A New Day

AS THE WORLD WATCHED IN SHOCK AND SILENCE, THE TWIN TOWERS OF THE NEW YORK WORLD TRADE CENTER WERE ENGULFED IN FLAME UNTIL THEY EACH COLLAPSED INTO MOUNTAINS OF RUBBLE AND TOOK THE LIVES OF NEARLY 3,000 PEOPLE, INCLUDING 350 BRAVE RESCUE WORKERS.

The twin towers of the World Trade Center dominated the skyline of Manhattan Island from the time they were completed in 1973 until that fateful day of September 11, 2001, now 5 years ago. Today, there is a gap in the skyline of lower Manhattan like a missing tooth in the otherwise gleaming smile of the city. The rubble has been removed and the debris cleared from the site which is now known as Ground Zero. Plans have been finalized for a new complex of buildings, public spaces and a memorial to fill this gap. But for now, it is just a big open construction site in the otherwise cramped metropolis of New York City. And when the world moves on, and the sun rises over the Statue of Liberty to bring yet another day, Ground Zero remains. A silent reminder of this horrible act that changed the free world as we knew it. Forever. –B-

GREGORY GORE | BEAUTIFUL

Comments

[GAYTWOGETHER]

Thank you for a very special memorial post dedicated to this tragic day in American history.

[Michael]

It is important to remember 9/11.
It is more important to know that only three steel and concrete skyscrapers have ever in history collapsed due to fire, those being WTC Towers 1, 2 and 7 (no jet ever hit the 47 story Tower 7 which collapsed as well). Buildings have burned for 20 hours and never collapsed. The WTC Towers burned for less than 2 hours, in a fire that was not hot enough to breach the integrity of steel. If you factor in a fraction of a second delay as each successive floor fell onto the next, according to the laws of physics, it should have taken over 20 seconds for them to collapse. All 3 fell at free fall speed (in about 8 seconds), in a manner only comparable to a planned internal building demolition. Oh also don't forget that all the steel from ground zero was quickly shipped to China and melted down, preventing any scientific analysis of the biggest crime scene in history, and one of the tennants of Tower 7 was the CIA...