9 11 10 years later...

2001 --The Attacks

Ground Zero

From Ground Zero I can see,
A city of people in misery.

A misery that has caused hearts to ache all over,
Everyone is lending a hand or a shoulder.

Lives were lost in a blink of an eye,
Not having a clue they were about to die.

People coming from far and wide,
With feelings and emotions they cannot hide.

Rescue workers, working night and day,
Hoping for a miracle to come their way.

Lives destroyed by terrorists and two planes by noon,
Our hearts bleed for the people that have left us too soon.

This tragedy has touched our hearts, which have sighed,
A million tears our nation has cried.

Now, stronger than ever our country will be,
The home of the brave and the land of the free.

I am proud to be an American and you should be too,
Living in the country of red, white, and blue.

By,
Chelsea Griswold - 8th Grade (2001)
Age:13
Haddam-Killingworth Middle School

2007 -- 5 years later

This is the amazing "Teardrop Monument" located on the Northeast corner of the Bayonne Penninsula in New Jersey.  Created by artist Zurab Teseretii, it was made and installed  by Russia on the 5th anniversary of 9 11 in 2007 to honor those who died and as a statement against world terrorism.  The tear drop is lined up with the Statue of Liberty.  

The names of the persons killed on 9 11 are inscribed on the base.  Like the Vietnam Memorial Wall.  What a magnificent structure.

2011 -- 10 years later


The ground zero memorial will officially be open to the public September 12, 2011 10 years after the Al Qaeda attacks on the twin towers.  The National September 11 Memorial is a tribute of remembrance and honor to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center site, near Shanksville, Pa., and at the Pentagon, as well as the six people killed in the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993.
The Memorial’s twin reflecting pools are each nearly an acre in size and feature the largest manmade waterfalls in the North America. The pools sit within the footprints where the Twin Towers once stood. Architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker created the Memorial design selected from a global design competition that included more than 5,200 entries from 63 nations.
The names of every person who died in the 2001 and 1993 attacks are inscribed into bronze panels edging the Memorial pools, a powerful reminder of the largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack on American soil and the greatest single loss of rescue personnel in American history.

I came across this book, which is neat Poetry after 9/11.  It's a compilation of poems that were found after 9/11 on telephone poles, on firehouse walls, in the bus shelters, and on the internet.  For someone who does not live in New York, what a healing sight that must have been to see.  I love poetry (although I do not write much myself) so of course this book is right up my alley.  

I remember exactly what I was doing that day, where I was, all of the people I was with and saw.  Sometimes it's hard to imagine that something of this magnitude happened in my lifetime.  I wonder if my girls will experience something like this in theirs.....