story7101.xml
Title
story7101.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-13
911DA Story: Story
It was the second Tuesday of my senior year of high school, and it wasn't until the very end of first period, US Gov't class, that the principal made an annoucement that the World Trade Centers - both of them - had been hit by airplanes, and the Pentagon (only a few miles northeast of us) had been hit as well.
What the heck did you say to that? I was surprised to find that I could feel my mind rejecting what the principal had said; part of me simply refused to believe it. And the idea that it was an attack? No; it had to be coincidence.
No, it couldn't be coincidence.
Cold reality hit me when I looked into a classroom with a TV to see the burning towers. They replayed the footage of the second tower being hit. Again, and again; it couldn't be an accident; that plane meant to hit the WTC.
22 minutes later, while I was sitting in my Geoscience classroom with my eyes glued to the TV like everyone else's, I watched the second WTC tower fall.
I will never, ever, for the rest of my days, forget what the CNN reporter said. "Oh my god," he gasped, voice dry and horrified. "There are no words."
There are no words.
I was watching people die, and I burst into tears at the knowledge, drawing the eyes of the entire classroom. How could they not be crying? They just saw 1500 people die! We were all in shock.
What more is there to say? I went home early that day and watched TV and commiserated with friends online. It's burned on my memory as if branded. And so it shall always be.
What the heck did you say to that? I was surprised to find that I could feel my mind rejecting what the principal had said; part of me simply refused to believe it. And the idea that it was an attack? No; it had to be coincidence.
No, it couldn't be coincidence.
Cold reality hit me when I looked into a classroom with a TV to see the burning towers. They replayed the footage of the second tower being hit. Again, and again; it couldn't be an accident; that plane meant to hit the WTC.
22 minutes later, while I was sitting in my Geoscience classroom with my eyes glued to the TV like everyone else's, I watched the second WTC tower fall.
I will never, ever, for the rest of my days, forget what the CNN reporter said. "Oh my god," he gasped, voice dry and horrified. "There are no words."
There are no words.
I was watching people die, and I burst into tears at the knowledge, drawing the eyes of the entire classroom. How could they not be crying? They just saw 1500 people die! We were all in shock.
What more is there to say? I went home early that day and watched TV and commiserated with friends online. It's burned on my memory as if branded. And so it shall always be.
Collection
Citation
“story7101.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 9, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/16036.