Today marks two decades since the deadly terrorist attacks in the United States.
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On the morning of September 11, 2001, four planes were hijacked by nineteen terrorists from the Islamist extremist group al-Qaeda.
Two of the hijacked planes ploughed into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York, causing them to collapse, and another crashed into the Pentagon.
A fourth hijacked plane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The attacks killed 2977 people from 93 nations.
REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11
The September 11 terror attacks led to the production of The Daily Advertiser's first-ever afternoon special edition.
About 6000 copies of the historic 16-page, full-colour newspaper hit the streets about 2pm on September 12 and were distributed throughout Wagga and the Riverina.
The special edition featured a centre photo spread and local and international stories on the unprecedented act of terrorism that claimed thousands of lives.
Here is how The Daily Advertiser reported the unfolding situation locally at the time. The stories and editorial pieces have been reproduced in their entirety.
They include on-the-ground accounts of Wagga residents living in New York, Wagga families' anxious waits to hear from loved ones and how the city gathered to pay its respects to those killed during the United States' darkest hour.
Wagga man speaks of early morning horror
Special Afternoon Edition - The Daily Advertiser, Wednesday, September 12, 2001
AS THE horror, fear and devastation of the American terrorist attacks became evident to Australia early yesterday morning a former Wagga man told of the New York day that dawned with crystal clear skies and within hours resembled something worse than hell.
Peter Scutt, the son of Dennis and Anne Scutt, of Gregadoo Road, Wagga, has lived in New York with his wife Patricia and young child, Sol, for several years.
Mr Scutt used to work in a building just across the road from the World Trade Center.
He is now a self employed financier who watched the horror unfold from his apartment near Soho, approximately two kilometres from the World Trade Center.
"The day was crystal clear with an amazing view - it was simply a bright blue day and it now it is the most surreal sight," Mr Scutt said from New York.
"The scene here is almost impossible to describe.
"The trade center was the most recognised attraction in New York and the first thing I saw when I looked out the window was a gaping hole in the towers illuminated by a bright orange glow.
"Now it is just amazing to look out and see the towers not there, replaced by absolute devastation everywhere you look." Mr Scutt said the heartbreaking loss of life surrounding the World Trade Center was grotesquely evident.
"There are bodies lying around - it a scene of complete havoc which words cannot describe and I can't imagine how long it will take for the city to recover from this.
"The dust cloud from the implosion is simply indescribable and people everywhere are shell shocked.
"After the tower was hit transport was chaotic. Telephone lines were down for several hours and the panic in the street was incredible.
"The other strange thing to see is the normally buzzing city of Manhattan with no cars and now there are long queues in the supermarkets and banks."
As the horror grew in New York Mr Scutt's thoughts turned to the welfare of his friends.
"I have spent the day making phone calls to friends. From what I can establish most of my close
friends are OK.
"However, my accountant and my nanny's sister-in-law both worked in the building and I haven't heard from them - it is a most worrying time.
"Everyone is just in shock - I don't know what is going to happen next and I'm really worried about the ramifications of this."
Mr Scutt attended St Michael's Regional High School and Trinity Senior High School.
About 10,000 Australians live in New York and several thousand reside in Washington.
Big Springs family counts blessings that son wasn't at trade center
Special Afternoon Edition - The Daily Advertiser, Wednesday, September 12, 2001
PARENTS of a former Wagga man who has lived and worked in New York for the past six years are counting their blessings their son is still alive.
Phillip Towzell, 33, works as a financier for Creditswiss in the heart of the world's financial district.
He was due to attend a meeting in the World Trade Center less than two hours after the hijacked planes were flown into the buildings.
He telephoned his parents, Garry and Marianne at their "Figtree", Big Springs, property to let them know he was safe and well.
A relieved Mrs Towzell told The Daily Advertiser her son could not believe what was happening around him in New York.
"Amazingly, one of his friends who was in the 92nd floor of one of the towers of the World Trade Center escaped," Mrs Towzell said.
"No-one knows who's where or what. "It's just awful ... a disaster."
Families facing anxious wait
Special Afternoon Edition - The Daily Advertiser, Wednesday, September 12, 2001
WAGGA residents with family living in the areas surrounding the World Trade Center faced the most agonising wait of their lives early yesterday morning as news broke of the terrorist attack and the numbers of dead increased by the hour.
