A first responder working at the September 11, 2001 disaster site in New York City has come forward with some stories from that horrendous day.
It’s now almost a quarter of a century since terrorist organisation al-Qaeda sent 19 of its members to hijack four commercial planes across the US, flying two into the Twin Towers and a third into the Pentagon, while the fourth – believed to be headed towards either the White House or the Capitol Building – was steered into a rural field in Pennsylvania, thanks to its heroic passengers.
A band of first responders head towards the Twin Towers during the 9/11 attacks (Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora/Getty Images)
“What was the best and worst thing you saw? Thank you for your service!” read one of the many questions.
The 9/11 first responder went on to write back: “The best? The City, the country and the world coming together. There was no division in our country like it is today.
“The worst was people taking pictures with cameras (very rare to have cellphones back then) with Ground Zero in the background smiling,” he noted. “Over 3,000 people died in a public and horrific manner and people wanted to take group pictures. Simply hated seeing that.”
Meanwhile, a separate user was keen to gain clarity on what the term ‘human remains’ really means when it comes to the rescue effort.
“This is morbid but I’ve always been curious what they mean when they say remains,” they shared. “I just can’t wrap my head around how bodies could survive a building crushing down on them. Can you explain more on that? Was there entire bodies recovered? Or was it just very small parts/limbs?”
Replying to this query, the AMA instigator explained: “Remains primarily means body parts for identification for the family so they can properly grieve.
The World Trade Center in New York was hit by two planes in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
“If body parts can’t be found, personal property is next and hopefully identified for the family. I saw so many [World Trade Center] ID tags with names and pictures of people while at the landfill. I remember when I was first at the landfill it was so hard to look for remains that I was wondering to myself why are we even here?” they revealed.
“Then one day we were at the cafeteria tent, taking a break, and then a whole bunch of family members of the victims came and thanked us for being there. And then I knew why we had to be there.”
On the day of those horrific attacks, US news outlets flocked to the scene to snatch any footage they could of the devastating aftermath.
ABC 7 interviewed a guy who’d been in one of the towers when it was struck. Covered in dust and debris, he confirmed on camera that he was the 72nd floor.
It’s now 24 years since the World Trade Center was targeted by al-Qaeda (Robert Giroux/Getty Images)
Distracted, the man subsequently looked to his left as the camera captured his very tower crumbling before them.
“Incredible, to see your workplace, a place where you spent thousands of hours just turn to dust,” wrote one person on Reddit when the interview re-emerged online.
“I just can’t imagine how he felt,” shared somebody else. “I’m sure he thought about all the people he passed on his way down that had stopped to rest, the people from his floor that he worked with, the rescuers who were going up as he was coming down. Just awful.”
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Spencer Platt
Distracted, the man subsequently looked to his left as the camera captured his very tower crumbling before them.
“Incredible, to see your workplace, a place where you spent thousands of hours just turn to dust,” wrote one person on Reddit when the interview re-emerged online.
“I just can’t imagine how he felt,” shared somebody else. “I’m sure he thought about all the people he passed on his way down that had stopped to rest, the people from his floor that he worked with, the rescuers who were going up as he was coming down. Just awful.”
The September 11 terrorist attacks may have happened over 20 years ago, but the day remains alive in the American consciousness.
Four coordinated terrorist attacks were carried out by Islamist extremists tied to al-Qaeda.
In one of the most haunting moments in recent American history, as a part of the terrorist attack, two commercial airline planes flew into the North and South Twin Towers of the World Trade Center Complex in New York.
A third plane flew into the Pentagon and a fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania, unable to reach its intended target due to a revolt from the passengers on board.
The total death count was 2,977 victims.
As you can imagine, authorities launched into a series of investigation following the attack and a CBS News report revealed that new evidence of an individual allegedly connected to the incident has been uncovered.
Saudi Arabian national Omar Al-Bayoumi was investigated following the attack, however in 2004, the 9/11 Commission described him as ‘an unlikely candidate for clandestine involvement with Islamic extremists’.
