Over the past year the war on terrorism has become more real for me. During my last two semesters in college I roomed with somebody who had been in Iraq for two years. One of my cousins had been near the World Trade Center when it collapsed. I saw him a couple of months ago. One night when we went to the movies he refused to see 'United 93.' He said it would be too much for him. And I am always hearing about young people being killed in Iraq. Last week when I looked at my local newspaper's web-site I read a story about a former Hargrave Military Academy cadet who had been killed in Iraq. I attended this same military school during the fall of 1994. Even in England--which is thousands of miles away from home--the war on terrorism is very real.
Last Friday was the one year anniversery of the 7/7 bombings in London. Last year on July 7th four young men set off bombs on three tubes and blew up one bus. They killed a total of 52 people. On the anniversy I went to Russell Square, one of the places in London where a memorial service was being held. I was going to the AFIS office so I could use their computers for free. On July 7th, 2005 a bomb went off on a southbond tube between King's Cross St. Pancrass and Russell Square. Out of the four transport vehicles that were bombed the southbound tube between King's Cross St. Pancras and Russell Square suffered the most causalties. 26 people lost their lives. Seven people lost their lives at Algate, six at Edgware Road and 13 on a bus in Tavistock Square.
When I got on the tube that morning I had forgotten it was 7/7 until I saw The Metro newspaper. At Russell Square all passangers exiting the station were given free exit; nobody had to use their oyester card or travel ticket to exit the station. On a sign it was announced there would be a two minute moment of silence at the memorial which was in front of the station. The memorial sat on the ground. It looked like a long shelf covered in green foam. It had the Russell Square tube station sign in the middle. If my memory serves me correct there was a sign on the memorial stating people could lay flowers on the memorial during the two minutes of silence.
After I finished using the computer at the AFIS office and had gotten lunch I returned to Russell Square tube station. It was a little after 12:15 PM and I discovered there was a gathering of various people around the memorial. Photographers were taking pictures across the street. People were laying flowers on the memorial. Onlookers looked at the people putting flowers on the memorial or took pictures. Security looked on with the facade that this was just another day on the job. I looked at one of the flowers that had been placed on the memorial. It had a card with it. The card blamed the attacks on man's wickedness and vowed to never give up. I saw some people who were dressed in suites get on a bus that was parked on the street. I presumed these were the victims families.
This is as close as I have ever been to the war on terrorism. Before witnessing this I only heard about people being killed in an attack in the news or hearing about an attack from other people who witnessed it. But in London I traversed over the same spot where an attack occured a year earlier. I often used the Piccadilly Line because it ran through the Finsbury Park tube station, which was the closest tube station to my homestay. I would often travel on the southbound tube that would stop at King's Cross St. Pancrass and Russell Square, and I often used the southbound tube in the morning around the same time the attacks occured (the bombed went off at 8:50 AM) because I had to travel south to get to my job. I'd often arrive at the tube station from the bus around 9:00 AM Monday through Thursday, and the 7/7 bombings took place on a Thursday. If Dr. Worringham and Dr. Waite had gotten together a study abroad group the previous year, and if I had the same internship I could have been on the tube that was bombed between King's Cross St. Pancras and Russell Square, especially if I had left the homestay early. Before witnessing this the war on terrorism was always distant to me. New York, Afghanistan, Iraq, Spain, London and the Phillapines are far away from southern Virginia. I only hear about what goes on in those places through the news or from somebody who witnessed an event there. Washington D. C. is relatively close but it would take hours to drive there. When I'm in southern Virginia I don't worry about being killed by a bomb because I assume there is little strategic value in attacking this part of the state. Northern Virginia or the Tidewater area is more likely to be attacked. This is because alot of high profile people in the U. S. government stay in northern Virginia and there are alot of military installations on the coast of the state. Danville, Va. is remote, suffering from the highest unemployment rate in the state and a decreasing population level. But in London all that changed.
Last Friday was the one year anniversery of the 7/7 bombings in London. Last year on July 7th four young men set off bombs on three tubes and blew up one bus. They killed a total of 52 people. On the anniversy I went to Russell Square, one of the places in London where a memorial service was being held. I was going to the AFIS office so I could use their computers for free. On July 7th, 2005 a bomb went off on a southbond tube between King's Cross St. Pancrass and Russell Square. Out of the four transport vehicles that were bombed the southbound tube between King's Cross St. Pancras and Russell Square suffered the most causalties. 26 people lost their lives. Seven people lost their lives at Algate, six at Edgware Road and 13 on a bus in Tavistock Square.
When I got on the tube that morning I had forgotten it was 7/7 until I saw The Metro newspaper. At Russell Square all passangers exiting the station were given free exit; nobody had to use their oyester card or travel ticket to exit the station. On a sign it was announced there would be a two minute moment of silence at the memorial which was in front of the station. The memorial sat on the ground. It looked like a long shelf covered in green foam. It had the Russell Square tube station sign in the middle. If my memory serves me correct there was a sign on the memorial stating people could lay flowers on the memorial during the two minutes of silence.
After I finished using the computer at the AFIS office and had gotten lunch I returned to Russell Square tube station. It was a little after 12:15 PM and I discovered there was a gathering of various people around the memorial. Photographers were taking pictures across the street. People were laying flowers on the memorial. Onlookers looked at the people putting flowers on the memorial or took pictures. Security looked on with the facade that this was just another day on the job. I looked at one of the flowers that had been placed on the memorial. It had a card with it. The card blamed the attacks on man's wickedness and vowed to never give up. I saw some people who were dressed in suites get on a bus that was parked on the street. I presumed these were the victims families.
This is as close as I have ever been to the war on terrorism. Before witnessing this I only heard about people being killed in an attack in the news or hearing about an attack from other people who witnessed it. But in London I traversed over the same spot where an attack occured a year earlier. I often used the Piccadilly Line because it ran through the Finsbury Park tube station, which was the closest tube station to my homestay. I would often travel on the southbound tube that would stop at King's Cross St. Pancrass and Russell Square, and I often used the southbound tube in the morning around the same time the attacks occured (the bombed went off at 8:50 AM) because I had to travel south to get to my job. I'd often arrive at the tube station from the bus around 9:00 AM Monday through Thursday, and the 7/7 bombings took place on a Thursday. If Dr. Worringham and Dr. Waite had gotten together a study abroad group the previous year, and if I had the same internship I could have been on the tube that was bombed between King's Cross St. Pancras and Russell Square, especially if I had left the homestay early. Before witnessing this the war on terrorism was always distant to me. New York, Afghanistan, Iraq, Spain, London and the Phillapines are far away from southern Virginia. I only hear about what goes on in those places through the news or from somebody who witnessed an event there. Washington D. C. is relatively close but it would take hours to drive there. When I'm in southern Virginia I don't worry about being killed by a bomb because I assume there is little strategic value in attacking this part of the state. Northern Virginia or the Tidewater area is more likely to be attacked. This is because alot of high profile people in the U. S. government stay in northern Virginia and there are alot of military installations on the coast of the state. Danville, Va. is remote, suffering from the highest unemployment rate in the state and a decreasing population level. But in London all that changed.
posted by James Marshall Richardson at 4:58 AM
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