story9412.xml
Title
story9412.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2003-08-11
911DA Story: Story
After having just celebrated our 1 year anniversary with his mother and stepfather in Phoenix, Arizona, my partner and I set out to spend some time with his father and stepmother in Bend, Oregon. We elected to go through Las Vegas instead of going through Los Angeles, mainly because we wanted to spend a couple of hours in Vegas - cramming as much as we could into that short amount of time.
We headed out about in the early morning of September 11th. As the sun started coming up, we were approaching a tiny town in the middle of nowhere named Weikiup, Arizona. It was the only town for miles, and the only restaraunt in the entire town was a Subway located in the town's only gas station. We weren't too keen on the idea of having sandwiches for breakfast, but we didn't have much of a choice. As we were purchasing our breakfast, one of the workers asked me if we had a radio in our car. I told her that we did, but that the antenna wasn't working properly, so we couldn't pick up much (especially out there). She said that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center, but she couldn't make out much on their tv or radio. We kinda dismissed it as a minor accident (thinking that it was a small personal aircraft as opposed to a full jetliner). So we resumed our trip.
It wasn't too much longer before we began approaching the Hoover Dam. As we started getting close to Vegas, our radio started working. I tuned in to the news stations to listen to what was going on. We were in shock when we realized that it was an attack. Not being able to get good information other than the radio report, we weren't sure exactly what was happening in our country.
We crossed the Hoover Dam, but there was a ton of security everywhere. We heard not five minutes later that they were shutting down the traffic over the dam. Had we been a few minutes later, it would probably have forced us to go several hours out of our way.
As it was, we pulled into Vegas. It was fairly quiet, I'm sure, as to what it is normally like. We parked at Caesar's Palace and went inside. The shopping area was closed. Only the casino's and hotel areas of Vegas were open. Pretty much all other attractions and public places were closed. We were disappointed that the one day we could be in Vegas was the one day it was pretty much shut down, however, that was completely overshadowed by the events that were unfolding before us.
We found our way to the lounge at Caesar's Palace with the HUGE screens where people unfortunate enough to not be able to get tickets to the fights that were held there watched it all on tv. The screens were taller and wider than several movie screens. Every channel was showing coverage of the events, and it was very eerie to watch the towers fall over and over. It brought tears to my eyes to know how many lives were lost, and to know that the world had just been changed forever.
Like most people in the country, I'm sure, I was afraid of what was yet to come. Was there going to be a war on our home soil? Possible nuclear attacks? With little to no information available, everything was uncertain. I had visions of our freedoms being taken away...of American's suffering and dying all around us. I was afraid for me and my family, as well as all of America.
Brandon took my hand and we just sat there staring at the screen in horror. Chills ran down my spine. I thought the world was coming to an end. But something made me look over at my love, and all at once I knew that everything was going to be ok. I knew that we would make it through. The world may have been forever changed. America suffered a wound that it would never forget. But I knew that we would survive. And I knew that I was safe...because I was with the one that I loved. And no matter what was to come - they couldn't take the love in my heart away.
After a while, we got up and left the lounge. We visited a lot of the other hotels. I called my parents to check in on them as we were approaching the hotel New York, New York. It was extremely eerie. Of particular interest was the black and white photo of the towers just outside of the restrooms. There were people all around, seemingly going about their business. But there was a sort of silence that seemed to persist. You could feel the gloom. People tried to salvage their vacations, but found that they simply could not enjoy themselves with the tragedies that had just occurred.
Most of the attractions were closed, but we did manage to get to enjoy the Star Trek Experience at the Hilton. I could not help but think about the message of Star Trek - about a future in which humankind exists in harmony with one another...and how far we have to go to achieve that. As a gay man, I had experienced the best and worst in people. But somewhere deep inside of me, I knew that there was hope...we just had to find it.
