Edit: I got my own song wrong! It’s corrected, now. Chords, too.
So, I’m a disabled 9/11 WTC Attack survivor. I worked 6 blocks north of the north tower (the one hit by Flight 11), and was early to work, as it was election day, and I’d voted. I was early enough to see Flight 11 come over my head in Duarte Square on Canal Street; I thought the plane was in distress and the pilot was attempting to ditch in the harbor; then I watched as Flight 11 hit the North Tower. The scene was surreal; I remember a female NYPD officer yelling at a motorist attempting to drive south on Seventh Avenue South, “What the fuck is your problem, can’t you see the fucking plane hit the fucking building?”
It got worse for me, no one believed me at work, they insisted it was a small commuter plane, until we watched the second plane hit, as shown in the photo; then everyone exclaimed “terrorists”! I watched people jumping from the towers, and I watched the towers collapse.
I continued to work down there for the next year; I was exposed to mercury, cadmium, lead, hexane, dioxins, and all the myriad toxins down there; within a year, I experienced my first neurological symptoms—neuropathy, paresthesias, and more. I’m in the WTC Health Program, but it took me eight years to be accepted into the program, which caused me severe psychological distress.
So, yes, remember the fallen, but please remember we survivors—we’re still having a very hard time.
Here’s a song I wrote ten years ago; it’s G, C, D, (and surely an A minor or E minor, but I forget), with whatever variations you’d like.
It was election day, so I voted, took the train to the city
I got off at Canal Street, the blue sky looked so pretty
Then Flight 11 came screaming overhead
And in the blink of an eye
Many hundreds were dead
I went on into work and reported to my chief
When I told him what I’d seen
He just stared in disbelief
Then the second plane hit the second tower
And we watched those buildings fall in little more than an hour
(Chorus)
And the finest and the bravest
They were heroes
Still there’s millions of women and men
Being treated like zeroes
Well we bailed out the banks
But we still haven’t given thanks
To all those hardworking women and men
They’re all heroes
We all are heroes
So the president sent us to war
To keep us safe from the terrorists
Back in the days of Vietnam
We were scared of the Communists
Still there’s plenty of money
For smart bombs and Predator drones
But not a penny can be found
To keep folks in there homes
(Chorus)
And the finest and the bravest
They were heroes
Still there’s millions of women and men
Being treated like zeroes
Well we bailed out the banks
But we still haven’t given thanks
To all those hardworking women and men
They’re all heroes
We all are heroes
There’s more, but I have a hard time remembering, and probably no one is interested; if anyone is, I’ll come up with the rest of it. None of my neurological conditions are approved as WTC-related, (now I have essential tremor, too), so I have considerable out-of-pocket expenses; too bad. Peace.