in today's world.
[07:37.85]They assert that the nightmare
[07:40.69]visited upon them will be visited
[07:43.32]upon the perpetrators of this cowardly act.
[07:46.60]The World Trade Center is no more.
[07:49.88]The dream of an international axis of business,
[07:54.15]once a reality,will be revised.
[07:57.76]Maybe having one place
[08:00.13]that is so prominent will also be rethought.
[08:03.63]Whatever the outcome,
[08:06.80]this massacre has served
[08:08.44]to strengthen the resolve of a mighty nation.
[08:11.62]The dream and dreamers will survive.
|