La valse des Monstres

1982

On September 11, 2001, Aaron McLamb had just arrived at his workplace near the Brooklyn Bridge when the first airplane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Eighteen minutes later, he watched in shock from his 10th-floor window as the second plane tore into the South Tower.

The 20-year-old ran for his camera to capture a devastating moment in American history. “It was almost surreal being that high up looking at everything going on down below.” he told New York Daily News. “You couldn’t hear the crackling of the fire or the creaking of the buildings. The only thing we could hear were the sirens from the fire trucks going across the bridge.” He then snapped an unforgettable photograph of the Ladder 118 fire truck speeding to its death, with the Twin Towers smoking in the background.

It’s estimated that within 30 minutes of this photo, everyone aboard ladder 118 was killed when one of the towers fell with all 6 fire fighters in the stair case. Ladder 118 was one of the fire trucks that responded to the disaster that followed the deadly attack.

After the second plane crashed into the South Tower, firefighters Vernon Cherry, Leon Smith, Joey Agnello, Robert Regan, Pete Vega, and Scott Davidson left the Brooklyn Heights fire hall and were on their way.

Once they arrived, the six men from Ladder 118 ran deeper into the carnage and landed at the Marriott World Trade Center Hotel, which shattered around them when the 110-storey towers collapsed. Survivors remembered seeing the heroes with the number 118 on their helmets running up the stairs to help guests.

They were never seen alive again.

May 15, 1948 - This day marks the Palestinian Nakba (or "catastrophe"); the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 by Zionist militias and terrorist groups such as Haganah, Stern, and Irgun.

In this Israeli takeover of Palestine, over 70 massacres were carried out, entire villages massacred, 85% of Palestinian land was lost, and 800.000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes.