NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — This weekend marks 10 years since the killing of Osama bin Laden, and New Yorkers say they will never forget that day.
On the night of May 1, 2011 (shortly after 1:00 a.m. PKT on May 2, 2011), bin Laden, the first leader of the Islamic militant group al-Qaeda and mastermind behind the 9/11 terror attacks, was killed in Pakistan by US Navy SEALs.
The news of his death was announced shortly after to the American public by former President Barack Obama and immediately, New Yorkers took to the streets in celebration.
Many congregated at Ground Zero – the site that al-Qaeda had attacked 10 years prior to bin Laden’s death – and stayed until the early hours of the morning.
“It was a raucous celebration, people spilling into the streets to Ground Zero, united,” WCBS 880’s Peter Haskell reported at the time. “United in their joy, united in their patriotism and united in their feeling they should be together, especially at the spot where the attacks took place.”
Haskell notes that people were cheering and singing “God Bless America” as a man with a bagpipe played along in the background.
The bagpiper was Patrick Dowdell, who is now 38 years old, and says he was compelled to play.
“I was playing ‘America The Beautiful,’ I was playing ‘God Bless America,’ and the crowd just started singing along,” he told Haskell, 10 years later.
Dowdell says his father, Kevin, was a firefighter who was killed during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and when he heard the news that bin Laden was dead, he and his friends instinctively went to Ground Zero.
“We had no idea just how many people were there until we turned the corner and saw this massive crowd,” Dowdell said. “We were very taken by surprise.”
Dowdell is an Army veteran who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan and says, for him, bin Laden’s death brought him a sense of relief.
He says that his feelings have not changed in the decade since his death but, says it does not feel like it has been 10 years.
“I still feel the same,” he tells Haskell, adding, “It’s crazy how time flies.”
The 10-year anniversary of bin Laden’s death will come just weeks after President Joe Biden – who was vice president at the time of the U.S.
raid – announced a complete withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
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