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Sept 11th 2002 I'm sure everyone will be able to recall where they were when they found out about the worst act of terrorism to have occurred. I happened to be in the country which had been targetted. I got out of bed at the usual time. Kevin had already left for work and I slept in a bit longer. I turned on the television expecting to catch the weather report. I had no particular plans as usual but its nice to know whether you can go out or not. But there was no weatherman on the television, in fact there were 2 pictures. The screen was split in two. On the left was a picture of what looked like the World Trade Centre on fire and on the left another building on fire. I didn't know it at the time but I was also looking at The Pentagon burning. "Oh My God!" was my initial reaction as I'm sure this was the reaction of everyone in the world on seeing these unbelievable pictures. I waited and listened to find out what had happened but nobody would tell me. The news channels were more interested in talking to people on the street to find out their opinions but I still couldn't find out exactly what had happened. I changed channels but every channel had the same picture... and I mean every one of the 70 channels I have on my television. But I still couldn't find an explanation on why these buildings were burning. The phone rang and it was my Mum in England. She had to tell me the unbelievable facts via the BBC. After putting down the phone I immediately rang my husband Kevin. He and his work colleagues didn't know much so I filled them in and kept them informed during the morning. It was during one of these conversations that the gigantic towers finally gave in and collapsed. Kevin came home as downtown Chicago was evacuated as were most cities in America. We watched the television together and were constantly stunned as more footage was gradually emerging. I don't think anyone will forget the site of the second plane ploughing into the second tower. The feeling in America was generally like the day Princess Diana died. It was too unbelievable to take in. Candlelight vigils were held on street corners. The Stars and Stripes emerged from apartment windows. Television programmes were cancelled for a week as the news channels took over. I felt detached from it all. I didn't feel the sadness that all the Americans were feeling around me. I felt sadness for the 3000 innocent lives that were lost but maybe it was the fact that this is not my country. Maybe its because terrorism has been part of my life in England. The IRA's constant bombings in England and Northern Ireland. The Americans haven't had this presence in their lives until now. Maybe they'll understand more now. I was supposed to fly home on September 13th to attend a friend' Wedding in England but all flights had been cancelled. I was pleased about this as I was travelling alone and now it meant I could travel home with Kevin a week later. Security was stepped up at the airports. What I should say is that security measures were enforced at airports. Skycaps who used to take your bags as you arrived and check them in for you, were made redundant. You were only allowed one piece of hand luggage and you had to have a ticket to go through security. Before, anybody could go straight to the gate in order to meet people arriving. Basically, they introduced the security measures that were normal to us at a European airport. You were advised to turn up at the airport 2 hours before your flight was due to leave as it was taking so long to get through security. This was a big change in America so much so, that the local news had a reporter permanently stationed at Chicago O'Hare airport. In the usual US news reporting fashion the unsuspecting public were asked what they thought of the new security measures and the longer waiting times. Unfortunately, they kept asking British travellers who are quite used to this sort of check-in procedures. They also had the misfortune of interviewing a lady from Belfast and if you've ever been to Belfast airport you'll know why she thought the new stepped up security was a joke.
On the first anniversary of Sept 11th, I was sent this link from a Yahoo! Group member. I think it sums up everything we feel about that day. http://home.attbi.com/~sept11/
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Copyright© Gillian Blakey 2002 Allow myself to introduce.........myself |
