story4762.xml

story4762.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I was at work that day and had just gone outside on my 9:00 am break when a friend came outside and told us that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center Towers. None of us knew what to think and honestly our first thoughts were not terrorism. When we went back inside our office building the looks on peoples face as they listened to their radios through headphones gave us all a very bad feeling. I sat down at my seat and put my own headphones on. Tuning to a national news station I immediately heard the newscaster exclaim, "My God! A second plane has just hit the other Trade Center towers!" As the longest hour in history passed everyone in the office sat pale faced listenind helplessly as another plane hit the Pentagon and yet another crash landed in Pennsylvania. People began crying and praying as we were told that the towers were collapsing and there was no way everyone had evacuated yet.
At about 2:00 pm we were instructed to go home and be with our families. It wasn't until I got home that I actually saw what happened..saw the planes tear the builings in half like a piece of paper.....saw the gaping hole in the side of one of country's most prized possesions..and saw just a huge smoke cloud and the charred ground in someones own backyard. The images will never leave me. If anyone reads this and has lost someone due to this tragedy take comfort in knowing that you will always have a country praying for you and making sure you stay strong. God Bless the United States of America