2006年VOA标准英语-Pentagon Survivors Talk About the 5-Year Annive

By Mil Arcega
Washington, DC
08 September 2006
 
watch Pentagon Survivors¹ report

Americans will mark the anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks in many ways.  Some will attend church services. Others will take part in marches and memorial events. But a few will mark the anniversary in more personal ways.

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At 9:43 a.m. -- nearly one hour after the first plane slammed into the World Trade Center -- American Airlines flight 77 crashed into the west side of the Pentagon. 

Pentagon security officer John Yates recalls the exact moment of impact.  "I remember that there was a ball of flame came from behind me and from my left over my head and I remember being blown through the air and that the room went instantaneously black."

Yates was one of the lucky ones.

John Yates  
  
"I suffered second and third degree burns over 38 percent of my body from my head my back my face and neck.  I had third degree burns on my hands and both my arms that required three grafting² operations." 

For others, the memory is etched in different ways.

"It's burned into my memory," says Major William Stout³, a police lieutenant⁴ on the Pentagon's anti-terrorism division. He remembers a scene of utter chaos⁵ -- like something from a terrible movie.

Major William Stout   
  
"We had a hole in the side of the building. We had people scrambling⁶ around everywhere."

"We were picking up plane parts for several days."

But five years after fire rained from the sky, Tom Heidenberger says the anniversary is yet another reminder⁷ of what he lost.

"Unfortunately when you think of anniversaries you think of them as a wedding anniversary, or anniversary of a graduation or this, that, and the other.  This is an anniversary where I mark the death of my wife."

 
Tom Heidenberger pictured with his wife
  
Heidenberger's wife, Michele, was one of the flight attendants aboard the ill-fated Boeing 757 that was carrying 64 passengers.  Heidenberger remembers with some irony⁸, his last words to his wife.  He told her, "Have a safe trip."

"In many respects," says Heidenberger, "you can say I'm in denial now, still, because I still look periodically at the side door of the house, thinking that she'll come back."

To keep Michele's memory alive, Heidenberger took part in a 33-day cycling trip across the United States in April -- one day for each crewmember that perished at one of the three crash sites. 

"Something positive has to come out of this.  Simply put, we can't let the sacrifice of the 184 victims here at the Pentagon, nor the 3,000 victims who died on that day.  We can't let it go in vain," he says.

Rosemary Dillard with her husband, Eddie  
  
It's the same feeling that drives Rosemary Dillard.  Her husband Eddie was aboard American Flight 77.

"He was sitting in seat 5-B and the hijackers were in 5-E and 5-F.  We were married 15 years. He was a good man, an honorable man, a good man."

Like many who lost loved ones, Rosemary has dedicated⁹ herself to making sure the victims of 911 are never forgotten. Rosemary has worked tirelessly to raise money to build a memorial to honor the 189 people who died at the Pentagon. "My purpose is that this memorial will be here and it will be here for a hundred years." 

"Time heals things but I think, in this particular type of situation, I don't know if we'll ever heal completely," says Major Stout.

"And the days that are most difficult for me," admits Heidenberger, "are the mornings when there's not a cloud in the sky," recalling the conditions on the day of the attack.

And for Rosemary Dillard, a question that has haunted her for the last five years is, "How could that happen on one of God's most beautiful days? How could that happen?"

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 grafting   

嫁接法，移植法

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。
• Burns can often be cured by grafting on skin from another part of the same body. 烧伤常常可以用移植身体其它部位的皮肤来治愈。

3 stout   

adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的

参考例句：

• He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
• The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。

4 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

5 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

6 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

8 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

9 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。