“A Date That Will Live In Infamy”
This is how Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt characterized December 7, 1941. It was the day Japan attacked the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, and caused the deaths of more than 3000 Americans.
I am sure that if Pres. Roosevelt were alive today, he would characterize September 11, 2001 in exactly the same way, for this was the day 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists caused the deaths of more than 3000 Americans in an even more cowardly way.
This is how we experienced September 11, 2001…
September 11 – Starting The Day…
September 11, 2001 had just started for most Amercans. People on the West coast were probably getting ready to go to work. Here in Texas, most people were on the highways on their way to work. Most people on the East coast were already at work, and were getting started on their day.
Around 7.30 a.m. I was in my home/office getting settled in front of my computer for another day of programming. This usually starts with reading any emails that had come in through the night. Esmé has just left the house to drop Johnny off at school, and then go on to the doctor’s office for her annual check-up. Michael was at home with Paula, the babysitter who sometimes took care of him when Esmé had to go out.
The First Plane Hits…
At around 7.50 a.m. my MSN news alert popped up on my computer with the headline “Plane Crashes Into WTC”. I read the brief description that followed, and decided this had to be the pilot of a small plane that lost control and crashed into the building… nothing too serious. I went back to answering emails.
Email From Len
At around 8.10 a.m., even before my MSN Alert popped up again, I got an email from my brother-in-law, Len, who asked if I had seen the news that two planes had flown into the two WTC towers.
That’s when I realized that this was something more serious than a confused pilot of a small airplane. I went into the living room to turn on the TV.
Shock & Horror
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing on CNN. Aaron Brown reporting from a rooftop, with huge clouds of smoke and dust behind him… a serious anxiousness in his voice… showing clips of a commercial airliner flying into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, and then another flying into South Tower… each impact followed by a huge explosion of flames. I thought I was watching a horror movie.
I called Esmé, who was already at the doctor’s office. She had heard about it on the radio, and was totally shocked.
I also called Paula, who was playing downstairs with Michael.
More Planes
At that point there was no way I could get back to working, so I just sat there, staring at the TV in horror. An hour after the first plane hit the World Trade Center, CNN announced that another plane had flown into the Pentagon. Then there was the plane in Pennsylvania that was hijacked, but had not yet crashed into any buildings.
South Tower Collapses
Still watching Aaron Brown reporting from the rooftop, I suddenly saw a huge change in the burning buildings in the background. There was a huge expansion in the smoke cloud.
Aaron Brown turned around, looked at the buildings, and announced that there was some kind of explosion at the buildings. The camera zoomed in.
A few seconds later it was clear that it was not an explosion. The South tower had collapsed!
This was unbelievable!
North Tower Collapses
About 20 minutes later the North tower collapsed as well, leaving a huge cloud of smoke and dust rising from southern Manhattan.
I just sat there thinking, “What’s next?”
News Throughout The Rest Of The Day
The rest of the day was just one big blur of news reports.
One of the most important reports being that the plane hijacked over Pennsylvania never reached its intended target. The brave souls on board that flight decided to storm the hijackers to prevent another crash into a prominent building, resulting in the plane crashing into a field.
Bad as that news was, it was at least one small victory over the bastards that attacked our country.
The Hours And Days Following The Attacks
The hours and days following the terrorist atacks were an amazing time to be in the US. We have never seen a nation come together in the face of adversity like this before.
That same night, many churches had prayer services. People flocked to the services, supporting one another.
Calls for blood donations were answered by long lines of people outside blood donation centers, waiting patiently to do their part. Calls for money and food donations were answered with millions of dollars being donated, and so much food donated that the Red Cross had to ask people to stop donating because their storage facilities were full.
Fire fighters from all over the country flocked to New York City to help with the rescue efforts.
People bought so many U.S. flags that big stores like Walmart had a hard time to keep up.
This unity made us proud to be a part of this great nation.
The World Changed Forever
For most people, life returned to normal fairly soon afterwards, but everyone knew the world had changed forever.