I had just finished my PE class--my first class of the day. I had gotten dressed and ready for the rest of my classes and was standing around in the hallway outside the locker room waiting for the bell to ring to dismiss class. Meanwhile, my friend Derek came to chat with me (I can still remember his backpack being on him and he was gripping both shoulder straps by his chest while talking). He had told me if I heard what happened and proceeded to tell me that an airplane had hit the World Trade Center tower in New York City. Now, let me be honest here...I can't say I even knew what the World Trade Center towers were, despite having seen them in Home Alone 2. All I knew was New York City had extremely tall skyscrapers, so Derek must have been talking about one of those. I also didn't think he meant a commercial airline. No, I pictured a single pilot in his own private plane flying into some tall building in New York. My response back to Derek (while walking to my next class by this time) was that the pilot must have been an idiot..."He couldn't see the tall building right in front of him?" I chalked it up to stupidity since those stories always made the news.
When I made it to my next class, Driver's Ed, the TVs in the classroom were turned on with the Breaking News reports. I immediately realized it was more serious than I pictured...still not thinking "terrorist" activity at all. That was foreign to me in my lifetime. I had gathered now that it was a commercial airline, and behind the newswoman reporting were huge clouds of smoke billowing out of the tower in the distance. My thought was something must have malfunctioned in the airplane...and a lot of people just died. A tragic accident. Suddenly, as the newswoman was reporting, I could see another airplane flying in the distance behind her and without warning, crashed into the adjacent twin tower. It was like an explosion. Burst of fire and then more clouds of black smoke. The newswoman spun around completely stunned and became unorganized because she, like everybody else, had no clue what had just happened. Did I really just see that? Another plane? (Now, in researching the time of second plane crash afterwards, I don't think what I saw was a live news feed...the crash had happened earlier. Point being though, I vividly remember watching the news broadcast and actually seeing the second plane fly into the building.) Absolutely shocking. It was immediate to me at that point that something was not right. The first plane could have been an accident but two was not.
Throughout the day, my classes continued with the news programs in the classrooms either being muted in the background or even turned off. I specifically remember in my math class that the TV was on as we entered class and then once our lecture began, the news was turned off. Knowing everything we do now about 9/11, it's hard to fathom how the news was just "background" and everybody continued their work through the day. But that is what happened because again, the idea of a terrorist attack had not really been explained yet. It seemed too extreme. Everyone knew something big was going on but had no idea what.
Once home from school, I was glued to the TV and heard about the additional crashes such as the one at the Pentagon and later watched President Bush's speech to America. It was complete chaos around the country and no one knew what to expect next. More attacks? When? Where? There was so much to report and no one could make sense of it. When the explanation of it being terrorist attacks was announced, that became the primary focus in the media in the days that followed and set everything in a scary, surreal perspective. Flights were grounded. Sports events were cancelled. I can even remember hearing theme parks such as Disneyworld and Seaworld closing and remembering how huge that was. The world stopped.
At the time, I didn't really feel affected personally by 9/11. Being in Utah, I felt safe because little Taylorsville, Utah is not a major city such as New York, Los Angeles or Washington D.C. The thought of an attack here was not even a possibility in my mind, though I can recall some of my friends being completely freaked out by that thought...one friend even stayed home from school for a few days. Being in Utah was a comforting thought in my mind and still is. I did not know anyone involved in 9/11, so it was hard to sense what people and families were going through that lost loved ones. I'll still never know that feeling, gratefully. What I did feel and what I could relate to was an overwhelming sense of pride in our country and wanting to know who was responsible after it had just been horrifically and unjustly attacked. Our home. It became personal to me in that sense, and in the days and weeks to follow where our Nation came together to rise up and pray for America is among some of my strongest memories I have. I have always had a strong pride in my country and to see our Nation's flag displayed everywhere--in store windows, cars, front lawns--was beyond moving. It was beautiful. I felt that we were suddenly fighting for the same cause and not so divided. We all wanted justice. Policemen, firemen and military men finally were getting the recognition and respect they deserved long before this event. Our country had been hurt with such magnitude, and we would never be the same.
Now after 11 years, it is still such a big day for me to look back on. I've enjoyed hearing other friends' experiences of where they were and what they remember since everyone has a different story to recall. It's been even more interesting to see how our country has developed since then and what huge changes have taken place as a result of 9/11. An obvious one that stands out--airport security. One change that I'm sad to see that has dwindled among people--being proud to be an American.
I am and forever will be proud to be an American. To say I lived during such an historical event that captured the world is something rare and precious. I feel that it will always have a special place in my heart, and I hope that I am able to visit the memorial site in New York one day. September 11th will never be forgotten.
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| 9/11 Healing Field Memorial in Sandy, Utah. 2011. |
