I traveled extensively last year and found that no matter where I was or whom I was speaking to, the conversation invariably wrapped around to 9/11. I decided to interview those I was speaking with in an attempt to show the tremendous compassion we as humans have for one another. 9/11 is interwoven into the fabric of so many people's lives around the world. Over the next couple of weeks, leading up to the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I will be posting stories from around the world.
We tend to forget the younger generation and how they were affected by 9/11/01. Impressionable minds watching what would seem, at first glance, to be a video game on TV. How did their innocent minds deal with the atrocities they were seeing on TV and hearing about from their parents? How did it compare to the reactions of older people? These are the questioned I asked and the answers I got renewed my faith in the younger generation. The overwhelming message is one of peace.
Name: Drew
Nationality: Australian
Age: 25
Profession: Concrete worker
I was in bed when the planes hit. In 2000, I was in New York and visited the Twin Towers. On the day 9/11, my parents woke me up at 2:30 am. They had me come downstairs to the TV room and I couldn’t believe what I was watching. It was like a bad movie. I thought it was a movie at first. It took 2-3 hours before it was even confirmed that it was a terrorist attack. I watched the whole time. I suppose it affected me quite a bit because I had just been there the year before. My parents kept me out of school for a few days. It was crazy, everything on TV revolved around that for the next couple of weeks. I was so sad. When you are watching TV and see people jump from buildings and pretty much committing suicide, it makes you think about your own life, your family and friends and makes you realize that they could be taken away from you at any point. It was definitely something that will only happen once; at least I hope this is the only time something like that ever happens.
Name: Roy
Nationality: Mentawai Islands, Indonesia
Age: 27
Profession: Professional Surfer
I watched it on the TV with my friends and family, I was still in school at the time and we stayed home for a couple of days watching it. Of course, I feel really sorry my friends. When I watched the plane it was like a movie. It was like a movie I was watching on TV. It was like when we had a Tsunami and people died. It reminded me of that and I am so sorry for the people in America. Remember, peace and love my friends, there are many many problems in the world and I mean, peace and love. Yes, peace and love is the answer.
Name: Masayero
Nationality: Japanese
Age: 26
Profession: Surf Shop Owner
I watched on BBC in my house the whole time with my family. I watched the planes crashing into the buildings. I couldn’t really believe it. There were buildings there and then they were gone. I thought it was an accident. I saw people jumping and falling on TV and I was so surprised and so sad. I cannot say anything but how sad I was to see that. I am very sad for the American people and very sorry.
Name: Emily
Nationality: American
Age: 22
Profession: Student
I was riding in the passenger side of my dad's car driving to school and we heard about the first plane hitting on the radio. My immediate thought was that it couldn’t have been real. It didn’t seem like this was an actual disaster, more of an accident. When I got to school, it was playing on all of the TVs in our classrooms, so we watched updates on the news all day. I couldn’t stop asking the questions to myself; How could someone have done such a horrible thing? Why is there so much hatred toward this country for these people to kill so many innocent people? My heart went out to all of the victims on the planes, as well as in NYC and I couldn't help but cry when thinking about what they must have been going through. I thought a lot about their families as well. Not only did if affect the country as a whole, but also made me reflect on the fact that maybe we're not all as safe as we think. I felt really scared. I didn’t exhibit much patriotism as I never have, but you can't help but feel a bit alone in the world when something like this happens. It makes you think about those you love and realize that you cant take them for granted because you never know what could happen. I remember thinking that family, friends, and relationships are really the only thing that matters. The love and closeness you feel with those around you far surpasses anything material that can be taken away in an instant. You can express your love to a person- you can't do that to a material object, so why wouldn't you try to verbalize your love to those that are close to you as often as possible. 9/11 always makes me think about a lot about the state of the world and wondering why some people have such great hatred in their hearts. It makes me sad to think of that.
Name: Daniel
Nationality: Czech
Age: 23
Profession: Student
I don´t recall exactly what I was doing before I found out, but I turned the tv on immediately - I think it was my father who called me pretty early (maybe even before the news about the second plane appeared). There was no news channel in the Czech Republic by that time, but the national tv stopped the regular program and kept airing breaking news for rest of the day. I didn´t have any convenient internet connection so the television was really my only source of information.
I think the two most significant emotions were terror and disbelief. It was so shocking to see the planes crashing into the WTC, but I was still convinced that there was no risk of collapse and that the only problem would be to deal with the fire. So when the first of the Twins fell to the ground it was a real blow. I don´t want this to sound over-sentimental but I remember tears coming to my eyes.
I kept a close look on the events that followed, especially the dramatic rescue works. There was a lot of discussions going on with my friend about terrorism and possible war (note: a war for the US would mean a war for the Czech Republic as well, the Czechs are part of NATO since 1999). The attack on democracy is being taken very seriously here, since the Communist era lasted till 1989 - and I perceived 9-11 as an attack on democracy.
I don´t think I really changed anything in my behavior after these events but one thing was still different - the way I thought about the terrorist threat. Until then, the possibility of such attack effecting directly you or people close to you seemed just so remote that I just considered it a problem of places like Middle East or locations with separatist tendencies, just not our problem. I know it´s selfish, but that´s the way it is. Since 2001, the idea of possible terrorist attacks is just present. It makes me scared for our future.
They are our future.
Peace, love, and joy
Lara
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