Action News' Walter Perez reflects on covering 9/11 25 years after attacks
NEW YORK (WPVI) -- This is only the second time I've been to Lower Manhattan in the 23 years since I left New York. It was amazing to be a part of this 25th commemoration of 9/11, and to see all the "we must never forget" signs.
But for those of us who were here that day, we can't forget.
To tell that story, I reunited with an old friend.
Ritchie Traks and Mario Martinez were my crew when I worked as an early morning reporter in New York City.
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, we initially had separate assignments. That changed when crews across the city were notified that a plane had struck the north tower of the World Trade Center.
Traks and Martinez set up on the east side of the towers. I was stationed a few blocks north along the West Side Highway.
We were just standing here interviewing people as they were walking away. At that point, nobody was running. They were just people walking away, and I'm right here doing an interview, and that's when the south tower fell.
The situation quickly descended into chaos, and police moved us about two blocks away.
I was getting ready to go on the air, and that's when the north tower crumbled right behind me, and even watching it happen, I couldn't even fathom that it was possible.
My photographer and I ran for safety, leaving everything behind, including our news van.
"You were right on the West Side Highway. That truck got demolished. I mean, I seen pictures when they got it back to the garage." Traks recalled.
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Standing together years later, we reflected on the destruction we witnessed.
In the weeks and months that followed the attacks, Traks, Martinez and I filed dozens of reports documenting stories of extraordinary heroism and devastating loss. A quarter-century later, we continue to honor those who died that day.
For Traks, remembering remains both necessary and painful.
"These people that passed and their families. I watched it this morning, you know, they are rehashing the whole thing," he said.
Martinez died 15 years ago from diabetes and kidney failure. Traks was recently diagnosed with kidney disease and is preparing for a biopsy.
Whether those health issues are connected to exposure to the smoke that lingered around ground zero in the weeks after the attacks remains unknown. But for those who were there, the questions endure alongside the memories of a day that can never be forgotten.
