As a bewildered public endeavored to assimilate
this overwhelming event,
at 9∶03 a.m., a second hijacked jet
crashed into Two W.T.C.
Millions of people around the world,
having been alerted to the incident
and now watching the terror
unfold on their televisions,
watched in shock as the second plane,
in the blink of an eye,
entered the south tower
at approximately the seventy-second floor
and partially exited the opposite wall.
Fire and police departments
were mobilized immediately.
Rapid evacuation of the buildings was crucial.
Many workers on upper floors,
knowing there was no escape,
committed suicide by hurling themselves
out of windows to their deaths.
Then, 62 minutes after it had been crashed into,
the south tower crumbled into the streets
in a gigantic cloud of dust and debris.
Hundreds of police and firefighters
intent on their rescue mission
lost their lives as Two W.T.C. collapsed.
Drivers and attendants of emergency vehicles,
unable to abandon their posts,
died where they had stopped
to give aid and assistance.
Employees from the two towers,
rushing to escape the raging fires,
were caught in the wreckage.
Pedestrians, uncertain of which way to turn,
and not convinced of the need for urgency,
found themselves trapped
in an avalanche of concrete.
Members of the media,
on their way to
cover the breaking news of the disaster,
became victims of it.
Hundreds of commuters,
on their way to work via subway,
were trapped below ground with no escape possible.
Hospital emergency departments,
having been notified of the explosions,
quickly prepared for the arrival of casualties.
When the expected influx failed to materialize,
it could only mean that there were few survivors.
One W.T.C. collapsed at 10∶30 a.m.,
105 minutes after being hit,
adding to the mass confusion in the streets.
Seven W.T.C.,
a later addition to the complex,
was damaged,caught fire,
and collapsed later that afternoon.
Not one of the adjoining structures was left intact.
In the aftermath of this incredible misfortune,
the pieces of the puzzle
began to be put in place.
Shortly before 8∶00 a.m. on September 11, 2001,
three commercial airliners were hijacked
from Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts.
All were transcontinental flights
with passengers destined for California
and their full fuel tanks
provided the ammunition critical
to the mission of the hijackers.
Authorities speculate that
the pilots were assassinated
and their places taken by the terrorists
who had had flight training.
In all, there were 157 passengers
and crew on the two planes.
The third plane crashed in Pennsylvania
killing 45 passengers and crew.
A number of the hostages managed to
use their cellular telephones to
call their families to say goodbye.
Everything occurred
in such a short period of time that,
other than alerting a handful of people
that there were some hijackings,
no one had any idea why.
The dilemma was that there were no warnings,
no demands for ransom,
and no hints that this bright,
sunny September morning was about
to become a day that will live forever
in the minds of those
who witnessed the tragedy.
It will be years
before the final toll of damage
will be known.
To consolidate information,
compute the financial losses,
designate a monetary value for loss of life,
fill the void left on the terrain,
to make sense of this misfortune
intended to undermine the foundation of America
is a formidable assignment.
We do know that
destruction of the World Trade Center
cost the lives of more than
three thousand innocent people
in the buildings, in the hijacked airplanes,
and in the surrounding streets.
Who can erase the mental images of those planes
smashing into the twin towers?
Who is unable to visualize the spectacle
of terrified men and women
jumping to their doom?
How can those of us
who observed the collapse
of the buildings fail to dwell
on the loss of life caused by men,cowards,
who lacked the fortitud
to proclaim war on their alleged enemy?
Today, October 22, 2001,
nine more corpses were
discovered in the rubbl,
the first such discovery in several weeks.
This may seem trivial when one considers
the multitude of people who died.
However, the fatalities
aren't the only victims
of this tragic event.
Their families, friends,
and colleagues need closure.
They need to know with certainty
that their loved ones are dead
and they need to bury the remains.
Unfortunately,most of the casualties
will probably never be found
because the heat produced
by the ignition of jet fuel
and the damage incurred by the impact
would have instantaneously vaporized everything
and everyone in the immediate vicinity.
Others, in the buildings
or on the streets as the towers collapsed
are under so much debris
that their bodies may
not be found for months.
The list of buildings collapsed
and damaged includes all seven buildings
of the W.T.C.complex comprising W.T.C.6,
the U.S. Customs House to the north;
W.T.C.3, the 22 story Marriott World Trade Center Hotel
just west of Tower Two;
W.T.C.4 and 5, the Plaza Buildings,
and One Liberty Plaza, a 54 story,
743 foot high building to the east.
Firefighters and recovery workers
remain on the scene.
The fires still smolder beneath the ruins.
The American spirit has been bruised
and the land has been scarred.
The citizens of this powerful nation
now realize just how fragile
and vulnerable their country is.
Nevertheless,they are defiant.
They do not consider themselves
easy prey for terrorists.
They are still optimistic
about their place in today's world.
They assert that the nightmare
visited upon them will be visited
upon the perpetrators of this cowardly act.
The World Trade Center is no more.
The dream of an international axis of business,
once a reality,will be revised.
Maybe having one place
that is so prominent will also be rethought.
Whatever the outcome,
this massacre has served
to strengthen the resolve of a mighty nation.
The dream and dreamers will survive.
