I can remember Monday morning, Sept. 11, 2001 like it was yesterday. I was in Squamish at the time, getting set for work at our sister paper, The Chief. I rarely turn on the television in the morning, but on that day, something in my head told me to turn on the news. When I did, the images that flashed across the screen were shocking, to say the least.
Nineteen Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial aircrafts, intending to strike the World Trade Center in New York City and various targets in Washington, D.C.
Of course, we all know how the rest of the morning unfolded: one plane was crashed into the Pentagon, two planes were crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, while passengers aboard the fourth flight fought off the terrorists in an amazing act of bravery, crashing the plane in a field in Pennsylvania and preventing another possible attack in Washington.
My life as I knew it at the time changed forever. We all experienced something different that day and in the days to follow. How could something like this have happened? It was almost surreal.
The attacks resulted in almost 3,000 fatalities - the largest loss of life from a hostile attack by a foreign entity on American soil. The New York Fire Department lost 343 members, while the New York Police Department lost 23 - the largest loss of emergency responders in a single event in U.S. history.
Now here we are nine years later, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been ranging for years. Political leaders in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. have vowed to end their campaigns in the Middle East and bring their respective troops home by the end of 2011, if not sooner. Everyone, it seems, has an opinion on the war. Is it right? Should we have been there? Should it end now? I'm not an expert on foreign affairs and foreign policy, so that's not what this column is about. This is one of remembrance and reflection.
I was on holiday in New York City last week. I was staying in the financial district, four blocks away from the World Trade Center site. I made sure to visit the area and the memorial that is under construction.
The memorial will remember the attacks and honour those killed on Sept. 11 and in the earlier bombing of the Trade Center on Feb. 26, 1993. It will consist of two massive pools set within the footprints of the Twin Towers with the largest man-made waterfalls in the country cascading down their sides. The memorial pools will each be nearly one acre in size. The names of the victims will be inscribed on parapets surrounding the pools, within groupings that will allow for family members, friends and co-workers who shared life's journey and perished together to have their names listed side by side.
An eight-acre landscaped Memorial Plaza filled with nearly 400 trees will create a contemplative space separate from the sights and sounds of the surrounding city. It will be an amazing and moving tribute, I'm sure.
I didn't know anyone who worked in the Twin Towers, nor any of the emergency responders who lost their lives, but I felt compelled to visit, reflect and pay my respect to those who lost their lives on that fateful September morning nine years ago.
Be sure to take some time this Saturday to reflect on and remember those who lost their lives in the attacks. Sept. 11 can never be forgotten. It has forever changed our lives.
