the post's commemorative issue from september 11, 2006

8/4/2019 The Post's commemorative issue from September 11, 2006

1/3

Your VISA Business card opens doors to new opportunities

and gives you room to seize the day. >Higher credit

limits than personal cards > Separate business from

personal expenses > Interest rates as low as prime*.

Find out more at visa.ca/smallbusiness .

Small Business. Big Possibilities.

Registeredtrademarkof VisaInternationalServiceAssociation;Visa Canadais a licensed user. Trademarkof VisaInternational;VisaCanadais a licensed user. *Ratesmay vary, depending onyour financialinstitution.

PHOTO BY PHIL PENMAN / SPLASH NEWS / KEYSTONE CANADA. COPYRIGHT 200 1 BY SPLASH NEWS

Threemenwalkawayfrom theWorldTradeCenter:George Sleigh, right, is shown recentlybelowin the sunroomofhisOhiohome.

BYMARY VALLIS

O

n September 11,2001, George Sle-igh sat at his deskon the91st floor of

the World Trade

Center and watched an airplaneflydirectly toward him.

He noticed the airplanes un-derbellygleaming in the morn-ing light. He noticed the wheelswere still up. And then, boom.American Airlines Flight 11 hitthebuilding.

It flewinto the building go-ing 500 miles an hour or so,recalls Mr. Sleigh, 68. I didnthave time to d o much elsethan cover myhead and prayfor thebest.

The ceiling tiles fell. Thebookcase in his office toppled;books tumbled on him. He did

not knowat the time th

at theplane hit the 92nd floor, just a

fewfeet above him.

It was time to get out. Down,down, down, Mr. Sleigh walked

with 10 colleagues from theAmerican Bureau ofShipping,down 182 flights ofstairs, pastthe firefighters walking up andinto the concourse. He eventu-a

llyc

limb

ed upa

set of sta

irsonto the street.

As Mr. Sleigh walked up Ful-ton Street, a photographernamed Phil Penman snapped

his photograph. It shows himwalking behind two Port Au-thority engineers towardBroadway with alook of deter-mination. His face is covered

inash

as he shuffles throughan ankle-deep layer of dust

and office paper on the street.

He is clutching his canvas

briefcase.

That briefcase was all Mr.

Sleigh had time to grab fromhis office. He dove back intothe rubble for it because it con-tained an address book withhis wifes office number (he didnot knowit byheart; she had

just moved to a newjob). He

would not reach her for severalmore hours, after he reached

Beth Israel Medical Center andmanaged to get through on apayphone.

His eldest son, Stephen, wasliving in London. He saw thephotograph in The DailyTele-graph the following day.

Theylooked like three sol-diers emerging from the bat-tlefield, caked with a mixtureof blood, dust, soot and waterfrom the firehoses and sprin-klers, Stephen Sleigh wrote inajournal entryhe sent to fami-ly and friends on Sept. 14,

2001. Da

ds right pa

nt leg wassoaked with blood, but with

adrenaline flowing; he didntknow that he wasbleeding.

See SLEIGHonPage A10

Most ofus knowhim as His Ho-liness the 14th Dalai Lama. Ten-zin Gyatso describes himself onhis official Web site as asimpleBuddhist monk. But nothing issimple when this monk comesto town.

He acknowledged as muchwhen he arrived here for aweek-end visit. The Dalai Lamas pres-ence in Vancouver has reportedlyirritated the most populous coun-try on Earth, one of Canadaslargest trading partners: the Peo-ples Republic ofChina. Im sor-

ry, he said on his arrival Thurs-day. Wherever I go [it] createssomeinconvenience. Im very sor-

ry. But hopefullyitsnot myfault.The Dalai Lamas trip here has

also drawn thousands of devotees.Celebrities and ordinaryfolk. Chil-dren,business leaders, politicians,gurus. Kim Campbell is in town,and Deepak Chopra, and JasonKenney, Canadas parliamentarysecretary to the Prime Minister.BillClinton, alas, sent his regrets.

The Dalai Lamas star-like tourkicked off with a packed newsconference at Vancouver CityHall. Mayor Sam Sullivanbeamedas he introduced his esteemedguest. The Dalai Lamawore tradi-tional red and saffron robes, andsensible red walking shoes.

He had just made a 40-hourjourneyfrom his base in Dhara-masala, India, and looked alittleworse for wear.Alittle dour, per-haps, even unaware of what cityhe was in; the 71-year-old has afamouslypoor memory.

Whyare you here? someone

asked. The Dalai Lama bright-ened. Quite simple. There wasan invitation.

SeeTRIP onPageA8

To markthe fifthanniversaryofSept. 11,The Postsought outfive peoplefrom thephotos of

the attack.They sharetheir storiesoftheday thatchangedtheir lives,and ours,forever.

FACES OF SURVIVAL

9 / 1 1 : F I V E Y E A R S O N

MORE ACCOUNTSMourners, survivorsand

arescuer.A10,11,12

Firms recover.FP1, 4,5

AFTERMATH

TheDalai

Lamasmystery

tour

I N D E X

CLASSIFIED FP6,

FW7,8,9&S6,7

COYNE A18DIVERSIONSWP19

EDITORIALS A18

FULFORD A21

FRUM A18

GOVANI A16,TO6

JONAS A21LOTTERIESWP19

REMEMBERINGWP18

WEATHER S5

PUBLISHEDBY THENATIONALPOSTCOMPANY,

ASUBSIDIARYOF CANWEST MEDIAWORKS INC.,

300-1450 DONMILLS RD.,

DONMILLS, ONT., M3B 3R5

PublicationMailAgreementNumber40069573

The plane hit one floor up

BRIAN HUTCHINSON

i n Va n c ouv e r

Whydid he cometoB.C.?Hewas invited

STEPHEN R. CUTRI FOR NATIONAL POST

VOL . 8 NO . 2 6 8 S A TURDAY , S E P T EMBER 9 , 2 0 0 6 www. n at i o n a l p o s t . co m

FILMFESTINSIDERSGUIDE Toronto magazine has 40 pagesofstars, spas, shops ...&movies.


2/3


3/3

the post's commemorative issue from september 11, 2006

Documents