Today is the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the crash in the Pennsylvania field. Memorial coverage has been airing all day; coverage ranging from a real-time tribute to the attacks, memorial services, and special tributes to the victims. Watching all of it today brought back a flood of memories of what happened a decade ago. Memories that my children will never have first-hand. But I remember, and this is a post dedicated to all of us who experienced that tragic day, a post of "Where were you when...?"
I was a junior attending Pleasant Grove High School. In the mornings I would always eat a bowl of cereal while sitting on the counter in the kitchen watching "The Today Show." This morning I turned it on and wasn't quite sure what I was seeing at first. I saw a tall building billowing with smoke from the upper floors. Then it cut to the news anchors, Matt Lauer, Katie Curic, Ann Curry, and Al Roker. They are normally light-hearted but they were serious and looked a little frightened. They kept talking about a plane possibly hitting the World Trade Center, but I couldn't make sense of it because it seemed so foreign. Then right before I walked out of the door to go to school the second airplane came into the scene and crashed into the second tower. Everyone on the broadcast gasped, stammered, and tried to explain what was going on, but didn't have any explanations.
I carpooled with my friends at the time and climbed into the van. Some of them hadn't heard about what was happening in New York, and the others knew as little as I did. In the school whispers about an attack started to circulate and you could feel some tension in the air. Luckily I had U.S. History first period and when we walked into the classroom, the TV was already on and showing what was happening. We sat there for the entire class just watching everything unfold. We learned about a third plane heading toward the Pentagon and slowly received information about that attack. By now we are all very scared. We start talking about how many planes there actually were and speculating about where they will attack. The FAA has suspended all flights, but we knew that they can't do anything about the ones already in the air. As we are watching the second tower suddenly collapsed. We were in shock. We couldn't breathe. We couldn't believe that we were watching an attack In New York City on live TV. Everyone just held still...
My mind was racing. I couldn't make sense of what was going on. I couldn't figure out who it was that was attacking us. I couldn't believe that they used something as simple as passenger airplanes and turned them into bombs. Watching the building fall made it feel complete and hopeless. This was real. This attack was really happening, right now, in New York. I just sat and watched as the news agencies started showing pictures of soot covered office workers, firefighters and policemen as they ran away from the collapsing buildings. Before I had any answers to my questions, class ended and I had to go to Calculus.
That teacher had a different outlook on how we should be spending our day, and turned off the TV's. He didn't want us worrying about what was happening and instead wanted us to concentrate on our work; it was impossible. My mind kept going back to the planes and the towers. During class someone found out that the first tower hit had collapsed. But no one else had any more information. The rest of school was extremely frustrating. No on had any answers. Rumors started spreading of a fourth plane, but we couldn't find out what was happening. The school day went on like normal, but it was so tense. Some parents came and checked their kids out of school, but most of us stayed. After school I went to swim team like normal, but I still couldn't focus. My mind kept going back and replaying the collapsing tower I saw happen on live TV.
When I got home I turned on the news and tried to watch as much coverage as I could about the attacks. I learned that the passengers in the fourth plane had fought back and had crashed their plane into a field in Pennsylvania instead of letting it hit its next target in Washington. I started hearing names fly around like Osama bin Laden, and al-Qaeda, having no idea what it all meant. But still very worried that it wasn't over. The video of the towers collapsing played over and over again. Each time I saw it I was still in shock. The videos of the survivors were heartbreaking and I had a hard time reconciling the images of the war zone I was watching with the New York City that I knew.
It seemed as though suddenly, the entire country remembered to pray. People were praying again. People were believing in a God again. People were kind to each other. And I couldn't help but think that this felt like part of God's plan. He needed people to return to Him, and even though this was a tough way to send a message, maybe that's what it was, a message. People needed to have more faith and not forget their God. That feeling of a religious country lasted awhile, but most potently the first few months after the attacks. Slowly the feeling began to leave and I felt my heart break a little at the revelation that people have a hard time remembering their God.
After awhile President Bush declared war on Osama bin Laden and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I was thrilled with his choice. I hadn't realized how much I wanted vengeance for what they did, until he made the announcement. It felt like the entire country wanted pay back. Songs were written like, "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue," and "Have you Forgotten." Songs that stirred your heart to feel like it did on the morning of September 11th. We went to war and we fought. At first the country didn't mind sending soldiers, but then after years of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, people got tired of the war and called it a useless and pointless use of our soldiers' lives and our country's money. We didn't kill Osama until May of this year. It took us ten years to get him. People finally relaxed now that we had our vengeance, but I don't think most of them remember the passion we had when we started that venture. It wasn't just for bin Laden. It was for future terrorists, so that we could avoid another 9-11.
Today as I watched the recaps of the attacks on the towers, the reaction of the New Yorkers, and the expressions of the family members of the victims, I felt everything come back to me. It's amazing how much it still stings after ten years. I tried explaining it to Cambrie today and couldn't help but realize how her world has been shaped by that event. Security checks at the airport are just part of flying now, but they didn't used to be. Prejudice against Muslims and Iraqis is still hot, but it wasn't always this way. And people are much more paranoid about terrorist attacks than ever. Our world has changed, and even my children don't really understand why.
Most of the day I've had a song running through my head that pretty much encompasses what I hope other people are feeling today too:
"Have you forgotten how it felt that day? To see your homeland under fire, and her people blown away. Have you forgotten when those towers fell, we had neighbors still inside going through a living hell....Have you forgotten all the people killed. Yeah, some went down like heroes in that Pennsylvania field. Have you forgotten about our Pentagon? All the loved ones that we lost and those left to carry on? Don't you tell me not to worry 'bout bin Laden. Have you forgotten?"
Today was a day not to forget, but to remember. And I remember.
1 comment:
That's a great post Annette, thank you.
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