Reply
Fri 29 Aug, 2003 02:09 am
Let's not ever forget.
Let's also not start dozens of wars all over the globe to seek vengeance, but that's another thread.
Quote:The 2,000 pages of phone and radio transcripts from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City released by the Port Authority Thursday include hundreds of gory and often heartbreaking typed and handwritten reports by police officers and civilian employees who survived the attacks.
One police officer describes looking up at the sky and seeing the first plane head straight for the north tower of the World Trade Center.
"My first thought was that the aircraft was in distress," the officer wrote. "I never realized, when I saw that plane fly over 42nd street, the disaster that was about to befall our department and our country."
Numerous officers wrote about the horror of seeing people jump from the upper floors.
"A steady stream of bodies and debris was raining down. Inspector Fields was about to run into the building and I stopped him. A man was coming down, he hit with such force it sounded like a shotgun going off. Inspector Fields put a hnd (sic) on the wall to steady himself, he said 'Oh my God,' " one police chief wrote.
Another officer described how a group of officers ran one at a time from the sidewalk into the tower to avoid being hit by falling bodies.
Many of the officers escorted people out of the building minutes before the towers collapsed. One officer described hearing a noise "like a thousand freight" trains when the first tower collapsed.
"The air was so filled with dust that I covered my mouth and nose with my tie as I said prayers that I would be spared. After a short period of time I emerged from underneath the truck into pitch-black darkness barely breathing. My eyes were filled with dust. I was in extreme fear for my life."
One officer described the gruesome sight of body parts on the ground after the collapse of the first tower.
The word "helpless" was used numerous times as officers described how they felt that morning. One officer described seeing injured people evacuating the tower. "I could see the panic in their eyes as they looked at me," he wrote.
CNN
"Good" to read, PDiddie - to understand what people - and the poor people responsible for dealing with the mess - go through with the horror of terror.
There is an excellent interactive at the nytimes.com website.
Here's the link.
I don't know if I can bear to check that website. Even now, when I think about this, I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. There was a huge change in my spirit that day, like a death in the family. I think a lot of people feel that way.
Remember the phrase in Star Wars when a planet was destroyed?
Quote:"I felt a great disturbance in the Force...as if millions of voices suddenly cried out..."
As soon as I saw what was happening on live TV, the change was horrifyingly clear. I feel like the nightmare isn't over either; we're still grieving and braced for more pain.
Piff: it's very graphic.
There's another interactive at USAToday.com, and these transcripts from officers at Ground Zero, at nytimes.com:
(This quote following is gruesome and not for the faint of heart.)
Quote:DETECTIVE R. P. MENDENHALL: In the plaza of the trade center: "When we arrived back at the intersection, Detective deMello brought to my attention that large portions of aluminum chaff were being whipped around by the wind. Someone asked me a question, and as I turned to answer I heard Detective deMello scream, and as I turned a portion of the sheet metal had fallen and struck a man standing alongside the building and decapitated him. It was at this time that we noticed that people had begun jumping from the towers. Several of these people were on fire. We began a count, but stopped at 14. This was repulsive and a wave of shame came over us because we couldn't help them."
Catastrophe in the Details
Yesterday I went to the doctor for a persistent cough. The nurse asked me if I had asthma or allergies, and I said no, but, I'd lived in L.A. for 3 years and had developed an allergy to smog there which had gone away. She said, oh, me too! I lost a brother at the WTC and went to L.A. to be with my family, and never had had problems before but had asthma so badly I had to be taken to the hospital...
-pause-
Here, let's take your blood pressure.
She was wearing a white polo shirt with a flag and "USA" over the heart.
I managed to get in "I'm so sorry for your loss", but it all happened so fast (bustling around with blood pressure et al then out the door). I couldn't tell if she wanted to talk about it or not -- the anniversary is coming up, and she could have just said that her family lives in L.A. and one time when she visited...
At any rate, reminded me of the enormity of the scale of what happened, how many people were directly affected in addition to all of us who were indirectly affected (I feel the same way, Piffka.)
I agree, too, Piffka. This is just a guess, but I imagine that the whole experience of having our spirits changed has caused many people to now base decisions more on family, friends, and home rather than some of the other things we would have based them on before that day. Even though reading about the police officers experiences is painful, maybe it's necessary to give us that extra little jolt back to what really matters.
Sozobe, it sounds like maybe that nurse wasn't sure whether she wanted to talk about it or not. I can't imagine dealing with the loss of a family member in that attack -- look at how it affects those of us who didn't lose anyone.
Just as an FYI and not to be picky - the article is about the Port Authority officers and not the NYPD in general.
Anyway, it's awful - I read it and the whole thing just came right back. Particularly when I read about the woman at Windows on the World who called for help 4 times. She finally asked if they could break a window and the officer on the line told her to do whatever they felt they needed to do.
And that was the last they'd heard from her.
And I know why - it's because they started to jump once they had a window broken open.
Amazing, eh? Here are your choices - burned alive, crushed by falling concrete (or by the Towers falling, but they probably didn't know that at the time) or asphyxiated by smoke. Heck, I suppose I'd've jumped, too. After all, it's probably the least painful of all of these horrible choices, and at least you have a tiny bit of a say about how the last moments of your life are going to unfold.
Truly tragic, and no, we must never, ever forget.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace