Reflections at ground zero: An emotional journey to the 9/11 Memorial

September 11, 2001, I was only four, in Fiji, thousands of miles away from the financial district of Lower Manhattan, New York.

I vividly remember watching breaking news of the events that shocked the world on this day.

I recall my parents and grandparents talking about the 9/11 terror attacks daily, the crash into the World Trade Centre that killed close to 3000 innocent people including first responders on that fateful day.

My late grandmother would well up watching the news daily on stories of victims that lost their lives. She would be so emotional just as if she lost her own family members in the 9/11 terror attacks.

The crash of the twin towers made headlines across the world, and the news coverage was a constant presence in our home months and years after the tragedy.

These early experiences sparked a personal commitment in me to deeply understand the full scope of the events of 9/11 and its profound impact on world history.

9/11 BRIEFLY

On the morning of 11 September 2001, 19 terrorists from the Islamist extreme group al Qaeda hijacked four commercial aircraft and crashed two of them into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City.

The Twin Towers ultimately collapsed, due to the damage from the impacts and subsequent fires. Nearly 3,000 people were killed from 93 different countries.

The third plane crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The Pentagon lost 184 civilians and service members.

After learning about the other attacks, passengers on the fourth hijacked plane, Flight 93, fought back, and the plane was crashed into an empty field in western Pennsylvania about 20 minutes by air from Washington, D.C. 40 people were killed on Flight 93.

VISIT TO THE 9/11 WORLD TRADE CENTRE MEMORIAL

23 years later on September 1, 2024, while in New York through the International Visitors Leadership Programme by the United States Department of State, I prioritized a visit to the 9/11 memorial in lower Manhattan.

I left the Park Central hotel with a colleague at around 11am for the close to 20 minutes’ drive to lower Manhattan.

Our uber drove under the Brooklyn Bridge, passed Wall Street to the site where the twin-towers once stood.

We were first greeted by hundreds of visiting tourists from around the world who also made it a priority to visit the memorial whilst in New York.

The focal points of the Memorial are two pools, each nearly an acre in size, that sit in the foundation of the former North and South Towers.

According to the memorial notes, the pools contain the largest manmade waterfalls in North America, each descending 30 feet into a square basin. From there, the water in each pool drops another 20 feet and disappears into a smaller, central void.

According to the memorial architect, Michael Arad, the pools represent “absence made visible.”

Although water flows into the voids, they can never be filled. The sound of the cascading water makes the pools a place of tranquility and contemplation separate from the bustling noises of the city.

It was a ‘heavy heart’ moment for me as I walked through the memorial reading the names of the 2,983 people who were killed in the 2001 and 1993 terrorist attacks that were inscribed on bronze parapets edging the memorial pools.

Standing before the twin reflecting pools, each marking the footprints of the World Trade Center towers, I felt the weight of history and loss.

The names etched in bronze around the pools served as a somber reminder of the nearly 3,000 lives lost, including many brave first responders.

I imagined myself standing at the site 23 years ago when the tragic event unfolded, the feeling of helplessness and fear. Innocent lives who had their lives cut short at the blink of an eye.

I saw victims’ names such as “Rahma Salie and her unborn child”.

Rahma Salie was 28 years old and from Boston, Massachusetts. Rahma was a passenger aboard American Airlines Flight 11. She was 7 months pregnant, and traveling with her husband, Michael Theodoridis, 32.

She and her husband, and their unborn baby died on that fateful day, when Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

9/11 memorial in New York.

Inoke Rabonu.

THE SURVIVOR TREE

Interestingly, the Memorial plaza also includes one Callery pear tree. This tree, fenced and manned by a security officer is the only tree that survived the events of 9/11.

In October 2001, recovery workers discovered the severely damaged tree at Ground Zero. Having survived the events of 9/11, the tree became known as the Survivor Tree.

Members of the New York City Parks and Recreation Department removed it from the site and nursed it back to health before it was returned to the World Trade Center site in 2010 and now stands on the plaza as a symbol of resilience and perseverance.

The survivor tree monument.

Inoke Rabonu.

The survivor tree.

Inoke Rabonu.

WEIGHT OF LOSS

Visiting the 9/11 Memorial for the first time was a deeply emotional experience, one that allowed me to truly grasp the weight of the loss that September 11, 2001, brought to the world.

Each name etched in the bronze panels surrounding the pools represented a life lost, a story interrupted. The number of names was overwhelming, a stark reminder of the nearly 3,000 individuals, including first responders, who perished that day.

Walking through the museum, I encountered personal artifacts, emotional testimonies, and historical displays that brought the events of 9/11 into sharp focus.

The exhibits conveyed the stories of those who were there, the heroes who rushed into danger, and the families who lost loved ones.

The weight of their stories, the collective grief, and the enduring impact of their loss were deeply felt.

This visit was not just a tour of a memorial but a journey into the heart of a global tragedy.

The experience was personally a powerful reminder of the enduring legacy of September 11 and its impact on our world.

ENDS