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Tuesday, September 11, 2012

9-11...11 years later

I don't know where time goes. It is hard to believe that it has been eleven years since the attack. My story of where I was, isn't as exciting as some, but it is something that I will never forget.

I was a freshman in high school. We had just started theatre class a few min before, when the principal came over the intercom. He told the teachers to turn on the news and said that the towers had been attacked. We lived not far from DC, and once everyone realized the pentagon had been hit as well, many people in our school started using their cell phones to try to call their parents. I remember sitting next to my friend Ashlee and she was in shock. She told me her father was at the pentagon. I told her we needed to pray for his safety then. We sat and watched the tv for the rest of the class.

I had English class next, and the news coverage continued. My friend Mike sat in front of me, and was commenting on what terrorist group was responsible. I was called down to the office to be picked up early, not long after class had started. I remember walking down the halls, passing crying students who were frantically still trying to reach family who worked at the Pentagon.

It didn't feel real... I continued Watching the footage on tv and it just didn't feel like it could be happening. I don't think we watched anything else for about a month.

Looking back, I am so glad that our school administration decided to tell us about the attacks and let us watch them on tv. I know it terrified many of the students, especially the ones who didn't know if their family members were hurt or safe at the Pentagon, but we were old enough to know what was happening. I know I would have been upset to go through the school day, blind to the events that were unfolding.

I have been able to visit the towers location about two years after, and we visited the field in Pa several times. The first visit to the field was only a few months after the attacks, and it was amazing to see the homemade memorial that was created by those who visited it. They had a temporary building in place the last time I went, and it didn't have the same impact as what had been created originally. It was still very moving, but they didn't keep everything that had been added over the years.

So, that is my "where I was" story. I will never forget.



2 comments:

  1. We were stationed in Key West on the Naval Base - the first thought that hit me was "I have to get my girls" but I didn't know which to get first. Do I go into town and pick up my oldest who was in 6th grade? Or do I go on the base and pick up my 4th grader? For some reason (thankfully) I picked up my oldest one first. She was scared. She said they didn't know what was going on, just that random kids were being called to the office to leave early. As we're walking to the car I didn't know what to tell her. I finally said "Our Nation is being attacked and I want you close to my side. I believe we are safe but must get home" I then got onto the base with not a minute to spare because they shut it down after that. There was no getting on or getting off for about 24 hours. As I pulled into the elementary school I saw many of the parents I just saw at the middle school picking up their kids. Amanda was clueless, she thought it was a Mommy day - where I would pick up one of the girls every few months and spend the day with them. Then she saw her sister and was confused. I got them home (we lived on base) and my neighbor and dear friend came rushing over - her husband was an Air Traffic Controller, he had advised her to go to the commissary immediately and get any things the baby needed before they closed. I watched her baby as she did that, then she watched the kids when I ran up but by the time I got there it was closed for security reasons. My neighbor did not see her husband for 2 weeks, I didn't see mine for about 4 days. It was such a scary time being on a military base and worrying about being a target and on top of that frightful for your family and loved ones back home just 30 minutes from the Pentagon. I'm sure I will never forget the tears and prayers and our world changing that fateful day. I still think of the loved ones that were lost, all the families lost and broken. So very tragic.

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    1. Thanks for sharing that! I didn't realize that they has shut down the commissary and didn't allow anyone in and out of the base. I can't even imagine how it must have been to go through all of that.

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