(Trinidad Guardian) Nineteen years later and the 9/11 attack is still etched into the memories of those who witnessed the fall of the World Trade Centre and mass destruction to nearby buildings.
A Trinidadian businessman visiting Lower Manhattan at the time recalled shopping at Macy’s when he heard the explosion.
“I was cashing when I heard the first boom,” the man who asked to only be identified as “Pancho” told Guardian Media.
He admitted that while the flashbacks still have him shaken, he is grateful to be alive.
“We were supposed to be under the World Trade Centre for quarter to nine for the train and that was exact time the thing happen,” Pancho stated.
As fate would have it, he said they were moving later than expected. The businessman said his friends and relatives who knew his plan for that morning, were expecting the worse.
He told us: “He tell himself all of us died because he know the time all of us leave and were supposed to go under the World Trade Centre so he did not know we were going to shop and thing.”
Pancho added: “Every body that they bring to the place he went checking all of the bodies to see if it was us,” he added.
Among the over 2,000 lives lost during the deadly destruction were 14 Trinidad and Tobago nationals.
According to President of the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Psychologists, Wendy Jeremie, it is normal to still be traumatized by the 9/11 attack.
Jeremie noted: “If it is not integrated or digested so to speak so that some of the symptoms that the traumatised population may experience is avoidance, flashbacks, numbing, distressing memories of the event.”
She advised anyone experiencing these feelings to seek help if they become overwhelmed when confronting their emotions.
Each year the day is remembered by the United States Embassy in T&T. Guardian Media understands the event will be adjusted to ensure adherence to the Public Health Regulations. A wreath will be laid at the Embassy’s Queen’s Park West, Port-of-Spain office and the flag will be lowered while staff look on virtually.
Meanwhile, Former Director of the UWI Institute of International Relations, Dr Anthony Gonzales, believes an attack similar to the one that occurred on September 11, 2001, will not occur.
He said: “Since 9/11 the terrorist groups have been weakened like Al Qaeda that can mount such an attack.”