by Tony Gonzalez
September 12, 2011 10:54 AM
Yesterday on the tenth anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, people in the United States spent time honoring and remembering the victims in the horrific events that happened that day. In New York City, churches tolled their bells at 8:46 a.m. - the time when the first plane struck the north tower. Then, they tolled at 9:03, when American Airlines Flight 175 hit the south tower; at 9:37 when American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon; at 9:59 when the south tower fell; and at 10:03 when Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania; and at 10:28 when the north tower fell.
At ground zero, family members recited the names of the dead. President Obama quoted from the 46th Psalm. Mr. George Bush quoted from an 1864 letter that Abraham Lincoln wrote to a mother whose two sons were killed in the Civil War. Musical numbers rang through the crisp fall air. James Kosior, remembered, too. He filmed the events on September 11 from a fire escape on the building where he lived.
Kosior had recently had back surgery. On September 11, he was having breakfast with friends. One friend left and went to work. Shortly afterward, the friend called and told Kosior that a plane had crashed into the north tower. Kosior, an aspiring filmmaker, grabbed his video camera, rushed to the fire escape, and began filming. (The night before, he started carrying his camera with him. He had never done that before.)
He captured the smoking north tower, the second plane hitting the south tower, people falling from the towers, the collapse of both towers, and the billowing clouds of the aftermath.
From his view on the west side of Manhattan, across from the Hudson River, Kosior had a clear view of the twin towers. As the events progressed, he realized that they were acts of sabotage. Fearful for his wife who worked next to the Empire State Building, he called her and implored her to leave work. He thought that the Empire State Building could also be a target.
9/11 had a profound effect on Kosior and his wife. They decided to leave New York. In 2004, they moved to South Hall, Georgia, where his wife now operates Store More Self Storage on Atlanta Highway. He created a DVD entitled "Tuesday Morning in September" from the video that he took that day ten years ago. Proceeds from the sale will go to organizations that support 9/11 causes.
Sources Used:
"S. Hall man filmed 9/11 attacks in NY." Gainesville Times; 10 September 2011.
"On 9/11, Vows of Remembrance." New York Times, 11 September 2011.