Truly the event of our lifetime that people will always date from. Even more so than the death of Elvis, the shooting of a president, a man walking on the moon.
Like everyone, I know the emotion of the day was shock and horror. I was homeschooling my daughter and working with the next younger in preparation for school the next year. We didn't have TV or radio on in an effort to minimize distractions.
My husband had just started X-ray school at the hospital and was not allowed to call or receive calls. He was a week into it, and he called me around 10:00 that morning. I knew something was wrong immediately, but was envisioning a vehicle breakdown or a debilitating migraine. He said that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. My mind reeled. I was trying to fathom what he meant, how it could happen. Aren't there regulations that planes can't fly that close? How did it get that out of control? What was the damage? And then he said that a plane crashed in Shanksville. This is a tiny little town about 10 miles from us. And, with my mind still reeling, I couldn't imagine that there could be two plane crashes in one day. And why would he be lumping the total disaster of the WTC with a small biplane crashing in a field? I was having a hard time digesting the fact that it was a jet that went down in the field. That doesn't happen. Surely he had gotten misinformation somewhere.
But the television confirmed all that he had said, and more. Homeschooling ceased that day. I was glued to the TV, and yet didn't want the kids to see it all over and over. My husband didn't know when he'd be allowed to come home because they shut down the mall, closed factories and put the hospital on high alert. If one terrorist invaded Somerset County who knew what else would be hit? The hospital waited in vain for survivors.
The Red Cross was stationed at our church for the next few weeks as the field near Shanksville was gone through inch by inch. The community donated so many supplies that they filled our gym. People just didn't know what to do, so they gave.
And despite the horror and tragedy, one of the things I remember most is how 9/11 unified our people. The nation was one in that it wanted to eradicate the world of terrorists. Our community was one in that our single purpose was to make life a little easier for those who lost loved ones in the crash, for those who were working long hours trying to make sense of what happened, for those who had loved ones in New York or DC.
What happened to this spirit of community? What happened to the people of America? Have we forgotten the brutal acts committed that day 6 years ago? America seems united now against our leader. He's acting on what we told him to do. Rid the world of terrorism. And yet he's being criticized for prolonging the war. Do you think that 9/11 was planned and executed in just a year's time? I, personally, don't want to relive this again. I appreciate that our president feels the same way and is doing all in his power to be sure it doesn't happen again. And I appreciate the soldiers for willingly going to fight for our freedom. They've got my wholehearted support.
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing your memories. You're right - it is a day that we'll always remember where we were when we heard the news.
I remember having similar thoughts when I heard the first plane crashed, about how sad it was that it crashed and wondering how the pilot could have flown right into the bldg. When I heard of the one in PA I thought it was also misinformation, that the media had it wrong somehow. It was just so unbelievable and unthinkable that this could be happening.
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