As a bewildered public endeavored to assimilate

this overwhelming event,

at 9∶03 a.m., a second hijacked jet

crashed into Two W.T.C.

Millions of people around the world,

having been alerted to the incident

and now watching the terror

unfold on their televisions,

watched in shock as the second plane,

in the blink of an eye,

entered the south tower

at approximately the seventy-second floor

and partially exited the opposite wall.

Fire and police departments

were mobilized immediately.

Rapid evacuation of the buildings was crucial.

Many workers on upper floors,

knowing there was no escape,

committed suicide by hurling themselves

out of windows to their deaths.

Then, 62 minutes after it had been crashed into,

the south tower crumbled into the streets

in a gigantic cloud of dust and debris.

Hundreds of police and firefighters

intent on their rescue mission

lost their lives as Two W.T.C. collapsed.

Drivers and attendants of emergency vehicles,

unable to abandon their posts,

died where they had stopped

to give aid and assistance.

Employees from the two towers,

rushing to escape the raging fires,

were caught in the wreckage.

Pedestrians, uncertain of which way to turn,

and not convinced of the need for urgency,

found themselves trapped

in an avalanche of concrete.

Members of the media,

on their way to

cover the breaking news of the disaster,

became victims of it.

Hundreds of commuters,

on their way to work via subway,

were trapped below ground with no escape possible.

Hospital emergency departments,

having been notified of the explosions,

quickly prepared for the arrival of casualties.

When the expected influx failed to materialize,

it could only mean that there were few survivors.

One W.T.C. collapsed at 10∶30 a.m.,

105 minutes after being hit,

adding to the mass confusion in the streets.

Seven W.T.C.,

a later addition to the complex,

was damaged,caught fire,

and collapsed later that afternoon.

Not one of the adjoining structures was left intact.

In the aftermath of this incredible misfortune,

the pieces of the puzzle

began to be put in place.

Shortly before 8∶00 a.m. on September 11, 2001,

three commercial airliners were hijacked

from Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts.

All were transcontinental flights

with passengers destined for California

and their full fuel tanks

provided the ammunition critical

to the mission of the hijackers.

Authorities speculate that

the pilots were assassinated

and their places taken by the terrorists

who had had flight training.

In all, there were 157 passengers

and crew on the two planes.

The third plane crashed in Pennsylvania

killing 45 passengers and crew.

A number of the hostages managed to

use their cellular telephones to

call their families to say goodbye.

Everything occurred

in such a short period of time that,

other than alerting a handful of people

that there were some hijackings,

no one had any idea why.

The dilemma was that there were no warnings,

no demands for ransom,

and no hints that this bright,

sunny September morning was about

to become a day that will live forever

in the minds of those

who witnessed the tragedy.

It will be years

before the final toll of damage

will be known.

To consolidate information,

compute the financial losses,

designate a monetary value for loss of life,

fill the void left on the terrain,

to make sense of this misfortune

intended to undermine the foundation of America

is a formidable assignment.

We do know that

destruction of the World Trade Center

cost the lives of more than

three thousand innocent people

in the buildings, in the hijacked airplanes,

and in the surrounding streets.

Who can erase the mental images of those planes

smashing into the twin towers?

Who is unable to visualize the spectacle

of terrified men and women

jumping to their doom?

How can those of us

who observed the collapse

of the buildings fail to dwell

on the loss of life caused by men,cowards,

who lacked the fortitud

to proclaim war on their alleged enemy?

Today, October 22, 2001,

nine more corpses were

discovered in the rubbl,

the first such discovery in several weeks.

This may seem trivial when one considers

the multitude of people who died.

However, the fatalities

aren't the only victims

of this tragic event.

Their families, friends,

and colleagues need closure.

They need to know with certainty

that their loved ones are dead

and they need to bury the remains.

Unfortunately,most of the casualties

will probably never be found

because the heat produced

by the ignition of jet fuel

and the damage incurred by the impact

would have instantaneously vaporized everything

and everyone in the immediate vicinity.

Others, in the buildings

or on the streets as the towers collapsed

are under so much debris

that their bodies may

not be found for months.

The list of buildings collapsed

and damaged includes all seven buildings

of the W.T.C.complex comprising W.T.C.6,

the U.S. Customs House to the north;

W.T.C.3, the 22 story Marriott World Trade Center Hotel

just west of Tower Two;

W.T.C.4 and 5, the Plaza Buildings,

and One Liberty Plaza, a 54 story,

743 foot high building to the east.

Firefighters and recovery workers

remain on the scene.

The fires still smolder beneath the ruins.

The American spirit has been bruised

and the land has been scarred.

The citizens of this powerful nation

now realize just how fragile

and vulnerable their country is.

Nevertheless,they are defiant.

They do not consider themselves

easy prey for terrorists.

They are still optimistic

about their place in today's world.

They assert that the nightmare

visited upon them will be visited

upon the perpetrators of this cowardly act.

The World Trade Center is no more.

The dream of an international axis of business,

once a reality,will be revised.

Maybe having one place

that is so prominent will also be rethought.

Whatever the outcome,

this massacre has served

to strengthen the resolve of a mighty nation.

The dream and dreamers will survive.