Five years ago on 9/9, I was invited to attend a fun blitz event at the park in Brooklyn, not far away from the Aquarium. I was there to give a short Q&A and meet a number of NY politicians and VIPs. Many young Russian speaking stars competed in this blitz tournament including IM Yury Lapshun and IM Irina Krush.
Two short days later on 9/11, my best friend and I were supposed to be right near the World Trade Center that same morning for a very important business meeting. As I was getting ready to leave for the meeting, I saw the tragic situation with the twin towers. We missed it by less than 1 hour.
After that, phone lines were jammed. Wireless phone signals no longer worked. Everything was chaotic. The military was called in. All bridges and tunnels were closed. Subways were shut down. So were the airports. No one knew what would happen next. My life was changed forever since that day. It also severely affected my best friend. Over 3,000 lives were lost. For the next days, weeks and months, NY became a completely different city.
It was a day that I will never forget. It was a day that the world will never forget. 
Unfortunately, it seems that many, many people have forgotten this deadly, unprovoked, brazen act of war against innocent people. Thank you for featuring it here so it may never be forgotten or discounted.
Thanks for posting this. Too many people are forgetting what happened that awful day.