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September 11, 2001
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 I saw them rise and fall
Posted by: Christopher Donnellan from New York,NY
Tuesday October 09, 2001 @ 03:24 PDT

i was sitting in my office overlooking the empire state building when my partner called and told me that a plane had hit tower one of the wtc. my first thought, looking out on such a clear morning sky, was that it was some propr plane piloted by a novice. "no," he said, "it tore a huge hole in the side! i am looking up at it now, and paper and smoke are streaming out all sides of the building!" richard worked diagonally across the street from the towers. "my god! it should be ok. the empire state was hit by a b-52 bomber, and it survived. those towers are stronger than the empire state!"

i knew exactly how strong they were. i had watched them being built from the nj side of the river. i distinctly remember sitting on my dad's shoulders and him pointing to the towers saying, "they are going to be the tallest buildings in the world!" as i watched the second plane hit from my bosses office, i felt like the pit of my stomach dropped out. as i watched the towers fall, i honestly felt like someone had sucked the air from my lungs. i turned and pointed at the empire state and said, "that's . .. that's the tallest building in ny again! i . . . can't believe they're just. . . gone?"

everyone in america, if not the world, will remember where they were when they first saw the images of those two towers crashing to the ground. this definitely means that for generations america will not feel as safe and secure as it has.
 


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