Phone Calls from The Towers

Suggested Soundtrack:
Saviour - The Dears

I just spent the night crying my eyes out at a television programme called 9/11 Phone Calls From The Towers. Basically for the first some of the phonecalls made from people trapped in the twin towers after the planes had struck are broadcast. These calls were personal calls made to family members and friends.


I didn't know how I would react, but pretty much as soon as it started and I could hear the voices of people saying 'I'm trapped, there is smoke everywhere, but always remember I love you', my heart broke and the tears fell. Throughout the programme we were shown several stories about different people, told through their families, the calls they made on that day and through illustrations of where they were on the towers.

The first thing that struck me is that even though the people in the towers were going through something I could never imagine, something which must have been horrific and stressful, all of the messages made home were messages of love, some still with a small bit of hope of one day being able to see the people they called again, and messages of calmness. I think they pretty much knew they would not survive, and in those last few words, those moments before the towers crashed down, they had love in their hearts.

One of the phone calls touched me more than any of the others, and in a way made me fully understand what must have happened in those last few moments. The phonecall took place at the exact time the 2nd tower fell. The man on the other side was saying how it was hard to breathe, how the air was full of smoke, how it was hard to see. There was a loud noise and the phonecall ended. That was when the tower fell.

Although you never forget that there were people in the towers, sometimes when you see the images of the building, black clouds of smoke billowing, fire raging and debris falling... sometimes when you see that its almost as if you are viewing a movie, like those are big special effects shots. Its not that you ever forget, but until I watched this programme tonight, it was like I knew so much about what was happening outside the epicentre, but so little about what happened inside.

There was one story about a man in his 30's. He phoned to say he was trapped, there was no way out. The exits were blocked, the smoke was filling the room up and the sprinklers had gone off. He said him and the people in the room were almost waist deep in water, that there was hardly air to breath. He mentioned he could see people falling from the windows above. This man has recently quit his job there and had only made the visit back to clear his desk.

I could never imagine having to go through that. Ever. Neither could I imagine being a family member watching the images on the news, wondering if someone I loved was still alive.

Almost everytime September 11th comes around for another year or is mentioned and brought to peoples minds again, almost the first thing I always hear is 'I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I found out'.

I remember it perfectly. The day before it all happened was my birthday and I'd gone abroad, to Spain. On the 11th, the day after my birthday we boarded the aircraft and set off home. Before we went none of the events which were to take place and become forever known had happened, and it was only after we landed and got in the taxi to go home that we found out what had happened while we were on the plane coming home. I could hear the news on the radio, two planes had been hijacked and crashed into the towers. At that age I didn't know what the towers were, World Trade what? I'm from England, and i'm pretty sure very few children like me who had never been to America wouldn't have had a clue what they were. They soon became an image imprinted in the worlds minds though.

Its not a very interesting story, but from then on I have hated flying. It scared me, to think that while I was in the air, at that very same time people were in a plane similar to the one I was in, but that on a few of those planes people were making phone calls home telling the family members that their plane had been hijacked... that they love them. At the same time I was flying, those two planes crashed into the towers. At the same time I was flying, 9/11 took place.

I'm glad we are always reminded of the event, that it won't die out and the memory will forever stay alive. The world will forever be reminded, and thats the way it should be.

I have no idea what to write... it's one of those subjects where no matter how hard you try, you can never really fully communicate how you feel about it all, or sum up everything you want to say.

The quote which always seems to sum up alot of emotions for me comes from Love Actually, and i'll leave this post with that.

'Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around'

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