NOW, FROM CURRENT TRAGEDY, WE
TURN TO TRAGEDY OF THE PAST.
IT WAS THE DEADLIEST TERRORIST ATTACK EVER ON U.S. SOIL ... SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, WHEN
AL-QAIDA HIJACKERS FLEW PLANES INTO THE TWIN
TOWERS OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER IN NEW YORK AND THE PENTAGON OUTSIDE WASHINGTON.
A FOURTH PLANE CRASHED IN A FIELD IN PENNSYLVANIA, AS WE WELL KNOW, AND 12 YEARS
LATER, THAT DAY STILL RESONATES ACROSS THE WORLD, INCLUDING HERE AT VOA.
REPORTERS WHO WERE HERE ON THAT TUESDAY WILL NEVER FORGET COVERING IT.
I TALKED WITH TWO
OF OUR VETERAN JOURNALISTS, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT JIM MALONE, AND RADIO ANCHOR AND REPORTER
SARAH WILLIAMS, ABOUT WHAT THEY REMEMBER.
THIS IS A SPECIAL
REPORT..THERE'S BEEN A SERIES OF APPARENT TERRORIST ATTACKS IN NEW YORK AND WASHINGTON.
DURING THE NEXT HOUR WE'LL..I'M SARAH WILLIAMS.
STAY WITH US HERE ON VOA
NEWS NOW.
GO TO THE WORLD TRADE CENTER.
I WAS IN THE VOA NEWSROOM, I WAS WATCHING IT WITH A COLLEAGUE.
THE FIRST PLANE HAD GONE INTO ONE OF THE TOWERS.
I SAID TO
MY COLLEAGUE, "I BELIEVE IT'S TERRORISM AND I THINK BIN LADEN IS BEHIND IT."
I WAS IN AN OFFICE HERE ON THE FIRST FLOOR AND THEN I HEARD A REPORT, OH A PLANE HAS
HIT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER.
I THINK I WENT TO LOOK AT A TELEVISION AND WE SAW THE SECOND PLANE HIT AND I THINK EVERYONE
REALIZED THAT THIS WAS A TERRORIST ATTACK.
I SAW THE PLANE HIT THE BUILDING.
WE HEARD BIG BANG.
NOW BOTH OF YOU, BEING JOURNALIST AND BEARING THIS RESPONSIBILITY OF PROVIDING INFORMATION
TO THE WORLD AND A
TIME LIKE THIS WHEN THERE'S SO MUCH CHAOS GOING ON AND OF COURSE, THIS CITY ALSO BEING
PARTS OF THE ATTACKS WITH THE PENTAGON BEING HIT, WHAT WAS THAT LIKE FOR
YOU, NOT REALLY KNOWING WHAT WAS COMING NEXT?
JUST LEAVING THE VOA HEADQUARTERS HERE IN WASHINGTON, GETTING TO MY HOME ON THE SUBWAY
SYSTEM.
THERE WAS THIS SENSE
OF NERVOUSNESS, OF SHOCK, OF FEAR.
DID YOU THINK THERE'S GOING TO BE ANOTHER TERRORIST ATTACK?
IN THE NEWSROOM THERE WAS REALLY LIKE CHAOS OR PANDEMONIUM, EVERYONE
WAS SCRAMBLING AROUND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON.
AND SARAH, YOU MENTIONED YOU'RE GOING OUTSIDE, IN THIS CITY AND HOW IT WAS JUST A FEELING
LIKE NO
OTHER, CAN YOU DESCRIBE THAT?
YES, THAT WAS LATER DURING THE DAY.
THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN PROBABLY, IN THE LATE AFTERNOON AND I WALKED OUTSIDE THE BUILDING
AND IT WAS
JUST EERIE HOW QUIET IT WAS.
NO PLANES FLYING OVER.
IT WAS SORT OF LIKE, I USED TO SAY, A SNOW DAY WITHOUT SNOW.
BECAUSE IT WAS JUST, IT WAS AN EERIE, ALMOST
HAUNTED FEELING.
AND JIM, YOU WENT TO NEW YORK, YOU HAD A BIT OF A DELAY TRYING TO GET THERE.
IF YOU CAN DESCRIBE WHAT IT WAS LIKE GETTING THERE AND THEN WHAT YOU
ENCOUNTERED WHEN YOU DID ARRIVE AT GROUND ZERO?
THE SCENES COME RUSHING BACK IN MY MIND.
AMBULANCES WOULD ROLL BY SLOWLY, OBVIOUSLY THEY WERE VICTIMS INSIDE.
AND
ON THE STREETS OF NEW YORK, PEOPLE WOULD STOP.
THEY'D PUT THEIR HANDS OVER THEIR HEARTS, THEY'D TAKE OFF THEIR HATS.
AND THERE WAS JUST AN EERIE SILENCE.
