story9419.xml
Title
story9419.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2003-08-14
911DA Story: Story
I had just moved to Chillicothe 2 days before to open up a new store for my company as general manager...we were into day 2 of unloading semi upon semi of merchandise and unboxing and setting it all up....luckily the store that was there before had a stereo system set up through intercom that we were all listening to...we were about a half an hour into our day when we heard the first reports of an airliner slamming into the world trade center. This event is enough to shake anyone (like me) that has ever been atop the World Trade Center. Minutes Later we were all HORRIFIED and SHOCKED that antoehr plane hit the second tower....at this point we knew it was not an accident....that was followed by the pentagon, and the crash in Pennsylvania....I felt safe because i was in Chillicothe...no terrorist targets there....but i felt a true deep fear for ANYONE who lived in any major city, metropolitan area, near a national monument, and the more i thought about it myself and others even in a small city in southwest ohio. I was expecting the capital building, the statue of liberty, and the Sears Tower all to gone before he day was over...
A report came over the radio that one of the towers had fallen...and my visualization was that it had fallen sideways....having been atop those towers before i knew how tall they were....and i just cringed thinking how many people may have been crushed by the toppling building...
I went home for lunch and watched CNN footage of the event....and was at the very least relieved that the building didnt fall OVER....maybe taking the death toll into the tens of thousands...
That day was the sadest and the proudest day of my life....
it was the saddest because of the thousands of INNOCENT lives that were lost for NO good reason. It was the proudest because i feel that America grew MUCH stronger as a NATION that day. I was afraid there would be massive looting in the streets of NY and that did NOT happen! The people of NY came together...delivering pizzas to the brave men and women that served in the NYPD and FDNY. Flags were raised where there was no flag before. Flags already standing were erected at only half-mast.
One thing is for certain...i will NEVER EVER forget that day. I could tell you the name of everyone that was there with me, what i was doing and exactly where i was when i heard certain bits of news that day. To my mothers generation....it was "where were you when Keneedy was SHot?" to my Generation: " Where were you when 9-11 occured?"
I have a series of about 10 photos taken from atop the World Trade Center only days after I turned 16. I am 28 now...I was 26 when 9-11 took place. I also have a ticket from the observatory the day i went to the top of the World Trade Center....I will cherish those pictures the rest of my life...it IS (not was) a symbol of American Power and always will be. I have been there...and have felt the "rush" of being there...and the wrenching feeling in my stomach the day it fell. To see those photos even two years later brings me to tears. I feel for all those who perished unneccisarily and for the brave members of New York's emergency response services who died trying to save the life of others--and for the friends and families of all victims. The group of terrorist cowards that brought the World Trade Center down brought attention to themselves that will only increase pressure to erradicate such extremist groups.
May all of the souls who died on September 11th know that they will NEVER be forgotten by my generation or any generation soon to come. They died as innocent loved ones, friends, and HEROES!
I dont know what else to say......but 9-11 will LIVE forever as a reminder of how fragile life is, as a reminder to the sanctity of life and as a reminder that the only reason that America, and American interests are a target to extremist groups is because we dont tolerate threats to our country! Go Bush, Juliani...et al.... You are heroes to us all. New York, Washington -- God Bless you!
Stephen T Carson
Ft Mitchell KY (5 mins from Cincinnati)
A report came over the radio that one of the towers had fallen...and my visualization was that it had fallen sideways....having been atop those towers before i knew how tall they were....and i just cringed thinking how many people may have been crushed by the toppling building...
I went home for lunch and watched CNN footage of the event....and was at the very least relieved that the building didnt fall OVER....maybe taking the death toll into the tens of thousands...
That day was the sadest and the proudest day of my life....
it was the saddest because of the thousands of INNOCENT lives that were lost for NO good reason. It was the proudest because i feel that America grew MUCH stronger as a NATION that day. I was afraid there would be massive looting in the streets of NY and that did NOT happen! The people of NY came together...delivering pizzas to the brave men and women that served in the NYPD and FDNY. Flags were raised where there was no flag before. Flags already standing were erected at only half-mast.
One thing is for certain...i will NEVER EVER forget that day. I could tell you the name of everyone that was there with me, what i was doing and exactly where i was when i heard certain bits of news that day. To my mothers generation....it was "where were you when Keneedy was SHot?" to my Generation: " Where were you when 9-11 occured?"
I have a series of about 10 photos taken from atop the World Trade Center only days after I turned 16. I am 28 now...I was 26 when 9-11 took place. I also have a ticket from the observatory the day i went to the top of the World Trade Center....I will cherish those pictures the rest of my life...it IS (not was) a symbol of American Power and always will be. I have been there...and have felt the "rush" of being there...and the wrenching feeling in my stomach the day it fell. To see those photos even two years later brings me to tears. I feel for all those who perished unneccisarily and for the brave members of New York's emergency response services who died trying to save the life of others--and for the friends and families of all victims. The group of terrorist cowards that brought the World Trade Center down brought attention to themselves that will only increase pressure to erradicate such extremist groups.
May all of the souls who died on September 11th know that they will NEVER be forgotten by my generation or any generation soon to come. They died as innocent loved ones, friends, and HEROES!
I dont know what else to say......but 9-11 will LIVE forever as a reminder of how fragile life is, as a reminder to the sanctity of life and as a reminder that the only reason that America, and American interests are a target to extremist groups is because we dont tolerate threats to our country! Go Bush, Juliani...et al.... You are heroes to us all. New York, Washington -- God Bless you!
Stephen T Carson
Ft Mitchell KY (5 mins from Cincinnati)
Collection
Citation
“story9419.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 16, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/12496.