2001

First visit to US. Can't visit much due to my wife busy with daughter. In a few days we will leave. My son from a Jacksonville, Fl came to see us in MD. Took that opportunity to visit Pittsburgh and Wheeling , PA. and some places in Washington DC...

I was in awe at seeing one of the largest building, neatly 6 million square feet of floor space, Pentagon. That

was around August 2011, a Sunday. No one would have dreamt

that a few days later, September 11, 2001, shortly after terrorists flew hijacked commercial airliners into New York City’s World Trade Center, another hijacked plane destroy portion of the building the Pentagon, killing 189 people and damaging roughly one-third of the building.

It was a quite a Tuesday morning on September 11th, when entire America starting a workday calamity struck. I was in Jacksonville watching CNN with half attention, talking to my son preparing to leave for work, I saw twin towers on screen and a plane hitting. 

Although I have written about that moment many times, the shock and sorrow still linger  in my heart.  When Americans understood what happened there was enormous shock. Unbelievable. No one knew where was President Bush. Streets were deserted. No news papers stock. Whole America went numb. 

All worried about others. My son in law in MD gone to work in Virginia not returned. Phone connections haphazard. Can't contact. My daughter was alone in MD with the new born. I can't contact her. Two planes hit WTC towers, one Pentagon and one plane still missing. Only when the last one crashed some where in Pennsylvania we came to reality. We were told no more missing planes. Slowly the enormity of the whole happenings sunk in.

In the evening we went for drive along deserted streets of Jacksonville, buying a local paper since no other paper available. At 0700 pm President Bush addressed the nation and we heard in a portable TV sitting in the car.

Next day Americans rose as force, showing solidarity, instilling confidence, patriotic. Every car flew Old Glory, Wall Mart ran out of stock of flags.

Later, in 2007, when I visited WTC site in New York, I understood the enormity of the savage act. Fire station near by still bore the mark of destruction and the names of firemen who lost their life etched on the wall.

In Battery Park I saw the damaged metal Globe removed from WTC site, which I think now shifted to WTC site...

The attacks killed 2,997 people, injured over 6,000 others, and caused at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage.

16 years gone, but the memory bound to  remain for ever....