Omar Al-Bayoumi has been accused of having links to two of the individuals involved in the terrorist attacks (Sky News)
However, recently rediscovered evidence from his 2001 apartment in America casts a different light and Gina Bennett, a counterterrorism analyst at the CIA during the terror attacks, believes crucial information may have been missed.
She has said that based on evidence that she has seen she believes Bayoumi ‘was an al-Qaeda facilitator’ and provided substantial support to the ‘two hijackers, without which they may very well have been caught’.
The FBI has said Bayoumi was an operative of the Saudi intelligence service and had close ties to two of the hijackers.
Evidence that was unsealed in federal court last year as part of the 9/11 family’s lawsuit against Saudi Arabia showed a video Bayoumi recorded in Washington over several days in the summer of 1999.
The footage includes entrances and exits of the Capitol, security posts, a model of the building and nearby landmarks.
Bayoumi also points out the Washington monument and noted that the airport was not too far away, something that retired FBI supervisor Richard Lambert said would be crucial information in relation to an attack.
Omar confirmed that the sketches were his but could not explain what they were for(CBS News/FBI)
The Saudi government has said Bayoumi’s video is just a tourist video.
Other evidence that has made Bayoumi a person of interest is a sketch and equation he confirmed were written by him when being questioned during a 2021 deposition.
He said he remembered little else about the sketch or handwritten notes about the height of the plane from the Earth in miles, along with the distance of the plane to the horizon.
Experts said the equation could be used by a pilot to calculate the rate of descent to hit a target on the horizon.
Speaking with the help of a translator he said: “Perhaps this was an equation that we studied before in high school, and I was trying to remember whether I’m going to be able to figure out and solve it or not.”
He also met 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar in Los Angeles in early 2000, however, he claims this was just a chance encounter and he was helping them settle into the US.
Footage captured the sobering moment former US President George W. Bush found out about 9/11.
The day four coordinated terrorist attacks were carried out by Islamist extremist group al-Qaeda is etched into many people’s memories.
And the moment two planes were sent crashing into the North and South Twin Towers of the World Trade Center Complex in New York, a third into the Pentagon and a fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania, US President at the time George Bush was visiting an elementary school in Sarasota, Florida.
Bush – the 43rd President running from 2001 to 2009 – had already been informed a plane had hit the World Trade Center before arriving at Emma E. Booker Elementary School that morning, however, he thought it was a ‘pilot error’.
It was only when he was sat inside a classroom about to take part in a reading session he realized the extent of the tragedy – with the devastating moment caught on camera.
The footage shows Bush getting settled in and ready to read a book called The Pet Goat, however, the White House’s chief of staff at the time Andrew Card then comes over.
He can be seen leaning in and whispering to the president: “A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack.”
And Card later spoke out about the moment he had to inform Bush of the attack.
President George W. Bush sat in the classroom as he was given the news (WFLA News Channel 8/YouTube)
Speaking to Sky News in 2021, he said: “I looked at the president and I honestly believe he was thinking about the burden that he accepted when he took the oath of office. I like to say that’s when he became the president.”
After hearing these words, president Bush remained sitting down and participated in the children’s reading exercise for a further seven minutes.
Later, he would learn the full scale of the tragedy – with nearly 3,000 people having tragically lost their lives .
Card continued: “I was very impressed that he did nothing to introduce fear to those students.
“He did nothing to demonstrate fear to the media that would’ve satisfied terrorists all around the world.”
Bush also reflected on the moment himself in a 2021 BBC documentary, 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room.
Bush reflected on the historic day years later (BBC)
He said: “Andy Card comes up behind me and says, ‘Second plane has hit the second tower. America is under attack’.
“And I’m watching a child read.
“And I see the press in the back of the room beginning to get the same message that I just got.
“I could see the horror etched on their face of the news people who just got the same news.
“And so I watched for the appropriate moment to leave the classroom.
“I didn’t want to do anything dramatic, I didn’t want to lurch out of the chair and scare the classroom full of children.
“And so I waited.”
