story6680.xml

story6680.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-12

My husband was born and raised in NY. We received a phone call to turn our TV on that a plane had hit the first tower. My husband and I stood in front of the television set and watched the second plane hit the second tower. We thought at first that it wasn't real then we went into a panic. We have relatives that live and work close to the towers. Our nephew is an officer in the AirForce and is stationed in NY. We have a nephew that works for the airport. We tried and tried to reach them by phone but the lines were so overloaded with calls of people trying to reach their loved ones that we couldn't get through. We could only stand in a daze of disbelief and our eyes full of tears. This just couldn't be happening!! For days we watched the news and neither of us could sleep. Finally on the third day I left my home just to try and get away from it. I went to town and entered a store. In that store I saw three women with children standing there talking and they were not speaking American. I felt the anger rise so deeply within me that all I wanted to do was to attack them. I knew that wasn't right out of me and I never felt that way before but all I could think of was that they were in America and they should have to speak our language. I am a very loving person normally but I had so many mixed feelings and I guess my anger was directed at anyone that was not American. It took several days to find out that our families in NY were okay. I was devastated and greiving for weeks and months after this happened to out Country!! I thought I was going to have to go for counciling. To this day it is hard for me to look at the pictures of the Towers burning and people jumping or falling to their deaths!! I don't understand why other countries would want to hurt us when we try to help them in so many ways. When I hear our Fighter Jets go over our house I feel afraid because I don't know what is maybe going to happen. We live in a large town and close to the Airport so I hear our jets go over our house when they are flying to check our borders. To this day I live in fear of the unknown. I never felt that way until the Towers were attacked and our Pentagon. Our Country is suppose to be a land of the Free and to not feel that way anymore and to have to watch other people because you fear them because you don't know what they are saying or could be planning makes you feel your freedom has been taken away. The terroists thought they could destroy us but they saw our country come together uniting together as one and still standing tall. But we will never forget the horror of that day and we will never forget our heroes living and dead. We as a Nation, as one people will always shed tears of sorrow for on that black day that so many needless deaths occurred. And to add to our grief on the anniversary of that day we saw the clipping from a newspaper where other countries were celebrating the deaths of our Americans--that we deserved that tragedy. No one should have to live in that kind of fear. God Bless the USA!!!!!