Pam and Rick Martin of Wagga whose 20- year-old daughter Isobel is living in New York were reduced to tears yesterday as they passed on the good news their daughter was safe and well.
"She's fine - she was far enough from it not to be affected and we are absolutely relieved," Mrs Martin said. "We first heard early this morning of what happened and I have never been so frightened.
"Isobel had left a message on the answering machine in the middle of the night telling us she was OK but we didn't know it was there for some time.
"I have since spoken to her in person and she is OK and words cannot describe the relief."
Isobel has been living in New York for 12 months and studying at the Fashion Institute located in the Empire State Building approximately two kilometres from the World Trade Center.
"Of all the concerns we had for Isobel when she went to New York we never imagined terrorism would be something to worry about," Mrs Martin said.
"She is a resident assistant at the college and she has been counselling the other students who are absolutely devastated."
Isobel attended Mount Erin High School up to Year 9 and then studied at Pymble Ladies College in Sydney before heading to New York.
Hugh Wrigley, the son of Wagga farmer Norm Wrigley has been reported safe and well.
Reality hits hard: Wagga residents
Special Afternoon Edition - The Daily Advertiser, Wednesday, September 12, 2001
THE SHOCKING reality of the terrorism attacks on the United States have hit home for ex-patriots now residing in Wagga.
Riverina Baptist Church pastor Frank Tottingham, originally from South Dakota, said he could not believe his eyes when he switched on the television set this morning to see downtown New York resembling a war zone.
"I just looked at it and couldn't believe it," Mr Tottingham said.
"The rubble, the mess ... it is just unbelievable. "It is something you never think would happen."
Mr Tottingham said as the death toll rises, the true extent of the carnage would be realised.
"It is nightime over there and there are going to be sitting at home tonight wondering where mummy and daddy are," he said.
"It is just tragic. "I have friends in New York ... I haven't been able to get through all day."
Mr Tottingham said he was keen to find out the fate of his friends.
"One of my friends is a policeman and I really want to get in contact with him," he said.
"It is shocking and completely unbelievable.
"When I first heard, when someone rang me at 6.30am, I thought they was pulling my leg.
"It is just total devastation." Wagga resident Paul Murray, who is associated with the local branch of the American-Australian Association, described the events in his homeland as "unbelievable".
"It is a tragedy," Mr Murray said. "We are all in a bit of shock at the moment."
This morning Wagga's RAAF and Army bases were understandably remaining tightlipped about their security arrangements, however, it is understood they will be stepped up at least in the foreseeable future, in the wake of the American disaster.
Meanwhile, the New South Wales Department of Education and Training is monitoring the affect of the news from the United States at the schools across the state.
Director-General Dr Ken Boston said images of the events are deeply distressing to students. He said principals are trained to deal with matters of trauma that affect their school communities and it is rare for there to be an incident which affects everyone.
The Department has trained school counsellors available to students who require support and assistance. The decision to make use of this assistance will be taken at the local level by principals.
The day insanity took over the world
The Daily Advertiser editorial - Special Afternoon Edition - The Daily Advertiser, Wednesday, September 12, 2001
INSANITY continues to reign in a world gripped by fear and terror today.
Global mayhem on an unprecedented scale is taking place as you read this special afternoon edition of The Daily Advertiser.
It is as if the world has gone mad as the United States of America begins the hopeless task of taking care of the maimed and counting the bodies of those killed.
No-one will ever know how many are dead.
The enormity of this tragedy is simply too difficult to comprehend.
The images in this newspaper and the horrific scenes screening on televisions around the world are almost too graphic, too surreal, too ghastly to believe.
Sadly, they are real. All too real.
The peace-shattering events are still unfolding right at this very moment as a world plunges into chaos following the devastating strikes against New York and Washington.
The heart of New York, the busiest city on the planet, has been reduced to ashes and rubble after the collapse of the World Trade Center's twin towers as well as a third building following the double suicide attack by two passenger planes.
The madness continued with strikes against the American Army's headquarters at The Pentagon and The Mall building in Washington.
This is not simply an attack on America. It is a despicable assault - and cowardly too - against the civilised world.
Vengeance will be exacted for the wrong done. World peace has never been in such a fragile state.