THE
ACTUAL SIGHT, GETTING CLOSE TO GROUND ZERO WAS SOMETHING LIKE OUT OF A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE,
WITH THE ASH IN THE AIR, PEOPLE WALKING AROUND WITH MASKS ON SO THEY
WOULDN'T BREATHE IT IN.
YOU'RE COVERING THIS AS JOURNALISTS, BUT YOU'RE STILL CITIZENS.
SO HOW DO YOU BALANCE THOSE 2 RESPONSIBILITIES?
WELL I KNOW THAT THERE
WERE SOME COLLEAGUES HERE, TWO OF THEM.
ONE COLLEAGUE, HER HUSBAND WORKED AT THE STATE DEPARTMENT.
EARLIER ON IN THE DAY THERE WERE RUMORS THAT THE STATE
DEPARTMENT HAD BEEN HIT, IT WASN'T, BUT SHE WAS VERY CONCERNED ABOUT HIM.
ANOTHER COLLEAGUE OF MINE, HER HUSBAND WORKED IN THE PENTAGON, FORTUNATELY HE WAS FINE.
BUT THERE WERE, A LOT OF CONCERNS ABOUT WHAT WAS REALLY GOING ON.
AND THEN AS THE DAY WENT ON, WE HEARD ANOTHER, A FOURTH PLANE HAD CRASHED IN PENNSYLVANIA
AND YOU
JUST FEEL SO SORRY FOR PEOPLE FOR WHAT HAD HAPPENED.
YOU JUST FEEL SO, SORT OF HELPLESS REALLY.
I SPENT MORE THAN A WEEK IN NEW YORK.
GOING TO GROUND ZERO EVERY
DAY, INTERVIEWING PEOPLE, SURVIVORS.
ONE OF THE TOUGHEST DAYS WAS, A GROUP OF FAMILY MEMBERS HAD GATHERED WITH PICTURES OF THEIR
LOVED ONES.
FAMILY MEMBERS WHO
WENT MISSING.
AND THEY WANTED TO SPEAK TO THE NEWS MEDIA, TRYING TO GET THE WORD OUT THAT THEIR BROTHER,
THEIR DAUGHTER, THEIR SON WAS MISSING AND HAD THE
PICTURE.
I JUST WANT TO KNOW IF MY WIFE IS ALIVE.
MANY OF THESE FOLKS WERE VERY EMOTIONAL, THEY WERE CRYING.
NOW AS JOURNALIST, WE ALL KIND OF LEARN TO SORT OF
SUBVERT THAT A BIT, WE HAVE TO DO OUR JOBS.
WE HAVE TO REPORT THE STORY, TAKE ACCOUNT OF WHAT PEOPLE SAY AND REPORT IT.
SO YOU, YOU BUILD UP A LITTLE IMMUNITY TO
THAT, FRANKLY.
BUT I KNEW I WAS CLOSE TO BREAKING, WHEN I WAS INTERVIEWING A MAN WITH A VERY SIMPLE
VOICE, HE WAS TALKING ABOUT HIS MISSING STEPDAUGHTER.
AND YOU
JUST KNOW WHEN IT'S GOING TO HIT YOU.
AND WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS HIS VOICE CAUGHT FOR JUST A SECOND AND THAT ALMOST, I ALMOST
LOST IT AT THAT POINT.
MOST
AMERICANS, UNLESS THEY HAD BEEN SOLDIERS, ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH SEEING CIVILIANS DIE
LIKE THAT.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT AMERICANS SHOULD BE AWARE OF.
THAT YOU
CANNOT TAKE YOUR SAFETY FOR GRANTED.
AGAIN, SARAH WILLIAMS AND JIM MALONE -- TWO OF THE MANY VOA JOURNALISTS WHO COVERED 9/11.
IMRAN, IT'S INCREDIBLE HOW SEEING
THOSE IMAGES SO MANY YEARS LATER NOW, IT STILL FEELS LIKE IT HAPPENED JUST YESTERDAY.
I REMEMBER EXACTLY WHERE I WAS IN THAT MOMENT WATCHING THE TWIN TOWER...
SITTING IN CLASS, NONE OF US REALLY REALIZING AT ALL AT THAT MOMENT HOW MUCH JUST THIS ONE
SINGULAR EVENT WOULD HAVE SUCH A HUGE IMPACT ON THE REST OF OUR LIVES.
IT WAS SURREAL.
I REMEMBER I WAS IN PAKISTAN AND WE WERE FILMING A TV PROGRAM...
AND WE HAD THAT BIG SCREEN THAT...
CNN WAS PLAYING WHAT WAS BEING PLAYED AND IT WAS
SHOCKING, EVERYONE JUST DROPPED EVERYTHING AND WE COULDN'T WORK, JUST HAD TO WATCH WHAT
WAS GOING ON...REMARKABLE...INCREDIBLE, YEAH