story235.xml

story235.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-03-12

On the bus from the parking lot was where I first heard mention of something happening. A lady was talking to the driver about the first tower being hit. It was just before 9 am. When I got to the office where I work, the administrative assistants had a radio on, so we could all hear what was going on. Nobody really knew what was happening at that point. The second plane hit the WTC, and then the Pentagon was hit. The radio broadcast was in chaos, reporters were just shouting out what they were seeing. There were rumors that a bomb had gone off in front of the State Department. Then the plane crashed in Pennsylvania. I just couldn't believe how many planes had been hijacked. They closed the university at 11 am, and everybody packed on to the buses going to our cars. A guy in the back of the bus was talking about the new draft rules, saying that if we went to war, noone would be exempt from the draft this time. I was scared for my husband and my brother at that point. I went home and my husband and I sat glued to CNN and MSNBC. We watched the towers collapsing, again and again. I had this sick feeling in my gut, like lead weighing on my stomach. Knowing how many people were in those towers when they came down and then watching the collapse--it just made me ill. All those people...The response to the tradegy from Americans and our allies was tremendous, and planted some hope. I have been proud of us ever since.