story1444.xml

story1444.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-24

On September 11 I was standing in downtown Berlin in Germany. I was on a global field trip for the University of Cincinnati to study the culture or Berlin. It was my first trip to Europe, my first trip overseas period. We had just gotten done with our tour for the day, it was actually the only short day we had on the trip so we could go off on our own and explore. My husband and I along with two friends had our city map out trying to locate the nearest U-Bahn/S-Bahn (their rail system) and a middle-aged gentleman approached us and asked if we needed any help. We told him happily no and thanked him for asking then he paused since we had replied in German but two of us were speaking English to each other. He asked if we were Americans. We smiled and nodded. His face completely changed and became saddened and sympathetic. I'll never forget his face. He asked if we'd heard. We stared blankly at him. Our hostel didn't have a TV for us to watch and we were up and out on the streets with our lessons from sun up until well after dark. We hadn't heard anything because we hadn't been around anything that would have told us, not even a radio. It was late afternoon there, getting close to dinnertime. We were going to hit one more place we wanted to see and then head back for dinner. Here in the US the attack had just happened and the first news was just being broken to Europe. He told us in German that a New York subway had been bombed or something, there were many people dead, and it was terrorists. He told us there wasn't much news yet, but we should find a TV or radio, it was all over the airways. All of us were completely dumbstruck; we just stared at him like we didn't understand what we had just heard. He even started to try and tell us in English. We startled and nodded telling him we understood, but couldn't believe it. He apologized and wished us well and we stumbled away. Finding the train that took us back to the hostel we found many of our group stumbling in. At first we couldn't believe that someone bombed the subway again. It wasn't until we got back to the hostel that we finally learned what had really happened...and what was still happening. It was mind boggling to sit there watching the sun set as the day here was just beginning, and two hijacked planes were still missing. The hostel had put up a TV on the counter for us to watch, knowing we were there. We all crowded around it with our two professors and guide, who is originally from America as well. Just as we arrived they were just getting footage of the Pentagon. For the rest of the night we were glued to the screen, watching the first images come half way across the world. We even went to do our laundry down the street and it had a small cafe attached to it. We sat in there and just stared mindlessly at the screen. Another couple in there looked over at us and heard us talking in English, again we were asked if we were American. They shook their heads sadly and apologized, saying how sorry they were this happened here and how sad it was. A girl in our group had a brother that worked under the WTC, we found out later that he had been late to work and had survived, but it really brought it home to our group. The most amazing thing was the days that followed though. The outcry and outpouring of love and support brought tears to my eyes...still does just thinking about it. That very night the American embassy was sealed off with a block periphery all the way around, armed guards and everything. Our professor didn't want us going to the vigil that night because he still was a bit worried about the responses. Some of us went anyway. Millions of flowers lined the block all the way around and the piles grew by the hour. Signs were already being posted. By the end of the week an additional corner street had to be blocked off to compensate for the flowers and people that constantly surrounded it in prayer and grief. People lined the streets for miles with American flags waving them in the air and singing our national anthem. People cried and sang together for us. They held a demonstration a two days later. Over 200,000 people marched the streets in support of the US. From what we were told the Berliners love to demonstrate, and this was a large demonstration, even for them. It had only been organized that morning. That is how fast word spread. I couldn't help but snap picture after picture of the signs and flowers. One large poster really struck my heart, it was posted by a group of friends and they had drawn the US and then Germany. They connected Berlin and New York with a large bridge that crossed the ocean and it read Condolences across it. The slogan became "Our deepest sympathy". The Berliners expressed over and over again their anger at his attack and their sympathy for us, saying over and over again that we were our sister country. The night after the attack they put up a condolence book for all the Berliners who wanted to send their sympathy and thoughts. They were supposed to send it here when it was done. People lined up for miles, wrapping the streets. They waited hours upon hours to sign that book. The city finally extended the hours you could come and sign the book and then had to put out several books because they were filling up so fast. My husband and I went and signed the book as well. The group as a whole was interviewed by the newspapers and on several news programs. I collected many of the magazines they published as the days went on. My husband and I and our two friends also eventually went on to explore more of Europe traveling to the south. We visited M?nchen and F?ssen Germany, Venice and Verona Italy. Austria, France, and Switzerland. M?nchen had held their own demonstrations and had a giant cross made out of red roses and white daisies surrounded by more flowers brought by the people as a memorial in their famous square, and that was just one of the memorials there. The Berliners brought me to my knees in humbleness with their love and support. The first images of the world's reactions, which were broadcast much more extensively in Europe than here from what I'm told, were astonishing. The people that poured into the streets in cities all over Europe in outcry and to show their support for the US brought us all to tears over and over again. The day of the attack...I had never felt so alone. I felt angry because I didn't think they could possibly understand. Within hours I couldn't believe how understanding they were, how open their hearts were to us...for us. It was the first time that I not only felt so proud to be an American...but it was the first time I felt I was part of something so much larger than that. I was part of a loving and united human race. It was the first time that I truly believed that maybe one day we really all could be part of one greater good. It breaks my heart to remember and think about the pain that was caused that day, but it continues to amaze me how much good can come out of people when the need arises. It changed my life, it changed my view and respect of life, it changed how I treated people and how I reacted to situations. I'm thankful for what it has taught me and it gives me strength to know that those who died didn't die in vain. They gave not only to their country...they gave something far greater to the world.