Why I can NEVER forget 9 - 11 ( in 2001 ).

Today is September 11, 2010 in Singapore, a rather ordinary day to most of my fellow countrymen. In New York, Washington and all across the United States the date 9 -11 is no
ordinary day. It has come to signify to modern America much as what December 7 1941 meant to all Americans nearly 70 years ago.
On both days, 70 years apart, America came under a most dastardly attack that took the lives
of thousands.
When the hordes of Japanese Zero fighters and dive bombers attacked Pearl Harbour on the morning of Dec 7 1941, sinking numerous battleships, cruisers, destroyers and fighter planes..it came unannounced. There was no formal declaration of war at the time of attack between Japan and the USA. President Roosevelt stirred the nation by labelling the cowardly attack
as " the Day of Infamy ".

Today is the 9th Anniversary of the September 11 2001 terrorist attack in the USA.
On that blissful and peaceful morning, much like at Pearl Harbour, most people were already
at work or travelling to their work place. No one could have imagined the great horrors that
would descend upon them like the biblical apocalypse.
The cowardly attacks using hijacked US commercial planes were carried out by terrorists in the Al Qaeda network.
President Bush would later label that day as " the day we saw the face of EVIL".

Every year on this date, memorial and remembrance services will be conducted in many cities
across the land. The US President and the First lady will preside at one of these solemn events.
Looking back to that day "that shook the world", Unk Dicko still remember that day most vividly.
It was night time in Singapore when the actual attack took place and the real time video footage of the attack was shown "LIVE" on TV, right through the next day.
It was unnerving, almost unreal and emotionally gut-wrenching to watch it happening right before my very eyes.

I have seen many a disaster movies in my time...Towering Inferno, The End of the World, etc..
But this was no Hollowood made movie.
This movie was produced by the terrorist Al Qaeda network. The main Director was none other than Osama Bin Laden, a most wanted man today.
Unlike the Hollywood movies where film stars and extras play their part including "playing dead", nearly 4000 innocent people lost their lives in Osama's movie.

The other thing D2 and I can Never forget about this day was something very STRANGE and eerie that took place in our own home at EXACTLY THAT MOMENT when the Twin Towers collapsed and crumbled killing all the people still trapped inside. We have no explanation for it.
I have often wondered if there was any psychic significance, any relevance, any connection between the events.
Till today, I'm still puzzled about the 1 in a million co-incidence of such a thing happening at the exact same moment...thousands of miles apart. To find out what strange, inexplicable happening visited us, you can check out my earlier posts below.
I have blogged in detail about it before. Click HERE to read.


Note:
All the photos in this blogpost are from the internet. I have no clue
as to who the real owners are and so cannot credit the source.


The attack on the Twin Towers on 11 Sept 2001


The attack on the Pentagon


Ground zero at the site of the attack in New York

The "Before" and "After" satellite images of the attack

There was worldwide condemnation of the attack. In Berlin,

the residents showed their support and deep sympathy.
Similar scenes took place in most major cities of the world.

9/11...2001,..a day that shook the world and my kitchen!

Photo: Scanned picture of my original ST newspaper front page

Wednesday 12 Sept 2001.

It was a Tuesday, that unforgettable day in September 2001. Everything was normal in Singapore, then under Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. My wife D2 and I had gone to work that day and had returned to a hopefully peaceful night of relaxing before the Goggle box, post dinner. Our eldest daughter D3 and hubby Les were new parents of a baby boy...my eldest grandson , only 3 month plus back then. They were living separately from us in their own home.

There was only D2, me and my faithful dog D.

We settled down comfortably before the TV set to catch the evening's late news.

Unknown to us or anyone around the world, right about that time, 2 planes have been hijacked in USA and were heading directly for the World Trade Centre Twin Towers in New York city. The planes were about 15 minutes apart.

Then it happened.

And from that moment the world changed forever and has never been the same again.

The first plane hit the WTC just after 9 am ( New York time )when the buildings were filled with people at work.

The next followed soon after.

Suddenly....on our TV, CNN and later the BBC, were bringing us "LIVE" coverage of the dastardly and most evil attack one can ever imagine. We were glued to the TV as we watched the 2nd plane slammed into the Twin Towers. This was happening in real time. Everything from that moment was shown in "real time"...including the people jumping out from the windows of the burning 110 storey Twin Towers, the attack on the Pentagon by a third plane and the eventual collapse of the Towers.

My wife and I sat transfixed, overcome by the sheer horror that was before our very eyes.

I remember she was very, very agitated and angry that the terrorists could carry out such attacks without remorse and conscience.

We were at a loss of words to describe the carnage we were witnessing.

We had visited New York and lower Manhattan in Dec 1992 with our daughter D4. Went all the way up to the Empire State Building and from there had a good panoramic view of New York skyline,

the WTC included.

New York was a memorable visit. We made a few side trips to some 'must see' places...Statue of Liberty, Sing Sing prison, Macy Dept Store, New York underground.

We then heard a fourth plane had crashed near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This plane was heading for either the White House or Capitol Hill.

Our eyes continued to be glued to the unnerving images of the burning Twin Towers. It was even scarier to actually be able to see desperate people waving frantically for help in the upper floors while the fire was below them. Then many started jumping out to certain death. It was better than being burnt alive.

I gritted my teeth and kept opening and closing my fists and knuckles, wishing there was something I could do to alter the scenario. Of course, there was nothing anyone of us could do that day. It was Osama's day. It was Saddam Hussein's day. It was the Taleban and Al Queda's day. But all their nightmares would come slightly later.

My post is aptly titled "the day that shook the world and my kitchen".

What happened at my kitchen?

I have a nice and large dining room cum kitchen.

In my kitchen are 2 separate sets of L -shaped kitchen cabinets, one on the floor afixed to the wall and the other is mounted about 1.5 metres above the floor, secured strongly as is the usual case for such suspended cabinets.

We never had any problem with the cabinets...no, not for even a second.

Then this really strange, eerie and inexplicable thing happened....SUDDENLY.

At the precise moment when the the 1st of the TWIN TOWERs came crashing down as we watched on TV.....there was such a thunderous sound and vibration that shook my whole house!

For a moment, both me and D2 thought that a plane had crashed into our home!

The LOUD crashing sound was followed by sounds of breaking glass and other things.

My dog ran away in terror.

Horror of horrors...we had our own unimaginable nightmare which confronted us. Shocked beyond words, we saw our entire kitchen looking like a " war zone".

Our entire mounted kitchen cabinet had crashed onto the dining room floor spilling everything

inside, in a big mess of utensils, broken glass and crockery everywhere, splintered wood, twisted metal frames, etc... There was no rhyme or reason why our perfectly secure kitchen cabinet should have chosen to crash exactly at the same moment the WTC collapsed, thousands of kilometres away. It was unnerving! Neither D2 or I had any pre-warning this would happen.

Till this day, I am still puzzled and mystified by the 1 in a million chance of this coincidence.

Never in my life, our life, had we seen or experienced this before!

8 solid years have passed since that night for us and that day for 9/11 America.

America won't forget. Neither will unk Dicko and D2.

It was simply uncanny...the timing of the collapse of WTC and our kitchen cabinet.

Till this day, I have not stopped wondering about that incident.

Thinking back always give me the chills.

That was a very long night for me especially.

I did not sleep a wink...clearing up the broken mess and watching events continue to unfold

on TV.

[ More gripping things about 911...next several posts, with news clippings]