Latvian memories of September 11 / Article

The United States, and especially New York, will commemorate the event on Saturday, due to which Article 5 of the NATO agreement was triggered for the first time and later Latvian soldiers also had to go to Afghanistan. Exactly 20 years ago, there were 9/11 terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of almost 3,000 people.

Passenger planes hijacked by the Taliban-covered terrorist group Al Qaeda crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, the third reached the Pentagon in Washington, and the fourth fell into the Pennsylvania countryside.

It was a warm, clear, and sunny Tuesday morning, when much of Manhattan’s offices were already full of people, the streets of New York were bustling with normal life, and no one thought what a tragedy would soon turn the world upside down. At that time, the Latvian Bernhard Ziverts was also working in New York near the Twin Towers.

“It was a beautiful day, a very warm, hot September day, and I was going to work. It was around eight or nine in the morning. I went out on the balcony, drank coffee and in the distance saw that something was burning. In fact, I think they are stacks. But the same picture was shown on the TV, and I realized that something was wrong there, ”Bernhard remembers.

The financial expert Jānis Veidis, who worked in one of the buildings of the Twin Towers, also realized that something was wrong, and only because of a fateful coincidence, had not been able to get to work on time.

“When I got off the train just before nine, I saw smoke coming and immediately called my wife to say, ‘Don’t worry!’ Because she was already very worried, if something happened in New York, she would call immediately. But immediately after I hung up, I walked up to the towers and could see that both buildings were on top. Then I went as far as I could.

While I was walking there, I passed school, all the children were outside. And it affected me the most, because about that time people started jumping out of the towers. And the children had to see it.

Some jumped out and held hands, one tried to jump with a laced curtain, tried to break windows, and failed… ”

Bernhard Ziver admits that the first emotions were not so scary.

“It was tragic, but I was not afraid. But later, when there was a fear of terrorism and possible terrorism, there was more fear. It was scarier to take the subway and walk the streets because no one knew what would happen next. ”

Memorial events will take place at the scene of the tragedy on Saturday. US President Joe Biden will also visit the memorial on September 11 in New York. There will also be commemorative concerts throughout the day.

The 20th anniversary is also exacerbated by the fact that, shortly after the event, the United States and its allies launched a war in Afghanistan to eradicate the roots of terrorism and capture Osama bin Laden, who was responsible for the terrorist attacks. the victims and the departure from Afghanistan will be so severe and chaotic.

For a more detailed conversation with Jānis Veidi and other Latvians who experienced the terrorist attacks of September 11 in the United States 20 years ago, watch the LTV program “Eyewitness” on Saturday, 18.15, LTV1.

–