The strength of the American people may be weakened at this time but their resolve will be as determined as ever.
The human toll from such a blow to democracy and freedom cannot be measured.
But Americans are brave, proud and resourceful. They will unite like never before to seek justice for what has been done to them.
How such a tragedy could have occurred is beyond belief.
With such sophisticated spy and secret service intelligence one would have thought the US could have prevented such an awful disaster.
How did the terrorists slip into the country in the first place?
But now is not the time for accusatory finger pointing or sabre-rattling.
In America it is a time for action. For helping those who need it. For righting wrongs. For gaining justice.
Those of us who can do nothing but observe should pray for the millions of people affected.
We can only watch and wait and hope. Hope that the deadly strikes against the heart of freedom and democracy are over. Hope that those who masterminded such heinous crimes pay a lasting retribution for their deadly sins. Hope that some form of humanity can be restored to the mess that is America on this day - September 12, 2001. Hope that the events of today and yesterday do not send the globe spiralling into a Third World War.
The days of tolerating religious zealots are over.
This barbaric terrorism has forever ended America putting up with the fanatical nonsense espoused by these psychotic and crazed, bad and mad, murderous bastards.
Terrorism in the name of God is as wicked as it is stupid.
God knows mankind does not need such brutality. God knows our freedoms are delicate enough without this. America is now taking stock, rallying as never before as the despair, heartache, anger and revulsion of evil wells in the hearts and minds of the nation's people.
Our world is in mayhem. God help us all.
Horror in New York
Hugh Wrigley in New York - The Daily Advertiser, Thursday, September 13, 2001
MY DAY began normally with a run in perfect weather along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, which overlooks the East River and provides a spectacular view of the Wall Street area and downtown Manhattan, including my office.
The 110-storey twin towers of the World Trade Center provided a backdrop to the sparkling buildings of the financial district, framed to the north by the Brooklyn Bridge and the south, out in New York Harbor, by the Statue of Liberty.
I did not know that the cityscape I watched as I jogged along would be forever changed within the hour, and with it the psyche of what I have come to call my home town.
An hour later, I approached my subway entrance on Montague Street, Brooklyn Heights, for my usual fiveminute train ride to the office.
For some reason, as I started down the steps, I heard a passer-by say the words "World Trade Center" and turned and looked down the street.
I saw a plume of grey smoke and followed it way into the sky over the harbour.
With increasing curiosity, then fear, I walked back down the street.
At the promenade, I was horrified and numbed to see the north tower of the World Trade Center ablaze about three-quarters of the way up. Smoke and flame spewed from a gaping hole in several floors.
The few other people watching with me did so in numbness. Someone said that a plane had crashed into the tower.
Not knowing how to react, I went back home to get my wife.
As I walked, I heard another huge explosion, echoing across the water through the canyons of lower Wall Street.
Feeling sickened, there was no way that I could have guessed the cause - a second aircraft had been deliberately flown into the building.
At home, my father-in-law, visiting from Australia, was completely stunned when I first returned and reported that a plane had crashed into the Twin Towers.
He could only repeat over and over, "What are you saying?" shaking his head in disbelief. The feeling of disbelief is still with us all.
We went back down to the promenade. The second tower was now ablaze and someone explained that they had watched another plane fly a perfect path into the building, rolling slightly as it approached impact.
My wife Diana could not stay and we did not want our four-year-old son to see the disaster, so she and Jack went home.
As I watched, it was not possible to comprehend what was unfolding, even though the magnitude of the disaster made itself visually and viscerally obvious.
The smoke and ash quickly grew to form a ghastly scar across the otherwise clear sky.
Fluttering sheets of paper in the plume emphasised the very human consequences of the attack: these were the work product of my friends and colleagues in the financial markets which were now being strewn across the harbour - New Jersey, Brooklyn and Staten Island.
I thought "My God, there could be 5000 people in that building."
Actually, closer to 50,000 people work in the complex.
As I write, eight hours after the disaster, casualty numbers have still not been released, although it appears that many people were able to be evacuated.
Returning home, the acrid smoke began to permeate our neighbourhood and worry began to set in.
We closed the shutters, to prevent glass lacerations should we face explosions.
We filled empty containers and the bath with water. Jack missed his first day of the new school year.
