story971.xml

story971.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-05

As i awoke on Sept. 11th, I did what i usually do. I turned on the Television to catch the morning news. Over the year leading up to Sept 11th i had become something of a news-a-holic. Every moment that i had spare from school work i would be watching CNN or Headline news as i did school work. But on that morning as the local news was ending and TODAY was coming on the TV I saw a hazy brown picture of the World Trade Center as I had known them before Sept 11th, figures of elevated stature, massive giants, impenetrable to anything with a grandeur all its own. Smoke billowed from the north tower and I was immediately reminded of a vauge rememberance of a lesson i was taught in school earlier, of a plane striking the Empire State building. Concerned more with getting prepared for school and another grinding day ahead instead of the magnitude of the situation i went to brush my teeth. Overheard on the Television was Matt Lauer unknowingly giving out false information about the plane perhaps being a commuter jet. Just as i was finishing up getting ready, I heard a scream coming from my mothers bedroom. I ran to find my mother and my brother glued to the TV and as i looked up in horror to see another Jet smashing into the side of the South Tower, I thought, "Oh my god, We're under attack." Confused and crying, my mother insisted that we stay home today but minutes after the second plane struck my brother and i were off to school eager to hear what our history teachers thought of the situation, if we were going to war, if there was going to be a draft (our 18th birthday was rolling around), what was happening and who was responsible.
As we arrived at school, many kids were unaware of what was unfolding in our country and we spread the word quickly that two planes had hit the World Trade Center. To both mine and my brother's amazement, some kids asked the question, "What is the World Trade Center?"
As we sat in 1st period we learned of the Pentagon being attacked. The man who was reporting from the Pentagon was on a cell phone with NBC as the pentagon was struck and said something along the lines that he had heard a bang like a bomb or something and that he was trying to figure out what it was, he then proceeded to drop the phone and not speak for around 5 seconds. Well my classmates and I were sure that the pentagon had just blown up and that this man had been killed on National Television. It was then that he picked up the phone and told NBC that he wasn't sure what had just happened.
We watched TV all day long at school and one thing sticks out in my mind the most. The most talented history teacher at my school immediately had suspicions who had done these horrific acts. Some thought that it was Palestine who had committed the acts, some of the dumber students said they thought it was Iraq but my teacher, Mrs.M said that she thought the only person that would have the means to do such a thing could only be Osama Bin Laden. She was right and I'll never forget it. She is a remarkably intelligent woman and the best history teacher i've ever had.
As I drove home after school that day, i was emotionally exhausted from crying and from watching the news that day. I couldn't help but wonder if this, much like Pearl Harbor was for that generation, the end of my generations innocence faced to fight a war against a faceless, cowardly enemy and I thought that we much like our grandparents were ready to fight for liberty and freedom and that the United States would never give up on those values that made us who we are.