In remembrance of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 Attacks, Los Angeles Times reporter Geraldine Baum has shared her writings with the world as she walked New York City in the minutes following the plane crashes:

I had no notebook with me when my husband and I dropped our children, 8 and 4, at school that morning. Then came news of the attacks at the World Trade Center, and my husband pulled the journal from his briefcase. He pressed it into my hand so I would have something to write on.

Rereading it, I wonder why I wrote in blue ink for several pages and switched to black. Why did I tear out pages and leave some with just a few scrawled words: “It looks like Beirut.” “Whole south face coming down.” “Fire dept. wiped out?”

Proof once again that the world equates destruction and devastation to the Lebanese capital. A well deserved “Looks Like Beirut” certificate is on its way.

Aerial view of Ground Zero, 9-17-01, by US Navy photographer; According to Geraldine Baum, the city looked like Beirut.