9/11

[Private_collector]

I can't believe it's 14 years since the horrific act of hatred that snuffed out so many lives. In fact on September 11th, 2001 There were 2753 souls that started a day which they thought would be no different to any other, not for a moment suspecting it would be their last day alive.

The following, is how I first learnt of the events of that day.

I had been working on an acute psychiatric ward, in a major Brisbane hospital. At the time, I was part way through a steep learning curve, changing my specially from surgery to mental health some 5 or 6 weeks prior. Having just completed an evening shift and driven home, I finished the night with my usual routine. I went into the kitchen, put on the kettle, then walked into the lounge and turned the television on, before immediately returning to the kitchen to make a hot drink. When I returned to the lounge, I sat down to watch a news report of a fire in one of the world trade centre towers. It was a dramatic tragedy unfolding, and at that time it appeared to be an accident of some sort, with reports from witnesses indicating an aircraft had crashed. Then, while I watched live, the news cameras caught the sound of another aircraft coming in far too low, and moments later that aircraft flew directly into the other tower, removing any doubt of accidental cause. The horror that fills your mind as you watch something like that is, for me, impossible to describe in words. Suddenly your entire mindset changes from sadness of a terrible accident to sheer incredulity and disbelief. If ever I had doubts that the human mind which can produce compassion, love, and beautiful works of art, could also conceive such a murderously diabolical act of hatred towards fellow creatures, such doubt was disolved in that moment of time.

Suddenly a thought occured to me, and I phoned the ward I had departed from only an hour before. To this day I can still recall the exact words of the brief conversation that ensured. Hello, its Tony. For christs sake go lock the door to the patients lounge, and DO NOT LET ANYONE TURN THE TELEVISION ON, whatever you do, DONT LET ANYONE TURN THE TV ON, terrorists have flown jets into the world trade centre and they are both on fire. It was an Enrolled Nurse by the name of Brian who had answered my call, and he didn't think I was serious at first. That would change within a minute, as another nurse went to the television to see for himself. Luckily, he had locked the door to the lounge behind him, and nobody else could see the television from the ward. I don't remember exactly who went to the TV, but I do recall faintly hearing the comment he made when the reality hit. F_____g Hell, he's not joking. In the weeks to come, there was a noticable rise in acute psychotic episodes, as the events of 9/11 were incorporated into the delusional networks of many poor sods with serious mental health issues like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Some would claim to be CIA working to track down the terrorists, some would claim to be the terrorists themselves. You can imagine the kaos which would come as a consequence of the two opposing viewpoints being in proximity to each other on a locked psychiatric ward. It kept us staff on an ever vigilant watch for the slightest hint of impending conflict, let me assure you! I think we gave more sedative injections in the six months that followed 9/11 than any other 6 month period. I mean that sincerely. Sadly, the vast majority of those injections were administered against the will of the recipient, and often as they struggled against being restrained for the jab. It's a very undignified event for an individual to suffer, and those of us who had to force this on someone, find we often struggle with the morality of our dilema.

After completing the phone call to the ward, I returned to my own TV. Only to stare in horror at the vision of hell unfolding before me. Anyone who witnessed that scene being transmitted live, had no doubt that the world would never be the same again. With that realisation, and knowing I was watching a monumentally significant event, I went and woke my Wife with the news of what was now an entirely apparent act of terrorism. She followed me back to the lounge room, and for the next few hours we both sat silently taking in the nightmarish report. One thing has always intrigued me. Neither of us shed a single tear for the first hour or so. I suppose we were just so completely stunned that the mind didn't want to accept the reality the eyes took in. We couldn't have imagined a more devastating event, then the first of the two towers failed and fell. I think it's fairly accurate to say, we both gasped at the sight of thousands of tons of steel and concrete plummeting to the ground, with people carried along, amongst the falling building. The fall of the second tower almost pressed the barriers of belief. In the hours, days, and weeks which would follow, tears would flow freely, as the vision would be played again and again, rekindling the sadness with each new broadcast. A small portion of humanity died for me that night, along with the nearly three thousand normal, caring, sensitive, loved and loving human beings that ceased to exist as a result of the evil in mens minds. You felt like you wanted to do something, but there was nothing you could do. As the reports started coming in that morning, regarding another aircraft crashed into The pentagon, and another again which would crash into the earth after passengers, you wondered how it must have felt to be facing your own imminent death. And how the passengers of one aircraft, knowing they were doomed, fought to crash to earth in a manner to prevent another target being hit. On a day when evil was most apparent, their act of compassion to save lives of those on the ground drew a stark contrast. That selfless act would go some way to balancing the scales of humanity.