We discussed leaving the city to go to our country home, but heard on the radio that all non-essential traffic was banned.
We decided to stay and monitor the situation, although really there was nothing we could do.
Without cable, we had no TV, as all the main broadcast stations in New York send their signals from the World Trade Center towers.
On the radio, the now well-known story of a horrific day unfolded. E-mails came in from around the world through my Blackberry wireless device, asking for confirmation for that we were okay.
Although shocked, we were unable to resist the curiosity that drove us to the promenade to view the disaster again and again throughout the day.
The eerie city skyline now missed the much-loved Twin Towers. Phone lines, land and cell, have been limited all day.
People had to walk home to Brooklyn over the Brooklyn Bridge from the financial district, as many subway lines connect through the World Trade Center and were shut.
Our neighbour left work at the World Financial Center after watching the second plane fly into the south tower with his colleagues from his trading floor.
Although all air traffic has been grounded throughout the country, military aircraft peel across the sky from time to time, lending an ominous tone.
There is very little traffic in the city; the streets are strangely quiet. Smoke is still periodically blanketing Brooklyn 12 hours later. What will be the effects?
The city is traumatised: the losses will affect most of us as our six degrees of separation inevitably connect us to those who lost life or limb in the attacks.
Retaliation, then isolationism, will consume United States foreign policy.
The weak economy has been dealt a blow which will assure negative Gross Domestic Product growth this quarter, the first quarterly step to recession.
What has occurred is an act of war. It is disconcerting to be able to say that I understand the hatred which would wish immediate vengeance on those unseen cowards in any way connected with this atrocity.
- Hugh Wrigley is the son of local farmer and journalist Norm Wrigley.
Trail of destruction leaves Miss Wagga heartbroken
The Daily Advertiser, Thursday, September 13, 2001
MISS Wagga, Sally Peacock, said yesterday she was heartbroken that the city she just had to visit during her trip to the United States last month had been devastated.
"I just had to go to New York - the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and the Twin Towers," she said.
Miss Peacock spent the first few days of August wandering around New York, including the scene of Tuesday's attack, but said she could have been there now if her trip to the US as part of her prize for winning the Miss Wagga Quest last October had not been brought forward.
"I was staying right near the Twin Towers. I could have been there now," she said.
Miss Peacock said she had bought a ticket to tour the World Trade Center, but ended up not going up.
"I could have been walking in there (when the attack occurred)," she said.
Late yesterday afternoon Miss Peacock said she had not been able to bring herself to watch television footage of the devastation in New York and Washington.
"I have tried not to look at that footage because I would be too upset," she said.
She expressed her sympathy for the Americans and Australians killed in the attack or who had lost loved ones.
Historic DA edition keeps readers up to date with the latest news
The Daily Advertiser, Thursday, September 13, 2001
THE DAILY Advertiser yesterday published its first-ever afternoon special edition to cover the latest developments in the shocking terrorist attack on America.
About 6000 copies of the historic newspaper printed on high quality bond paper hit the streets about 2pm and were distributed throughout Wagga and the Riverina.
People queued at newsagencies to obtain their copy of the 16-page fullcolour newspaper, which featured a centre photo spread and local and international stories on the unprecedented act of terrorism which has claimed thousands of lives.
Group general manager of the Riverina Media Group, Wayne Geale, praised the huge effort of staff in compiling not only the special edition, but also the extensive coverage in the morning edition.
Mr Geale said they had proven newspapers were just as instant and just as vibrant as television and radio news services.
The decision to publish the special edition was made at midnight on Tuesday as the full extent of the suicide attacks unfolded.
Group editor, Michael McCormack said some staff reported for work early yesterday morning with little or no sleep after putting together the morning edition.
He said press operators had also started work early to print the afternoon edition, while clerical and advertising staff involved themselves in the distribution of the paper.
Production staff had also worked longer shifts to ensure the edition met a tight deadline.
"It was a magnificent effort all round," Mr McCormack said.
"Everybody pulled together.
"In times of crisis such as this newspaper people always produce their best, and certainly they did today," he said yesterday.
Wagga woman's brush with death
The Daily Advertiser, Friday, September 14, 2001
FORMER Wagga woman Georgina Macken came within minutes of a rendezvous with death as she strolled along the streets of Manhattan on Tuesday morning.
