story8366.xml

story8366.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-10-04

I was having a sip of coffee before leaving my parents home in Mobile to begin the long drive back to El Paso, Texas, my home. I had been in Mobile to be with my mother while she underwent major surgery. It was the final moments of my 2 week stay there. As I held my coffee cup and threw my backpack over my shoulder my dad said, "Look at that, an airplance just hit that building in New York." I looked up at the televison to see the smoke and flames erupting from the building on the television. I thought oh my God what a horrible accident. But as soon as I thought that, my second thought was ...no way...no pilot would have steered into that building, the water is to close. I served in the U.S. Army as an Intelligence Analyst during the Gulf War. No sooner did I get my second taste of warm sweet coffee than I watched the second plane hit the other tower. My heart sank and the adrenalin began to pump. My next thought was, "Oh My God terrorist, oh no were being hit from the inside by terrorist, not here...oh my God." I don't think I could understand what I was seeing. I couldn't watch another second of it, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the need to leave go home right away. I just looked at the TV the horrific events unfolding before my eyes, grabbed my coffee cup kissed my mom, "I love you...I have to go...I love you too Daddy..I gotta go, I'll call later on tonight." I got in my car found my way to freeway and tuned in the radio. It was unbelievable listening to the commentators, their voices cracking, the disbelief of what they couldn't believe they were wittnessing was so poignantly clear. I burst into tears as I crossed the Mississippi state line. I stopped at a rest stop. It was so odd everyone seemed to be in a daze everywhere you went. No smiles, everyone like zombies, all of us stricken with disbelief and heavy with saddness and perhaps a strange new horrible fear at the realization of our vulnerablity as a nation. I'm sure like the rest of America that day the questions everyone kept asking was "WHERE? Where is it going to happen next? Will it stop, is the White House next?, Why?" As the those early morning hours passed I heard the news cast of the Pentagon crash, the field in Pennsylvania. I'm sure everyone in America knew, without having to be told, the crash in Pennsylvania was not in the terrorist plans, the passengers had done something. Later we'd all find out that indeed American Heros saved our Nations Capitol and gave us all a sense of pride and determination to fight back and announce to all the world "Freedom Will Never Cower." I stopped at Wal Mart in Lousiana off of I-10. I walked in purchased a pack of four mini American Flags, packing tape and a bottle of white shoe polish. I taped a flag onto my rear antenna, I taped two more on the inside window of my car, and I wrote in white letter on the rear window of my car "Freedom Will Never Cower". I felt better driving home to Texas after that. I hope it helped people who had to drive those two days to remember that America is strong and we represent what many countries envy...Freedom...sweet sweet Freedom to live as we are and not as others would dictate. We are not a perfect nation but we tolerate our imperfections like no other nation in the world and thank God, thank Allah, thank Jesus, thank Budda, thank Jehova, thank what ever higher power exist in the universe and ourselves for it.