Where were you that sunny day of September 9th 2001? Many will answer this question without hesitation. I was in our basement, helping my dad on the computer, when suddenly my sister rushed down and turned on the television. She turned on CNN and we saw the northern tower in flames and wrapped in smoke. I myself had never heard about the World Trade Center, but when I saw the reaction of my dad, I knew this was a huge disaster.
The two brothers Jules and Geudeon Naudet released the movie "9/11", in 2002. They didn't plan to create a movie about the terror attacks, because who would know that there was going to be a major terror attack in the middle of Manhattan. Instead, they had in mind to make a documentary about the life of a normal firefighter in downtown Manhattan. In the beginning of the movie, we follow probationary Tony Benetatos, who is a freshman firefighter. We follow him and the rest of the squad around the city on minor fires, but he never seems to get any big ones. One day Jules and the Battalion Chief, Chief Joseph Pfeifer were checking out a gas leak, and all of a sudden, a plane hits the northern tower, causing mass hysteria. We then follow them into the two towers, and witness the horror ourselves.
Throughout the movie, we can see that people change. People start to think about how fast things can happen, how quick you can pass away in a tragic incident. Here is an example; after everyone has returned from the two towers, one of the firefighters comes up to either Jules or Geudeon (I cannot remember which one) and says "Yesterday you had only one brother, today you have 40". That is a touchy moment, because they have all been through this together, and they share the same frightening feeling and it's important that everybody is there for each other.
What is the difference between how the Americans view this incident and how the Europeans views it? I think the main difference is that every/many Americans view this incident just as an act of terror. Since the attacks, there have been a number of conspiracy theories put forward on the web, in books and even made into films. Many Europeans think USA did this to themselves just to have a reason to engage war and look for oil in the middle east, mainly Afghanistan and Iraq. Many people think that the two buildings could not fall on their own, even though a plane had hit them, so many believe that the collapse was a result of a controlled demolition. You can also hear in the movie "9/11" that the firefighters says, "It sounded like bombs going of"
Conspiracy or not, I believe we can agree that this was an awful thing to happen for human beings, and I hope that something like this would never happen again.
"The Falling Man"
Photographer Richard Drew has immortalized the picture of a man falling out of the northern tower at about 9.40 am. The thought of being burnt to death or smoke poisoned just wasn't an alternative. Some people might refer to the people that jumped of fell (about 200!) from the two towers as "jumpers", but I don't think they are, because jumpers kill them self intentionally to stop their lives, like suicide. This man is believed to be 43-year-old Jonathan Briley, who worked at the Windows on the World restaurant (restaurant and bar at the top of the northern tower). His former boss Michael Lomonaco identified him by an orange t-shirt that he wore under his work clothes almost everyday. His clothes were blown away, revealing the orange shirt. However, his identity has never officially been confirmed.
It is not a pleasant picture
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