Memorial
Steve tried to pull himself out of his funk, as the helicopter flew back toward Manhattan, passing over the Brooklyn Bridge.
It's not all gone, he reminded himself. The bridge is still here. Prospect Park is still here, still with its big meadow for picnicking. The Empire State Building is still there, still visible in the distance, though it didn't dominated the New York skyline as it had in his day.
Steve expected them to head up the East Side of Manhattan to see the Empire State Building, but Maria swung toward the Lower West Side.
"We need to avoid some police activity," she explained.
"Not in a hurry," Steve reassured her.
In fact, they were following a route Steve knew well. Radio Row had been a regular stop for Steve and Bucky in the late 1930s.
Bucky had been a tinkerer. He kept all the radios in the building operating, fine tuning each to reduce static and improve fidelity. He became adept at tightening wires and replacing parts. Their own radio had been secondhand when Sarah Rogers received it from a grateful patient. It was scuffed and battered on the outside with cracks in the veneer and a Bakelite knob that had a chunk missing. But it worked just fine thanks to vacuum tubes and other parts Bucky found on Radio Row.
And it was just a fun place to hang out. Bucky could take his time poking through the bins of vacuum tubes, looking for one with perfectly straight pins and no discoloration, while around them were forty or fifty stores all with radios blasting. The young men could find any show or any ballgame playing somewhere within the bedlam. Men debating the latest news or the controversial play on the base pads.
That was where they got their first taste of new-fangled "television." A dozen big boxes with tiny screens playing up and down the street and you could see the Dodgers big as life! Well, about as big as they looked from the nosebleed seats in the top row of the stadium. The picture was tiny and black and white, but it was still a marvel.
Steve remembered the modern big, flat screen, color TV back in his apartment. The technology had come a long way. They didn't need bins of vacuum tubes any more.
Steve was prepared for Radio Row to be changed. He wasn't prepared for the streets to be gone.
There was a lot of construction going on in the area and the focal point seemed to be two square pools of water surrounded by dozens, maybe hundreds of trees, regularly spaced and evenly sized, with an odd wedge-shaped building nearby.
"What's that?" Steve asked.
The women followed his gaze then exchanged a solemn glance. Hill left the answer up to Leslie, because she was the one responsible for Steve's assimilation.
"That's the 9/11 Memorial," Leslie said solemnly. "It's a memorial to the people who died in the worst terrorist attack in the United States."
She told him about the attack on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked four jetliners. One was crashed into the Pentagon, one crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers tried to retake the jet, and the other two were deliberately crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.
"The two pools down there mark the footprints of the Twin Towers," Maria contributed.
"The towers were the tallest buildings in New York City, the tallest buildings in the world for a couple of years," Leslie said. "They had 110 floors. They completely collapsed."
"There must have been thousands of people in those buildings," Steve said soberly.
"Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the 9/11 attacks, including the people on the planes and the terrorists. More than 400 police and firefighters were killed, trying to fight the fires and rescue people from the buildings."
"It was a horrible day," Hill said. "I was working, trying to raise money to go to college. The 9/11 attack spurred me to join the military instead."
"I'm not ashamed to say I'm happy I wasn't in New York at the time of the attack. I was on vacation at home in California. When I woke up, Mom had the TV on with the announcer speaking so solemnly, I knew something horrible had happened," Leslie said. "All planes were grounded for a couple of days and even after that, it was difficult to get back to New York. Rescue efforts went on for days, though only a few people were found alive after the buildings collapsed. When I finally got back to New York, I was put to work tabulating the lists of the dead and injured."
"It's terrible how many people died. But it's remarkable how many escaped," Hill said, wanting to relieve the grim atmosphere.
Leslie confirmed her words, checking facts on her phone. "There may have been 17,000 people in the towers. There are many stories about people helping others to escape. Eleven people in wheelchairs were carried down hundreds of flights of stairs, mostly by strangers. Two blind men were led to safety by their guide dogs. The event was horrifying, but also inspiring."
"Who were these terrorists? Why did they want to attack us?" Steve asked.
"An Islamic terrorist group called al-Qaeda claimed responsibility," Leslie said. "Their reasons, or their excuses, are complex and varied. We'll find some books on the topic. I can't explain it. I don't really understand it," she confessed.
"I've been looking for some history books for you," Hill said. "Trying to find ones that didn't have agendas. I have a couple of well-respected post-war history books and one on recent history." She gave him a quick glance and a grin. "I thought you might feel more comfortable with books. Then you can use the internet to find more information, videos, photos and such."
Steve was grateful. Books were old friends.
"Now, let's get on to the Empire State Building," Hill said.
Steve thought it was pretty neat to see the Empire State Building from the level of the Observation Deck where he had been. He was glad the beautiful old building was still standing.
Hill gestured to the east. "And over there is the United Nations."
"What's that?" Steve asked.
Leslie banged her head against her fist.
A/N: Cobie Smulders would have been 19 at the time of 9/11. Just the right age to be inspired to join the military.
OMG, it took me so long to get to the 9/11 Memorial, which was my purpose for the helicopter flight. Only modest research conducted on all topics. Don't quote me in your history essays.
Last week I posted a Very Good Team Halloween story. Probably another Team holiday story next week.