story473.xml

story473.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-04-27

As my brother and I drove to class on September 11, we were listening to a talk show on the radio. When we eventually approached the parking lot, a feeling of shock came over us. "Oh my god, there's a hole in the World Trade Center!" the radio host yelled. My brother and I looked at each other in astonishment. We weren't sure whether it was a bomb, a plane crash, or a fault in the construction of the building. After I got out of my first class at 9:15, I went downstairs. There was a television in front of a huge group of students. I stood over there to watch what was going on, and I overheard that other buildings also had holes in them. "What is going on?" I thought to myself. Then, Brian Williams, the anchorperson on TV, declared that suicide terrorists purposely flew their planes into the buildings. I continued to watch and then saw one of the most disturbing things ever--a plane flying into the other WTC building. "There was a lot of people in that plane," I thought. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Then, I went to my next class, and the situation seemed so bad that my instructor started to let people out of class if they were too upset to stay. I left because I wanted to know the full story and see what was going on. I went back to the TV and continued to watch. I saw footage of dust and smoke surge throughout the city. After all of the accidents happened, people started to evacuate buildings in Chicago, which is where I am close to. When I eventually went home, I started to hear the possible amount of people in the buildings, planes, and right outside the buildings. Was it possible that I knew anyone there? Probably not, but what about the people that did? This accident didn't just involve the deaths of people, but it oppressed the family members and friends of the victims. Then, when George W. Bush gave his speech, he said, "A lot of people died today." That was when I realized that this was the single worst day of American, and perhaps world history.