Today, as I’m sure we all know, is the twentieth anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. on September, 11th 2001.
On that day I was at work in a high storey government office (see photo below) in London when we started hearing reports that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. At the time we had little information and assumed that it was a small private plane. The Area Director asked Board members to attend a very quick briefing. She told us about the terrorist attack in New York and that HMG were concerned about duplicate attacks here in London. Government security officials said our building was seen as a potential terrorist target and consequently we would have to evacuate the building within a matter of minutes. We were told to ensure that all our managers had up-to-date lists of staff members’ home telephone numbers etc., as they would be used to advise them when they should return to the office. I returned to my unit and advised my managers what was about to happen. No sooner had I passed on the gist of what happened at the Board meeting when a public announcement was made over the internal voice alarm system. The security manager advised staff that, for security reasons, everyone was to evacuate the building and go home. And that their managers would telephone them later with updates on when it would be safe to return to the office.
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Rather than go home, the Area Director said we should retire to a bar, at a safe distance from the tower, and discuss how things should proceed. Once the meeting finished, and before going home, I walked down to my gym in Covent Garden. Everyone there behaved as if nothing was amiss; I doubt many were aware of the events taking place in New York. Only towards the end of my workout, when I went to use a running machine facing a bank of muted television screens, did I realise from watching the only screen showing a 24 hour news channel the extent of the terrorist attack. I looked on in horror as I saw recordings of an explosion at first one tower and then a second tower being struck by what was clearly a commercial airliner.
Later, a third hijacked plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was shown crashing into the western side of the Pentagon.
And not until later did I find out that a fourth hijacked flight, United 93, heading towards the United States Capitol was courageously forced down by its passengers ahead of its intended target and crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania killing everyone aboard.
The fourth hijacking was covered in the 2006 film, United 93. If you haven’t already seen it, I highly recommend it.
Source: WikipediaUnited 93 is a 2006 docudrama thriller film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Greengrass. The film chronicles the events aboard United Airlines Flight 93,[3] which was hijacked during the September 11 attacks of 2001, as well as the experience of air traffic control personnel as the attacks unfold.
The film attempts to recount the hijacking and subsequent events in the flight with as much veracity as possible (there is a disclaimer that some imagination had to be used) and in real time (from the flight's takeoff). The film was made with the cooperation of many of the passengers' families,[4] though not all agreed to participate . . .
The attack on the twin towers brought back memories of visiting New York in the late ’90s. I spent a week visiting a Turkish friend who was there from London visiting relatives. We visited the World Trade Center as well as several other tourist attractions. I recall having to take two lifts up to the top floor. I think there were 109 floors and remember getting vertigo as I tried to walk about on the roof. I searched for photos of that occasion and, unfortunately, was able to locate just four not particularly well shot photos, which I have posted below. I must have been on the South Tower roof top, as the building behind me, on one of the photos, has the antenna spire, which, I believe, was on the North Tower:
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And finally, I’d like to end this post by including what, at least for me, is a rather emotional video of the changing of the guard outside Buckingham Palace on September 13, 2001. At Her Majesty’s command, instead of playing God save the Queen, the Coldstream guards played the Star Spangled Banner:
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Originally Posted by Jellybean
