email147.xml
Title
email147.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
email
Date Entered
2002-04-10
September 11 Email: Body
I was in Poland all this week, and Jayne does not really know how to use this e-mail; otherwise we could certainly have contacted you earlier.
I got back to my hotel room in Warsaw on Tuesday after work and switched on BBC World. The first pictures I saw were of a plane hitting the south tower of the World Trade Centre. Like a million others in the world, seeing those pictures for the first time I assumed (or maybe I was subconsciously hoping) that they were a preview of some new inferno horror film. When the commentator related the ghastly truth I was full of so many emotions: disbelief, horror, fear for so many victims, hatred for the perpetrators, intense sadness for the American people....you know better than me how I felt but believe me we all share your feelings. The terrorist attack was not just an outrage on the American people, but an attack on all the free democratic people of the world; we stand united in our determination to rid the world of these madmen.
It seemed that for the rest of the week, BBC World was entirely devoted to the news from America. I was particular pleased to see that the daily changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace - a ceremony that has taken place every day apparaently since 1660 (before Buckingham Palace was even built) - included the playing of the Star Spangled Banner. The American Ambassador was present, along with several hundred - or many thousand - Americans who happened to be in London, and was clearly moved.
Yesterday, there was a service at ST. Paul's Cathedral attended by the Queen. She was clearly affected by the occasion. She joined in the singing of our national anthem - another first to have a foreign anthem played in one of our cathedrals and to have our monarch singing it.
I got back to my hotel room in Warsaw on Tuesday after work and switched on BBC World. The first pictures I saw were of a plane hitting the south tower of the World Trade Centre. Like a million others in the world, seeing those pictures for the first time I assumed (or maybe I was subconsciously hoping) that they were a preview of some new inferno horror film. When the commentator related the ghastly truth I was full of so many emotions: disbelief, horror, fear for so many victims, hatred for the perpetrators, intense sadness for the American people....you know better than me how I felt but believe me we all share your feelings. The terrorist attack was not just an outrage on the American people, but an attack on all the free democratic people of the world; we stand united in our determination to rid the world of these madmen.
It seemed that for the rest of the week, BBC World was entirely devoted to the news from America. I was particular pleased to see that the daily changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace - a ceremony that has taken place every day apparaently since 1660 (before Buckingham Palace was even built) - included the playing of the Star Spangled Banner. The American Ambassador was present, along with several hundred - or many thousand - Americans who happened to be in London, and was clearly moved.
Yesterday, there was a service at ST. Paul's Cathedral attended by the Queen. She was clearly affected by the occasion. She joined in the singing of our national anthem - another first to have a foreign anthem played in one of our cathedrals and to have our monarch singing it.
September 11 Email: Date
Saturday, September 15, 2001
September 11 Email: Subject
Terrorist atrocity
Collection
Citation
“email147.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed June 26, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/37396.