9/11 is one of those 'where were you, when..' moments in history. It sits indelibly in my mind alongside the deaths of my Father and my Brother, the day man walked on the moon, the fall of the Berlin wall, and a host of other events, both good and bad.

My heart still weeps for the families and friends of those who left home for a normal day but never returned. For some, the remains of their loved one/s would not be recovered. For others, only mere fragments of a meaningful, functioning, human body would be returned to those who loved them in life. How can we claim to rule the planet when we can't tame minds of the desire to hurt one another. So many lives lost, so much enduring pain for those who lost loved ones.

How did you first hear of the attacks??

[motto]

Wow Tony. I had never thought of how the event may have affected those of an unstable mind. It was difficult enough for folk in full command of their faculties to come to grips with.
I was rostered off that day and was alerted to what was happening by a phone call from my father in law who lived across the road. For the next several hours the family was glued to the TV as events unfolded.
I tried to reconcile what we were looking at with footage we have all seen of Japanese Kamikaze attacks during WW2 but this was different. The planes were civilian airliners of a type I made my living maintaining so carefully and were fully loaded with passengers. The target was unsuspecting ordinary people going about their daily business.
Even now I find the utter, cold blooded contempt for human life displayed for everyone to see impossible to comprehend. The realisation that such hatred exists has changed the world and has added to a sense of unease as we are forced into a position of eternal vigilance.
It aint over yet. It will never be over.

David

[hrpearce]

Without going out to the shed to look through my diary for 2001 I can't say what I did that day.
I remember turning on the tv as usual as I entered the lounge room and can still see the images clearly in my mind. I sat in the lounge for ages watching the news updates finding it hard to believe.

[maple_leaf_eh]

My job was in the response mapping section at work. We all finished up our jobs, and stood by for new work. Nothing came. I suggested we needed to do something - anything, like start a map of airports in Canada. The chain did not see things my way. Oh well. It might have been helpful in later days.

Later in the day, one of the staff officers showed up with a disk of images he wanted plotted 'for the US embassy downtown'. Right away, boss. I opened the disk and loaded glossy photopaper in the plotters. For about an hour I plotted no classification stated high resolution oblique satellite shots of downtown Manhattan. The bird was slicking away from the target, and the camera was slewed backwards. The detail was incredible, and I won't say anything more than that. The photopaper takes a little time for the ink to set, so the sheets had to sit uncovered on the floor. I ended up with a mosaic of a dozen square yards of shots. The staff officer came back, we bundled everything up, and he disappeared. I like to think that I informed the US Ambassador and the Embassy that day. Friends help friends.

[jack neville]

At that time I was working at a location in the World Trade Centre in Flinders Street , Melbourne.
I was on night shift and just arrived at work after the first tower was hit. Watched the whole thing unfold in similar disbelief.
I rang my wife at 0300 to tell her that planes had been flown into the World Trade Centre and to turn on the TV.
I never ever referred to my work location as the World Trade Centre and didn't realise the significance of what I had just told her.
She told me later that when she turned on the TV she couldn't work out why all the fuss was in New York when such a disaster had occurred in Melbourne.
Just a little personal quirk on an event that has reshaped all our lives for a very long time.