story311.xml

story311.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-03-25

Hi, I got Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, TX. and on September 11, 2001, we did not have school. We did not have school because the new president for the university was being inaugurated. My roommate is a cheerleader so he had to be present at some of the celebration events that were going on for the inauguration. Since I had the chance to sleep in, I took it. Well I awoke to my roommate coming back into the room around 11:00am. The first thing he said to me was ?Hey, guess what has happened, the World Trade Center had planes run into it and so did the Pentagon.? At first I thought that this was just some kind of joke but sure enough when I turned on the TV, this breaking story was on every channel. I saw the panic in people?s eyes who had barely escaped death and then I saw the sadness in people?s eyes that had friends that did not escape. There were firemen risking their lives to save people, climbing up stairs of buildings that were collapsing. It looked like something out of a movie; I was in shock that this was actually happening. How could someone be this evil and perform such a terrorist act. It truly took someone without a heart to do this. What totally took my breath away was walking outside the following days of the attack and seeing an American flag on almost every house and every car. A sense of patriotism swept the nation. Many other nations mourned for our loses. We as Americans got to see immediate reaction to this tragedy from our strong president. As I sit here today remembering that September day like it was just yesterday, I think of everything that I have and I can truly say that I am proud to be an American.