Now it's two years later. Brandon and I are no longer together. Life has carried us in separate directions, but my love for him lives on. I will never forget that day, and what having him by my side meant to me. I believe that there will always be a part of us that will forever be in Las Vegas on that tragic day. And no matter where life takes us, the events that occurred on that day will stay with us forever.
We headed out about in the early morning of September 11th. As the sun started coming up, we were approaching a tiny town in the middle of nowhere named Weikiup, Arizona. It was the only town for miles, and the only restaraunt in the entire town was a Subway located in the town's only gas station. We weren't too keen on the idea of having sandwiches for breakfast, but we didn't have much of a choice. As we were purchasing our breakfast, one of the workers asked me if we had a radio in our car. I told her that we did, but that the antenna wasn't working properly, so we couldn't pick up much (especially out there). She said that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center, but she couldn't make out much on their tv or radio. We kinda dismissed it as a minor accident (thinking that it was a small personal aircraft as opposed to a full jetliner). So we resumed our trip.
It wasn't too much longer before we began approaching the Hoover Dam. As we started getting close to Vegas, our radio started working. I tuned in to the news stations to listen to what was going on. We were in shock when we realized that it was an attack. Not being able to get good information other than the radio report, we weren't sure exactly what was happening in our country.
We crossed the Hoover Dam, but there was a ton of security everywhere. We heard not five minutes later that they were shutting down the traffic over the dam. Had we been a few minutes later, it would probably have forced us to go several hours out of our way.
As it was, we pulled into Vegas. It was fairly quiet, I'm sure, as to what it is normally like. We parked at Caesar's Palace and went inside. The shopping area was closed. Only the casino's and hotel areas of Vegas were open. Pretty much all other attractions and public places were closed. We were disappointed that the one day we could be in Vegas was the one day it was pretty much shut down, however, that was completely overshadowed by the events that were unfolding before us.
We found our way to the lounge at Caesar's Palace with the HUGE screens where people unfortunate enough to not be able to get tickets to the fights that were held there watched it all on tv. The screens were taller and wider than several movie screens. Every channel was showing coverage of the events, and it was very eerie to watch the towers fall over and over. It brought tears to my eyes to know how many lives were lost, and to know that the world had just been changed forever.
Like most people in the country, I'm sure, I was afraid of what was yet to come. Was there going to be a war on our home soil? Possible nuclear attacks? With little to no information available, everything was uncertain. I had visions of our freedoms being taken away...of American's suffering and dying all around us. I was afraid for me and my family, as well as all of America.
Brandon took my hand and we just sat there staring at the screen in horror. Chills ran down my spine. I thought the world was coming to an end. But something made me look over at my love, and all at once I knew that everything was going to be ok. I knew that we would make it through. The world may have been forever changed. America suffered a wound that it would never forget. But I knew that we would survive. And I knew that I was safe...because I was with the one that I loved. And no matter what was to come - they couldn't take the love in my heart away.
After a while, we got up and left the lounge. We visited a lot of the other hotels. I called my parents to check in on them as we were approaching the hotel New York, New York. It was extremely eerie. Of particular interest was the black and white photo of the towers just outside of the restrooms. There were people all around, seemingly going about their business. But there was a sort of silence that seemed to persist. You could feel the gloom. People tried to salvage their vacations, but found that they simply could not enjoy themselves with the tragedies that had just occurred.
Most of the attractions were closed, but we did manage to get to enjoy the Star Trek Experience at the Hilton. I could not help but think about the message of Star Trek - about a future in which humankind exists in harmony with one another...and how far we have to go to achieve that. As a gay man, I had experienced the best and worst in people. But somewhere deep inside of me, I knew that there was hope...we just had to find it.
Now it's two years later. Brandon and I are no longer together. Life has carried us in separate directions, but my love for him lives on. I will never forget that day, and what having him by my side meant to me. I believe that there will always be a part of us that will forever be in Las Vegas on that tragic day. And no matter where life takes us, the events that occurred on that day will stay with us forever.
Collection
Citation
“story9412.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 19, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/18503.