It's never easy to talk about this day. Lots of it is a blur, but I can clearly remember being asked to dub mini-DV camcorder tapes of the Towers to formats that News could play back. I located a Panasonic DVC Pro deck to play back the tapes, and dubbed to Beta SP and D2. I remember staring at the tiny black-and-white monitors in the rack in disbelief, the billowing black smoke seeming even more ominous and evil in monochrome. For creative reasons, I've been researching Sept. 11th, and in that time I've located not only the first airing of the tapes I dubbed for the Evening News, at this point a "CBS News Exclusive", but also the name of the man who shot the tapes and that these tapes were seen by millions all over the world. I'd simply had no idea. I also found an on-camera interview with a friend lucky enough to make it out of the Towers shortly after it happened.
I think that my brain had simply shut down after I'd seen images of the Towers on every monitor at the Broadcast Center for several days. I never went to Ground Zero, nor have I gone to the Memorial yet, though I know one day I will. It will not be easy.
For the purposes of the video, keep in mind that this must have been right after I finished the dubs and this is likely the first time anyone is seeing them apart from the man who shot them...and me. Dan Rather's composure is impressive considering the horrific images and screaming. Indeed, there was no time to screen the videos and censor anything, and I don't think I would have had the intestinal fortitude to do so. As I do every time I post, I ask for personal restraint if you comment and NO POLITICS, PLEASE. That's not why I'm doing this. I post to process the day and also to never forget. I completely realize the video can be difficult to watch. If you find that to be so, to paraphrase a great broadcaster, I'm not in the least bit sorry.
RIP to all of those we lost on 9/11/2001. **You may have to click through the embedded video to see it**
Awww, God bless you. I didn't know you had experienced this. Thank you so much for sharing and remembering those beloved souls. I'm sorry you had to experience that. It must have been awful in person to say the least. It would cause anyone to be totally in shock. We will never forget them. Never. I can't even imagine what you all went through. It just makes a person sick. Dan Rather was amazing. And so are you. May they rest in peace.
Shocking, just shocking. A week later I was on top of a nearby building looking into the wreckage....and then on the ground I think around 1 Liberty a news reporter asked me what I was thinking - and I just looked at him blankly and said "sheer devastation" The immensity of it was so daunting....I went to the memorial for the first time last week and ran my hand along the names...a good friend had lost his son and I looked for his name. I couldn't find it, so I'll look again next week....
@fun4us2b A few weeks after, I got accosted by a reporter, too, outside the building where I worked. This was during the anthrax scare in the weeks afterward. It was 5:30am and I sounded...a little rough lol. This was on the recently-dark WCBS 880 AM.
I wore a shirt today honoring the memory of a fallen FDNY member.
I was going through posts about this from a couple of years, and I run into your story.
As a terrorist attack victim and someone who grew up in war I understand why you don't want to discuss this politically. Being in majority Algerian forum, people often tried to drag me to the discussions when for me it is a sort of grief and even rage. It only opens up old wounds, faced with the indifference and dehumanizing forms of dialogue where being right is championed over everything else.
I hope you're feeling bit better tonight. Too much suffering that should never occur. No one should have gone through that.
I would give you a hug, if I could. I think it is healthy to sometimes draw distance and find comfort offline and online. I get torn between worrying I will become desensitized, compassion fatigue and feel a sense of urgency to voice my empathy and care and urge others to care too. I worry about lot of things. But we must admi,t to a great exten,t we don't have much control beyond making sure not letting the horror engulf who we are as humans. "And if you gaze long into the abyss,..."
You're doing your part by being a good person. @uncalled4
No one knew what to do. Some channels simply suspended programming, like HGTV and their related networks (diy, Magnolia, etc.) [media=https://youtu.be/fvvaGKiDhh0]
@Thrust Were you directed to do that by the producers? I recall the big wigs getting bent out of shape if you touched ANYTHING about shows like CSI or Desperate Housewives.
