A dozen years have gone by and September 11, 2001 still burns into the soul of every New Yorker who was alive and old enough on that day to realize what was happening. We watched at first not quite understanding what the hell was happening. It was originally reported that a small plane accidentally crashed into the towers at Wall Street. This caused almost everyone who could to turn on the TV and watch in in horror as a large air liner turned into the building and explode. This was no accident. An air plane was under control of another group of terrorist and was on the way to Washington when the courageous passengers forced a crash and all died. Washington, New York was under attack by terrorist most of us never heard of.
Back in New York the Twin Towers imploded and collapsed but before that our brothers and sisters were trapped in the inferno and many were throwing themselves out of the windows wanting to face a horrendous death as a last ditch try to escape what must have seen as hell right here in New York. The dust full of concrete and all sorts of cancer inducing elements covered anyone who was within walking distance of this collapsing inferno. People running, chaos ruling, and this was only the beginning. The dust cloud invaded the outlying boroughs for days after. First responders came from all over this great country responding to a need of their fellow citizens. The days, months that followed were first to find the remains of those who were trapped in the Twin Towers, then the removal of the debris. The event was burned into our collective memories as a nation.
The years that followed leading up to now weren't always filled with wonderful reactions and caring. Our Government agencies said the air was safe for the first responders. All that was first given were little paper masks. The people who worked on the site became ill, some extremely ill, not immediately which caused the authorities to turn away the first claims for assistance. These health concerns were costly and life provoking. Our Governments did not react quickly not in my mind ever enough. Many are still suffering and not getting all the aid they should even today. Many suffered Post Traumatic Stress causing deep psychological problems. The immediate response of our citizens were heroic and wonderful but the Government agencies in charge of administrating the needs of those badly affected by wrong and misleading Government information about the purity of the air and providing the necessary filtering masks was not good, in fact it was downright horrible.
We as a nation should commemorate those who died in this effigy but we should never let the Government off the hook in providing care and comfort to those heroes and families who are still suffering from the effects of working at ground zero. Yes today is a memorial day, for those who died, for the families left behind AND it should also be for those who are left still suffering from their heroic efforts at ground zero.
Never Forget!!!!!!!!!!!
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