Twin Towers terror still gripping after a decade

Date Published: {J}

Nearly everyone remembers where they were on September 11, 2001 as the graphic images of planes ripping through the upper halves of the Twin Towers came flashing across our television screens. It is one of those occasions that will remain etched in our minds forever.

Ask an older generation and they will recall exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard that John F. Kennedy had been shot to death in Dallas. Most of us can recall where we were and what we were at when our attention was directed towards the horrific scenes on the screens ten years ago.

Even when they were repeated over and over again, they were still gripping to watch because of how outrageous it was that planes could be hijacked and then flown into buildings where thousands of people were working.

As the 10th anniversary of the attack approaches, there are various documentaries on television at the moment from various perspectives. There are those which focus on the people that were killed and how their families are coping a decade later. Channel 4 carried an interesting programme about the number of firemen that lost their lives in an effort to save others.

But there was a well packaged documentary on ITV during the week which was a type of ‘day in the life’ look at the attacks on New York and Washington with some neatly put together footage from events that occurred before and after the incidents with the focus very much on President George Bush.

The programme, entitled 9/11: The Day That Changed The World, began with footage of Bush on his morning jog in advance of visiting a school thousands of miles away from Washington.

Around the same time we saw shots of terrorists checking in at a number of airports along with other passengers who naturally didn’t realise that they were embarking on their last ever flight. The build up to the disaster was well structured by the programme makers and resembled something akin to a drama.

Probably the most poignant moment came when, after the first plane crashed into one of the twin towers, news filtered through to Bush’s aides and one of them had to whisper in his ear in the school classroom that America was under attack. The stony look on his face said it all.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.