The 29-year-old art director was headed to the World Trade Center to visit clients when she witnessed two hijacked aeroplanes slam into the side of what were then New York's tallest buildings.
Standing within 200 metres of the now burning building, Ms Macken, a Wagga Sporting Hall of Fame inductee and former Australian orienteering champion, watched in horror as history unfolded before her eyes.
Speaking from his Wagga home yesterday, Ms Macken's father, John, said his eldest daughter had been due to return to Australia on the day of the attack.
"Georgina had booked her flight and she had nine hours to spend in Manhattan," Mr Macken said.
"She had one more appointment to do before coming and the client happened to have their offices right on the top floor of one of the towers.
"She was on her way there for the appointment and got within a couple of hundred yards of the tower and saw the plane hit.
"She went into a bit of a flap and she tried to buy a phonecard ... she had a bit of trouble doing that because there was so much panic around."
Mr Macken said as his daughter then further inspected the first incident, she saw the second plane plough into the other World Trade Center tower.
"She went back to her apartment ... probably still shaken," he said.
"Another five minutes and she would have been in the lift or at the top.
"She has been unable to contact anyone within the company ... which doesn't exist anymore.
"I don't know whether you call it luck or divine intervention."
Mr Macken said both he and his wife Deirdre spent Tuesday night glued to the television in hope of any news of their daughter.
"It wasn't too crash hot because we knew she was over there ... we didn't have a clue where but we knew she was residing somewhere in Manhattan," he said.
"We had a sleepless night ... we learned the next day, when we got a message through from (Ms Macken's husband) Alexander, that she was still alive and still okay."
Mr Macken said his daughter is now booked on an aeroplane to Sydney from New York today, but it was unsure if she would make the trip to Wagga.
Mr Macken described the incidents within the United States as tragic
Wagga weeps: Hundreds gather to mourn victims of terrorism
The Daily Advertiser, Monday, September 17, 2001
THE SUN was bright but the mood was gloomy yesterday as Wagga residents gathered in their hundreds to pay their respects to those killed during the United States' darkest hour last week.
More than 800 people packed into the Victory Memorial Gardens at 3pm for the hour-long ecumenical service, hosted by the Wagga Inter-Church Council, and held in the wake of the terrorist attacks centred on New York and Washington DC on Tuesday.
Thousands of people are believed dead after two hijacked planes ploughed into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York and another crashed into the Pentagon.
A fourth hijacked plane, believed to be headed for the presidential retreat Camp David, crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Three Australians are confirmed dead in the attacks and a further 69 who were in the vicinity of the World Trade Center at the time are still missing.
Addressing the large congregation in Wagga, Reverend Sandy McMillan from Saint Aidan's Presbyterian Church, said the tragedy was unexplainable.
"All week we have been confronted by terror," Rev. McMillan said.
"The picture of that plane flying into the tower will be embedded into our brains forever.
"We wish it was a horror movie - soon the lights would come up and we could go home.
"The whole thing has that air of unreality about it ... but it is real, a horrible scene etched in our memories forever.
"It is about real people."
With the flags of the United States and Australia flapping in the afternoon breeze, Sacred Heart parish priest, Father Wilf Plunkett, described last week's events as chilling.
"It was a dark day particularly for Americans and their friends all over the world," Fr Plunkett said.
"There is a feeling of apprehension of what might come next.
"Today has been declared a day of mourning in most parts of the world and we felt, as members of the Inter-Church Council, to come together in solidarity for these people."
Leading the congregation in prayer, St Andrew's Presbyterian Church minister and police chaplain Reverend Derek Bullen said the world was shocked by the news of the terrorist attacks.
"For the people that were killed and the rescuers that lost their lives ... their only desire was to save others," Mr Bullen said.
"It is no underestimate to say the entire world has been changed by those events and it is no underestimate to say ... these events can easily escalate beyond human control."
Member for Wagga Daryl Maguire, who was among those present at the ceremony, said the impact of the tragedy was evident locally.
"I think that the churches sensed the community needed to show their solidarity with the American people," Mr Maguire said.
"Obviously we share their grief.
"We have friends ... many people have had links with America and even if you didn't have any links, you have to feel for the people and the tragedy they have experienced.
"It was just a dreadful event."
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