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SATURDAY'S
EDITORIAL
The issue ~ Three years after
9-11
Our opinion ~ Voices of victims renew
commitment to guarding our nation
Message in the
voices of Sept. 11
By T&D Staff
The nation vowed three years ago
when terrorists struck in New York and Washington that
we would not forget. Controversy over fighting in Iraq
and Afghanistan must not dim the glow of
commitment.
Today's 9-11 remembrances will be
reminders of the day the United States suffered the most
deadly attack against our people in the nation's
history.
Facts from that day alone are enough to
remind Americans what was lost:
Death toll - 2,819
Employees killed in World Trade Center Tower One -
1,402. The toll in Tower Two - 614
Number of firefighters, policemen and related
personnel killed in New York - 403
Number of families who never received any remains of
victims - 1,717
Number who lost a spouse or partner in the attacks -
1,609
Babies born after father was lost in the attack -
63
Citizens who knew someone killed or hurt on Sept.
11, 2001 - 20 percent
If the numbers alone are
not enough to convince Americans that terrorism is very
real and remains a threat, the voices from that day two
years ago are a chilling reminder.
Transcripts
from emergency calls and radio transmissions released by
the Port Authority of New York from 2,000 pages of
transcripts provide insight behind the scenes in the
moments after the attack.
Some
highlights:
From 1 World Trade Center, the assistant manager of
the Windows on the World restaurant made four calls
pleading for help as 100 people remained trapped with
her near the top of the 110-story tower. "We're trying
to get up to you, dear," a police officer offered
reassuringly.
At least two wives, unaware they were to be widows,
tried in vain to learn their husband's whereabouts.
Neither Port Authority Officer Donald McIntyre nor his
boss, Executive Director Neil Levin, ever made it
home.
There were references to howling sirens in the
background and static buzz on the phone lines, and
callers repeatedly spoke over each other after the plane
crashed into the first tower at 8:46 a.m.
"Yo, I've got dozens of bodies, people just jumping
from the top of the building onto ... in front of One
World Trade," says a male caller. "People. Bodies are
just coming from out of the sky. ... up top of the
building."
"Bodies?" replied a female
operator.
For some, there was the relief of breathing in the
temporarily fresh air. "I'm alive, Dennis," said one
anonymous male. "I'm outside the building and I'm
healthy."
Others were less fortunate. People were stranded
throughout the buildings, with calls for help pouring in
from the 78th floor, the 88th, the 103rd, the 107th. One
male caller from the 92nd floor of the second tower
asked a Port Authority police officer, "Should we stay
or should we not?"
"I would wait 'til further
notice," the officer replied.
No one in the top
floors of the tower survived after the second plane hit
near the 80th floor shortly after 9 a.m.
America
must press forward in guarding against another such an
attack - or worse - again. Debating how we battle
terrorism is fair in our open society, but there can be
no dispute the threat must be faced head-on. The voices
from 9-11 tell us so.
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