I was just doing my usual Sunday routine, watching CNN, browsing the internet, getting ready for my Monday morning commute when Don Lemons of CNN broke in to say that President Obama will be making a major announcement. A major announcement? On a Sunday?
And so–the speculations began on Twitter. At about 10:40 PM, John King of CNN stated, that according to his sources, the news President Obama was getting ready to broadcast to the world was that Osama bin Laden is dead!
I stared at the television as the words left King’s mouth, and I felt the news, this particular news, should have been given by the President himself. But as the initial shock wore off, a sense of relief came over me…and then the flashback.
On September 11, 2001, I was working on Wall Street. No, not as a broker, but in another capacity. And I remember the havoc and horror as I stood, with thousands of people, literally three blocks from The World Trade Center on the corner of Broadway and Pine Street, not sure what was happening, but sure that whatever it was, something major was taking place. We all stood together trying to make sense of the scenes taking place all around us.
Then the second plane hit and we all knew, collectively, that we were under attack. People began leaving the area. Others, like myself, continued to stay and watch. Downtown Manhattan was in chaos. I remembered looking up, way up, and saw what I thought were debris falling down from the WTC. I later realized that what I thought was debris, were in fact people.
And as news began to circulate that other planes were hijacked we became angry. Then the first tower came down. We ran, knowing that many lives were lost.
Two more towers fell and 3,000 more innocent lives were lost.
And now, 10 years later, President Obama at about 11:35PM, announced that on his command, American troops entered Pakistan and killed Osama Bin Laden, the man responsible for the attacks on America in 2001.
It’s a joyous time here in America and around the world!
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