story2848.xml

story2848.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I was watching the "Today Show" while feeding breakfast to my then 9 month old baby, Nathaniel. Katie Couric broke into the conversation to announce that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. And I thought, how sad, a pilot must have had a heart attack, or something along that line, and crashed into the building. Speculation was that it was a small, non-commercial plane.

Then, while watching the fire coming out of the building, I saw the second plane hit, and immediately thought, terrorism. I called my parents and my sister, who was also on maternity leave, to tell them to turn on the television.

Then, the Pentagon, and finally the crash approximately 90 miles from Homer City, in Shanksville.

I used the camcorder and recorded the coverage on the television. Someday, when Nathaniel is old enough to understand, I hope this video tape will give him a personal connection to the tragedy, to help him realize the magnitude of what happened that day.