World Trade Center Complex serves as a symbol of resiliency and renewal 22 years after terrorist attacks

New York City, NY (WWAY) — Thousands of people lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Those of us old enough to remember 9/11 as it is often called, know precisely where we were. At the time, I was working at TV news station in Charlotte and remember how we covered this developing story as news organizations were doing across the country that day for days to come.

Ever since the National September 11 Memorial & Museum opened, I’ve wanted to visit it in Lower Manhattan. Last fall, I had the opportunity to do so.

Fast forward to today, as we mark the 22nd anniversary, I gathered my photos and video to produce this story to show what’s there now and how the experienced moved me emotionally.

Today, the billowing clouds, toxic dust and piles of destruction are gone. Everything is new, clean and pristine.

Liberty Park is the centerpiece of the 16-acre World Trade Center Complex. The chaos of 9/11 is replaced with the peaceful sound of waterfall pools where the Twin Towers once stood. The water symbolically flows into voids that can never be filled.

During my visit in October, it was a foggy Thursday morning. Though hundreds of people were there, they were quietly and peacefully gathered around the pools. I saw some who appeared to be praying, reflecting and grieving in the midst of the nearby mid and high-rise buildings reaching up to the sky.

Leaves from 400 swamp oak trees were blowing in the wind. Some of them were gently falling on the bronze parapets surrounding the waterfalls which list the victims’ names in the 9/11 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

This hardy tree species, according to the Museum’s website, is native to the areas of the three 9/11 crash sites — New York City; Arlington, Virginia; and Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

As you enter the Museum, visitors descend the steps and arrive below ground level. Visitors are greeted with a giant wall art installation of blue tiles with the words in the middle which read — “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.”

In another area, I observed the truck of FDNY Ladder Company 3 which was damaged by the collapse of the Twin Towers.

Mangled pieces of steel from sections of the Twin Towers are displayed, echoing back to the words of then-President George W. Bush’s speech to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House on the night of 9/11 when he said, “Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, these acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.”

A symbol of that American resolve is on display in the Musuem in the form of the 36-foot tall “Last Column.” It was the final piece of the World Trade Center removed from the rubble and is covered with photographs and notes, including a prayer by New York City Fire Department Chaplain Mychal Judge who died while attending to 9/11 victims. It reads: “Lord, take me where you want me to go. Let me meet who you want me to meet. Tell me what you want me to say and keep me out of your way.”

Back above ground and standing by one of the memorial pools, I found myself reflecting on my 2-3 hour experience inside the museum. I was filled with a range of emotion — sadness over the lives that were lost, concern about the survivors, and a prayer for those today — more than 20 years later — who are still grieving a child, mother, father, grandparent or spouse.

I was also filled with a deep sense of gratitude for the sacrifices of first responders and others who didn’t run from danger that day, but toward it and into eternity.

Click here for information about visiting the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.