The terror attack of Sept. 11, 2001, was one of those historic events that forever change the world.
About 3,000 people were killed when the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed and when the Pentagon was hit. Tens of thousands have died since in wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and subsequent terrorist attacks in Europe, the Mideast, and Asia.
In the United States, and around the world, controversy still rages over the Bush administration's prosecution of what it calls its "war on terror."
Today is the fifth anniversay of that fateful day and we're pleased that The Globe's Shawn McCarthy who drove from Canada to New York to cover the aftermath of the attacks, and then served three years as The Globe's New York correspondent, was on-line earlier today to take your questions.
The questions and Mr. McCarthy's answers appear at the bottom of this page.
Mr. McCarthy wrote in Saturday's Globe about one small investment firm located on the 89th floor of one of the twin towers, which lost about one-third of its total staff, including several top executives, when the building collapsed.
The survivors and their families have since banded together to support each other and preserve the memories of those who died. But as he reported in Phoenix Rising, the legacy of the 89th floor , things will never be the same.
You can also view an interactive graphic that shows the fate of those who worked there and how 14 lucky ones managed to survive .
Mr. McCarthy wrapped up his New York posting earlier this month. Prior to that assignment, he worked in The Globe's parliamentary bureau in Ottawa, including three years as bureau chief. He also covered government finances and economic affairs for The Globe.
Mr. McCarthy has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Alberta and a Masters in Journalism from Carleton University. He has also worked for The Toronto Star, The Canadian Press and Alberta Report.
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Jim Sheppard, Executive Editor, globeandmail.com: Welcome, Shawn, and thanks for joining us today to take questions from the readers of globeandmail.com. Let me start by asking you about the 89th floor feature you wrote for Saturday's paper. You spent months researching and writing this amazing story. What struck you most, or surprised you most, about the survivors and the families of the victims you interviewed?
Shawn McCarthy: Hi, Jim, thanks for having me.
What struck me — though it didn't really surprise me — was their determination to stay and rebuild. These are people who experienced horrendous loss and they know they are still living in a city that remains a prime target.
Despite that fear, they are motivated by three things:
For many of them, New York is home. It is where they feel most comfortable, where there family and friends are. To rip their families away from that would only compound the loss. The place of greatest threat is also the place of greatest comfort.
They also feel a responsibility to those who were lost to rebuild. In some cases, the obligation was financial — survivors from Keefe Bruyette knew that families of the victims were relying on the company for financial support. But it is more than that. It is obligation to repair the damage done, not to allow the pain caused by the terrorist attacks to endure without a response from them. Paula Berry, for instance, worked on the board of the Memorial Foundation to help fashion something positive from the disaster.
