9/11 – Five years on
9/11 will always be on of those days that you’ll remember where you were and recall quite clearly what you did.
Earlier today I read the account of a friend of mine who was in New York the day of the attack.
“I was actually in New York on this day 5 years ago, sitting about 2 miles away in a cafe reading a newspaper when the first plane came crashing in. I will always remember being up at the top of one of the Towers the day before having a meal and seeing the sights. Apart from the scenes that the entire world saw I do think about all the people that were working in one of the restaurants that served me. They would have all been their ready for another days work when the attack took place. Having never met those that died on the other floors in the offices they along with all the rescue services and police who also died are just numbers to me but those in the restaurant are more personal. May they all rest in peace and the perpetrators that planned this obscenity be hunted down and brought to justice, whatever it takes.”
He continues:
“It was truely an awful day and as you say everyone will remember where they were. On that day there I was sitting in a cafe on Broadway near Times Square drinking my coffee reading USA Today on a lovely pleasant and sunny Tuesday morning. I heard a woman say that there had been an accident in that a plane had crashed into one of the Towers. I remember thinking ‘oh I suppose one of the many light aircraft that overflew New York had crashed’ and wondered if I would be able to see anything if I crossed the road and went on to Lexington Avenue. Sure enough I could see some smoke and thought perhaps its on the telly. I walked back to my hotel room, switched on the telly just in time to see the second aircraft go in. I shouted at Vicci who was still asleep that something was going on at the Towers. We spent the rest of the morning watching the telly and hearing the sirens all screaming up towards Battery Park and the surrounding areas. We had planned to go up to the park to catch the ferry to go across to the Statue of Liberty later that day. By lunchtime we decided to go out and see what was happening in the rest of New York. On reaching the street the whole place had changed, everyone was streaming to get into Central Park as it was felt that there might be more attacks either by plane or car bomb. We joined the throng and stayed there until around 7 that evening. By the time we returned to our hotel the whole place had closed down there was absolutlely nothing open, no cars on the streets almost like a ghost town except for the continuous blare of sirens. A day truely I will never never forget.”
