By Greg Brickey, Urban Times News

Like thousands of other Jersey City residents, I watched with horror as
the World Trade Center towers burned and fell to the ground. And like
untold thousands of others, I knew that one of my closest friends was
there at work when the hijacked airliners crashed and exploded.

From the Jersey City Palisades, where activists have fought so hard to
preserve the view of the Manhattan skyline, I watched helplessly as it
disappeared, erased forever in a holocaust of hate and senseless death.
As a journalist, I probably should have conducted an interview or
snapped a picture, but like so many others watching the tragedy unfold,
I was sick with dread and concern. I knew that my workaholic friend,
Howard Guzman, was in his office at the World Trade Center.

Howard had been at my house two days before the attack, complaining
about how much he disliked working in the WTC. He escaped death, but
only just. Howard was in his office on the 58th floor when the second
plane hit, and he told me that night how the walls cracked and the
ceiling fell, and that he saw people burned, their skin melted, hair
gone. But Howard was one of the lucky, and escaped to Chinatown unhurt.

Other friends were caught up in the mayhem, some stranded overnight.
Thankfully, all of my friends have returned safely. But thousands of
others were less fortunate, and no one can begin to imagine, let alone
describe, the suffering of those who still wait for word about the
missing.

For myself, the most terrible and unforgettable image came during the
minutes after the first tower fell, when the sun could be seen shining
through the thick black cloud where the tower stood just moments before.
The sense of human loss was beyond words, and I realized minutes later
that I had blanked out, staring sightlessly at the disaster as if in a
trance. It’s taken me a week to sit down at the computer and type out
these thoughts, and even now, words fail.

In the wake of the tragedy, some have suggested that the bombing
represents the beginning of Biblical end times. Others point out that
more than 100 years ago, the German philosopher Nietsche sadly predicted
a Godless end times, where the growth of technology would outpace the
growth of ethics, and sociopathic nations would prey upon their
neighbors. In more recent years, military analysts have warned that the
fears of the cold war, in particular the use of weapons of mass
destruction, would be realized in a global war waged by international
terrorists.

For now, many of us affected by the attack have turned off our
televisions, unable to listen to more explanations or opinions about the
catastrophe. But few would disagree that the World Trade Center attack
signifies the end of something, even though at this point, just what has
ended is still uncertain.

But every ending also marks a beginning, as history has demonstrated
time and again that tragedy has the power to inspire men and women to
rise above despair and loss to work together for the common good. This
miracle is visible today in every neighborhood of Jersey City, where
volunteers of all national, religious, and ethnic backgrounds have
joined together in cooperation as never before. Jersey City has a bigger
heart than anyone could have ever imagined, and I’ve never been more
proud of the city that is my home.