story5602.xml
Title
story5602.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-11
911DA Story: Story
I stayed home from work that day. I needed brake repair on my car. I think I woke upat 8:30 or so and had breakfast.
The phone rang at about 9:00 or so and my wife was on the other line. "Put on the TV. Somethings happened in NY". We live about 15 minutes out in a Jersey suburb.
I put on a cable news channel and saw a tower burning. It was strange. The announcers had first thought that it was a plane that went terribly off course. i was drawn to it but not concerned. Then there was the crash into the 2nd tower. This was no accident.
I sat in silence, staring at the television. It didn't seem real. Such a "foreign" vision so close to home. I watched for hours more- the crash into the Pentagon, a phantom car bomb in D.C., the crash in Pa. It didn't seem real.
I went outside and was struck by the utter quiet and beauty of that late summer day. The sky was deep blue with little white puffs of clouds. A perfect day to skip work was to become the biggest nightmare this country has ever seen.
One last thing struck me that day. After hearing that the FAA had "closed" the skies to air travel...I still would hear an occasional plane. Some were military but others were not. All I thought was "Here comes another one, where's it gonna hit?" My wife callled many times from work that day before she was let out early. "Don't go on the roads, they could try to blow up bridges or hi-ways."
And I thought..."don't let 'them' take our freedom away. Don't let 'them' keep us off our streets". If we allow that- our country and our ideals have lost.
I'm proud to say that we did not hide, we did not cower. We have gone along as we have before- but in a more vigilant and appreciative way.
GOD BLESS AMERICA and God bless all she stands for.
The phone rang at about 9:00 or so and my wife was on the other line. "Put on the TV. Somethings happened in NY". We live about 15 minutes out in a Jersey suburb.
I put on a cable news channel and saw a tower burning. It was strange. The announcers had first thought that it was a plane that went terribly off course. i was drawn to it but not concerned. Then there was the crash into the 2nd tower. This was no accident.
I sat in silence, staring at the television. It didn't seem real. Such a "foreign" vision so close to home. I watched for hours more- the crash into the Pentagon, a phantom car bomb in D.C., the crash in Pa. It didn't seem real.
I went outside and was struck by the utter quiet and beauty of that late summer day. The sky was deep blue with little white puffs of clouds. A perfect day to skip work was to become the biggest nightmare this country has ever seen.
One last thing struck me that day. After hearing that the FAA had "closed" the skies to air travel...I still would hear an occasional plane. Some were military but others were not. All I thought was "Here comes another one, where's it gonna hit?" My wife callled many times from work that day before she was let out early. "Don't go on the roads, they could try to blow up bridges or hi-ways."
And I thought..."don't let 'them' take our freedom away. Don't let 'them' keep us off our streets". If we allow that- our country and our ideals have lost.
I'm proud to say that we did not hide, we did not cower. We have gone along as we have before- but in a more vigilant and appreciative way.
GOD BLESS AMERICA and God bless all she stands for.
Collection
Citation
“story5602.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 10, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/19529.