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The memories of Charles Groenhuijsen who was working as a US reporter for Dutch TV on 9/11 2001 |
After then everything went so fast. The small plane wasn’t really a small plane after all. The news desk back in Hilversum had decided to go live. I was already on the air, talking on my cellphone. No time to think. Just run, and keep talking.
While we were rushing through the terminal, the second plane hit the World Trade Center. All air traffic was stopped. There was no way we could fly to New York. What to do? Train? Car?
Black smoke
I decided to go by car so I could be more mobile, and charge my cell phones while driving. We headed back into the city. On the way, we passed the Pentagon. Thick black smoke was coming out of the building. I was stunned. On the radio we heard newsflashes about a highjacked plane. Rumors were flying. An attack on Capitol Hill? The White House? Other government buildings? Attacks in other cities?
All of sudden, on a Tuesday morning in September, war had broken out.
I was calm. My biggest concern was: How to get to a TV studio? Traffic was a mess. Phones were dead. I started running the last six or seven blocks.
It took hours before I could reach my wife and three kids. By the time I spoke to them, they were already home. The school was closed down right after the attacks. F16 fighter jets were roaring over the school building at 300 feet. So this is war. And it came so awfully close.
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Click to listen to the column by Charles Groenhuijsen |
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The TV stations were already screaming: 'America under Attack'. That’s how it felt. Analysts were already mentioning the name Osama bin Laden. Was he the guy behind these evil attacks? Revenge was the only answer. Don’t mess with the US!
It seems so long ago. Only five years? The world has become a different place. After Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Lebanon.
The United States is no longer a widely admired nation. On the contrary - opinion polls tell us millions and millions of people all over the world now believe the US is the most dangerous country on the planet. And its Commander-in-Chief George W. Bush is thought to be the most dangerous man alive.
What's next?
The big question is of course: What’s next? Nobody knows.
But one thing is for sure... More than ever we are bitterly divided. There is no shared international commitment to promote freedom and democracy and eradicate terrorism.
In that sense the terrorists have won.
A sobering conclusion, five years after that day in September.
Tags: 9/11, charles Groenhuijsen, New York, terrorist attacks, US, WTC