 Coping
with the 9.11.01 Aftermath
Accounts of Survivors
We were "there" too
by Greg James 2001
We were there too, at the foot of the
World Trade Center, all around the towers that fell to the
ground and we too were engulfed into all the rubble. Yes, among all the rubble,
remains of fallen building materials, office equipment, personnel of all walks
of life, "We were there too." Homeless people encompassed the base of those
towering structures of commerce just as much as the rest of the people who
traversed their ways to work that grim day of September 11th.
The homeless every where are just as
much a piece in the puzzle as the rest of the picture. Going to work, looking
for work, struggling to get by with a lot less to work with than most folks but
nonetheless just as much caught up in the whole economics of being somewhere in
order to go somewhere else as well. Homeless people were in the vicinity of the
World Trade Center towers that collapsed after being attacked by hijacked
airplanes, but has there been any mention to that affect? They are going to be
there, among everything that's going to be sifted, sorted, and extracted -
remains of persons that will most likely escape the profiles filled out by
family and friends seeking those that have not yet heard from.
Plenty of mention about how such a
tragic event will happen-stance many survivors into homelessness through parents
not coming home to their loved children, or some people not being able to cope
with the trauma and eventually losing everything that kept theirs lives stable.
And there are many people working hard to gather these people into services
where they will sort such matters out. Yet, has there been any mentioning about
how those remains of people who will most likely end up being unidentifiable
will be recognized. Hopefully there will be someone who will take a moments
notice to the homeless persons who are there in
the mangled twisted wreckage of a building nobody ever believed would fall.
But, wait a second, that sounds just
like they said about the Titanic, "it will never sink." But
too, there's a well-known phenomenon about ships and stowaways.
Well, even inside those towers there were facilities that would allow some
relief to those who go from one moment to another just to get from one moment
and place in their daily life's to another. Maybe they didn't pursue commerce or
trading beyond their immediate needs, yet they sought refuge, camaraderie, and
at least recognition of their existence in this life.
Amidst all of the attention given to
such comprehensive coverage detailing every aspect of losses in this great
tragedy, please, let us also give a moments notice to those people who also have
become consumed into this event equivalent to madness. Personally, I believe
there are many who will agree even the homeless people are people and that they
too would wish to be remembered.
For so many people who have committed
themselves to the many difficult tasks of straightening out this mess, there
should be special awards set up to commemorate their services.
Hopefully as well, perhaps a memorial
will be situated in that block that remains. Perhaps a scaled
down replica of the buildings which stood as though forever, and it could
remember those who died in a war they didn't even realize they were entered
into. And if so, please, let those least likely acknowledged to have been
recognized find their place in a space where they too will be remembered.
(Originally published 10/01, Austin
Homeless Advocate)
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