story501.xml
Title
story501.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-05-02
911DA Story: Story
Impact.
This is the day our world will change forever. This is the beginning of the end. This is the end of an era of American security, of unconditional American freedom. Images and sounds bombard us and there is no escape. We close our eyes, and still we see the towers flaming, smoking, falling. We cover our ears, and still we hear the sounds of people screaming, of gargantuan monoliths dissolving before us. We stand as a nation, silent, and still. Some of us are weeping, and some of us are stoic. All of us feel the same basic emotions. We are scared, we are angry, we are sad. We stand as a nation, resilient and strong. These attacks have been meant to break our spirit, to drop us to our knees. They didn?t. We cried, we mourned, we acted. For now, we must focus on rescuing our fellow Americans, on helping the families of those so brutally murdered.
And then...
Impact.
It happens again. Scarcely half an hour has passed since we last saw this. Now they?ve struck at our nation?s capital, boldly attacking the symbol of our military power. Again the same tides of emotion run over us. We are silent and still, gathered in streets and homes, in churches and schools, in stores and offices. We still weep, we still mourn, we are still angry. Again the images bombard us, the sounds of the wounded and the wails of lamentation fill the air (waves). Again, we stand as a nation, silent and still. Through the confusion and the rumors, through the speculation and the ?unconfirmed reports?, we remain resilient and strong. We do not know what will happen next, but we know that regardless, we will continue on.
And then....
Impact.
A third plane has fallen, apparently missing its target. Again, we stand together, again we mourn. By now we have seen armed military in our streets, jet fighters in our skies, and battleships off our coasts. It is not even 11 am, and already we are numb. Acts of war have been brought against our people and our nation. None of us have ever seen such destruction, such pain, such chaos before. Most of the world has joined us in our mourning and our pain. A few rejoice, and we see them do so on TV. We make note. We know we will be vindicated.
And then....
We continue with our day. Classes are cancelled and stores are closed, so we spend the day with loved ones, trying to cope with such pain and fear. We tell the story over and over again, as if constant reiteration of it will prevent any more attacks. We stand as a nation, resilient and strong, and at the same time anxious and worried. We never asked for this war, but it has been brought to us, here and now. We stand as a nation, certain of our victory, but wary of the cost. We don?t want to see people die, we don?t want to lose our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers, but we will. That is almost certain. We stand as a nation, tense and ready, preparing for war. These savage and brutal attacks did not break our spirit. They did not stem our pride, nor did they weaken our nation. To the contrary, these attacks reinforced our spirit, they strengthened our pride, and they brought our nation together. And with that, we stand as a nation, resilient and strong, and we wait. We will bide our time, gather ourselves, and we set out to bring whoever perpetrated these attacks to justice.
And then...
I disconnect from the billion node interconnected patriotic matrix that America has become. I look around me. I see thousands of American flags that weren't there two days ago. I see gas guzzling SUVs running on Middle Eastern oil sporting American flags. And I reflect on what could make a people hate us so much. Some will say they're jealous, some will say they're religious fanatics. No one wants to admit that it's our lifestyles. No one wants to think about how we, one country amongst 180 others, use over half the world's oil, and produce half the world's waste. That oil fuels our lifestyles, powers our SUVs and B-2 Bombers. We then use those B-2 Bombers to protect the intrests of our SUVs. And I come to understand that that is one of the reasons a people could hate us so much. As I realize this, I still burn with anger and rage over what they have enacted upon us. I know that they'll pay in kind, and I'm left with an old adage that my father use to tell me constantly as I battled through school. "Two wrongs don't make a right" he'd always say. I'm left to stand here, pondering the tides of change that could potentially sweep this country, mourning the people lost, and trying to understand the world. And here I stand as an individual, silent and still.
This is the day our world will change forever. This is the beginning of the end. This is the end of an era of American security, of unconditional American freedom. Images and sounds bombard us and there is no escape. We close our eyes, and still we see the towers flaming, smoking, falling. We cover our ears, and still we hear the sounds of people screaming, of gargantuan monoliths dissolving before us. We stand as a nation, silent, and still. Some of us are weeping, and some of us are stoic. All of us feel the same basic emotions. We are scared, we are angry, we are sad. We stand as a nation, resilient and strong. These attacks have been meant to break our spirit, to drop us to our knees. They didn?t. We cried, we mourned, we acted. For now, we must focus on rescuing our fellow Americans, on helping the families of those so brutally murdered.
And then...
Impact.
It happens again. Scarcely half an hour has passed since we last saw this. Now they?ve struck at our nation?s capital, boldly attacking the symbol of our military power. Again the same tides of emotion run over us. We are silent and still, gathered in streets and homes, in churches and schools, in stores and offices. We still weep, we still mourn, we are still angry. Again the images bombard us, the sounds of the wounded and the wails of lamentation fill the air (waves). Again, we stand as a nation, silent and still. Through the confusion and the rumors, through the speculation and the ?unconfirmed reports?, we remain resilient and strong. We do not know what will happen next, but we know that regardless, we will continue on.
And then....
Impact.
A third plane has fallen, apparently missing its target. Again, we stand together, again we mourn. By now we have seen armed military in our streets, jet fighters in our skies, and battleships off our coasts. It is not even 11 am, and already we are numb. Acts of war have been brought against our people and our nation. None of us have ever seen such destruction, such pain, such chaos before. Most of the world has joined us in our mourning and our pain. A few rejoice, and we see them do so on TV. We make note. We know we will be vindicated.
And then....
We continue with our day. Classes are cancelled and stores are closed, so we spend the day with loved ones, trying to cope with such pain and fear. We tell the story over and over again, as if constant reiteration of it will prevent any more attacks. We stand as a nation, resilient and strong, and at the same time anxious and worried. We never asked for this war, but it has been brought to us, here and now. We stand as a nation, certain of our victory, but wary of the cost. We don?t want to see people die, we don?t want to lose our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers, but we will. That is almost certain. We stand as a nation, tense and ready, preparing for war. These savage and brutal attacks did not break our spirit. They did not stem our pride, nor did they weaken our nation. To the contrary, these attacks reinforced our spirit, they strengthened our pride, and they brought our nation together. And with that, we stand as a nation, resilient and strong, and we wait. We will bide our time, gather ourselves, and we set out to bring whoever perpetrated these attacks to justice.
And then...
I disconnect from the billion node interconnected patriotic matrix that America has become. I look around me. I see thousands of American flags that weren't there two days ago. I see gas guzzling SUVs running on Middle Eastern oil sporting American flags. And I reflect on what could make a people hate us so much. Some will say they're jealous, some will say they're religious fanatics. No one wants to admit that it's our lifestyles. No one wants to think about how we, one country amongst 180 others, use over half the world's oil, and produce half the world's waste. That oil fuels our lifestyles, powers our SUVs and B-2 Bombers. We then use those B-2 Bombers to protect the intrests of our SUVs. And I come to understand that that is one of the reasons a people could hate us so much. As I realize this, I still burn with anger and rage over what they have enacted upon us. I know that they'll pay in kind, and I'm left with an old adage that my father use to tell me constantly as I battled through school. "Two wrongs don't make a right" he'd always say. I'm left to stand here, pondering the tides of change that could potentially sweep this country, mourning the people lost, and trying to understand the world. And here I stand as an individual, silent and still.
Collection
Citation
“story501.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 21, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/16207.