story10842.xml
Title
story10842.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2004-09-10
911DA Story: Story
I remember that I was wearing khaki shorts and a green sweater that day, because it was getting cooler in the moutain town. It was the first day of my first year of high school, a new school at that. It was only my third night being away from home, because I was going to a boarding school. I walked into Mr. Grady's geometry class, and a kid said that some guy flew his plane into the WTC. I thought it was a small plane or something, and there wasnt any damage. I even made a joke about the yankees. An hour later I walked into the common room of my dorm, and two kids, a cleaning woman and a carpenter were standing at the TV. What is going on, I thought. TVs shouldn't be on during the day. Thats when I saw the smoking tower 1. Scary. I didn't know what to think or say, I just studderd. The cleaning woman could only say 'My God, My God" and Garrett, the other student, sat crying. I asked him if he was ok, and then he told me his family lives in NYC, near Times Square. I then watched helplessly as tower 2 was hit, and thats when the cleaning woman yelled. I still didn't know what to think. How could this happen to us? We are Americans. The land of the free, home of the brave. Planes just don't hit into buildings.
About an hour or two later, a larger crowd had gatherd arorund the 27'' TV. A teacher came in to tell us there is a school meeting in the chapel. I walked up to the huge, ornate chapel building with my two friends, one from NYC and one from Maryland. We walked up the stairs and sat on the back terrace of the chapel. The huge room was not quiet, kids were chatting and mumbleing about what was going on. Only some of us actually new. Thats when the Head Master told us that there was an accident in New York. He told us that attendace for the rest of the day was optional, and we can go to our dorms if we wanted. I went back and tried to call my Dad in Washington DC. No one answered. I then got a call from my Grandma to tell me that my Dad was out of the city, helping to clean my Granddad's house, because he had recently passed away. That was the biggest relief of my day, knowing my Dad was 50 miles away from the city.
That was a bad day, and for the rest of my life I will remember who I was with, what I was wearing, and what happened.
About an hour or two later, a larger crowd had gatherd arorund the 27'' TV. A teacher came in to tell us there is a school meeting in the chapel. I walked up to the huge, ornate chapel building with my two friends, one from NYC and one from Maryland. We walked up the stairs and sat on the back terrace of the chapel. The huge room was not quiet, kids were chatting and mumbleing about what was going on. Only some of us actually new. Thats when the Head Master told us that there was an accident in New York. He told us that attendace for the rest of the day was optional, and we can go to our dorms if we wanted. I went back and tried to call my Dad in Washington DC. No one answered. I then got a call from my Grandma to tell me that my Dad was out of the city, helping to clean my Granddad's house, because he had recently passed away. That was the biggest relief of my day, knowing my Dad was 50 miles away from the city.
That was a bad day, and for the rest of my life I will remember who I was with, what I was wearing, and what happened.
Collection
Citation
“story10842.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 28, 2025, https://www.911digitalarchive.org/items/show/5270.