story2409.xml

story2409.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

At 8AM Central Time my alarm clock went off across my Ferrell Hall dorm room. With in seconds my roommate?s radio alarm turned on to the reports of an airplane crashing into the World Trade Center. In a half a sleep haze my roommate and I passed the news off as a morning prank by the 98.9 morning show. As the report went on I quietly asked my roommate, "Ed, are you listening to this?" He responded, "Yeah, I think this is for real!" Without cable I ran down the hall half-dressed for class and still somewhat asleep. At the moment that I walked into my friends room a second plane hit the other World Trade Center tower. From that moment we knew it wasn't an accident. I finished getting ready for class that morning listening to the radio the entire time. Just as I was leaving for my first class I heard about the plane hitting the Pentagon. On my way to class there was this sickening sound of silent cries. People were talking about the events of the morning, about their family at the different crash sites, their friends that worked in the World Trade Center; yet, under all the discussion there was silence. On my walk up the Benedictine Hill I realized that there was no I way I could sit through my Mass Communications class. With permission I left the classroom and returned to my dorm. Phone calls started to come in, my distant Uncle who worked in the Pentagon was "on special assignment" and we wouldn't find out if he survived the attacks for some time. My father was evacuated out of his offices at the Oil Trade Facility in Houston, TX. Every where I went that day I ran into friends who weren't so lucky. That evening I raised an American Flag in the window of our newly renovated dorm room. The Flag would remain in the window for the remainder of the year; it served as a constant reminder of the freedom that we enjoy and that so many have died for.