CCTV reporter Natalie Carney tells us how New Yorkers traumatized by the attack have found ways to give back to the community.
Frank Siller lost his youngest brother in the south tower ten years ago. Ironically, Stephen Siller was part of an elite fire brigade trained to handle terrorist attacks, but no one could have predicted the one that hit Manhattan on that unforgettable day.
He said, “Stephen finished his night shift and was on his way home to play golf with myself and my two other brothers and he heard on his scanner…that the twin towers was hit by a plane…so in order for him to get there he took his gear and drove to a tunnel, called The Brooklyn Battery tunnel. Its a tunnel that connects Brooklyn to downtown Manhattan, close to where the Twin Towers were and it was closed for security reasons. So he strapped 75 pounds of gear on his back and ran through the tunnel to the towers where he died saving other people.”
Three months later Frank and his other brothers started the Tunnel to Towers Foundation to help the community, particularly the military men and woman of the country.
Frank said, “We started this foundation in his honour and since then we’ve been able to raise a lot of money and do a lot of good work in his name. We help out a lot of children…We have the Tunnel to Towers run that we do every year in his honour. We’re going to have around 50,000 people running there this year in Manhattan. Re-tracing his final heroic footsteps.”
PTC: As fireman Stephen Siller was running into the buildings that once stood here, thousands were running out – most of them not making it. One that did was Chris Hardej”
UPSOUND “For those of you on the Tribute Tour my name is Chris…we’ll be taking about an hour and 20 minutes going around the site. Talking in various stops…”
Chris Hardej now gives back by giving tours of the site where he too nearly lost his life.
UPSOUND “This wall behind me is dedicated to 343 firefighters that are no longer with us”
Just like Stephen Siller, Chris was a victim of the attacks that day. A senior Transportation Analyst with the New York State Department of Transportation, he was sitting at his desk on the 82nd floor of the very first tower to be hit, World Trade Centre Tower #1.
UPSOUND “I’m thinking something huge might come in the window and take me out. So what I did was fall to the deck just to crawl away from the window”
17 minutes later, the south tower was hit.
UPSOUND “Now if you thought it was an accident, like I thought initially, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind. Two towers don’t get hit on a beautiful, gorgeous day which that day was”
For Chris, sharing his story with the hundreds of people that have been taking this tour, is healing.
Chris said, “Everyone comes down here you walk around the site, you really don’t know what you are looking at and you really don’t get a sense of what it was like unless you’re speaking with someone who was down here. And this is the least I can do is come down here and give that first hand account. Otherwise it would be a sin not to share with others.”
And many would agree. For Frank, part of his healing is not only remembering the events ten years on, but learning from them.
He said, “It’s a very emotional time still. You learn to live with it. That’s what you learn after ten years, you learn to live with it. I don’t want to forget...I don’t want to forget what happened…I don’t want to forget one thing about my brother. I want to remember him every day. He inspires his siblings to become better people. He inspires his wife his children..to make sure we do good in this world to try and turn around this evil act…this very evil act into something good”
全球公众传媒摘编：GNA JADE |
