story755.xml

story755.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-06-07

9/11 TRADGEDY

September 11th, 2001 is a day that I will never forget and no one in the United States will ever forget. The night before this horrific day arrived, my mom and I were home discussing the Taliban and what they were doing in Afghanistan. This whole event was ironic because the week before this happened we started learning about the Taliban, terrorism, and Afghanistan in my Global Studies Class. I went to bed that Monday thinking that I would have another long and boring day ahead of me. I woke up at six o'clock in the morning, climbed out of bed and began my daily morning routine. I took a shower, got dressed, brushed my hair, ate breakfast while watching the news, put all my work in my backpack, and then I brushed my teeth. I left my house at 7:10 a.m. for school. I arrived at school and started my day in my least favorite class; Earth Science. The morning was going slow in Earth Science so I decided to take a nap. Before I knew it, it was already time to go. Studio Art was my next class that went to. My friend John and I went to our lockers to get some homework that we hadn't finished yet. We got up to go ask the teacher, Mr. Olsen, if we could go to our lockers. He said, "Why don't you guys work on your art project?" Our response was, "we'll get it done." John and I went to our lockers. When we got back someone said something about the World Trade Center being hit by something. We just ignored it and finished our math homework. The bell rang at 9:24 so we left Art and continued our day. My next class was gym, my favorite because we play sports. I went to my locker before gym to drop off my books. As I was walking down the hall towards gym my ears zoned in on more news about the World Trade Center. After hearing this, I started becoming more curious about what everybody was talking about. I continued towards gym. I walked in the side door and everybody in my gym class was standing in front of the television just staring at the screen. When I looked up I noticed that the CNN network was on. I walked up to my teacher Mr. Bruning and asked, "What's going on Mr. B." He said, "We are being attacked by terrorists. The World Trade Center has been struck by an airplane." I just stood there. I couldn't move. I never thought that something this horrific would occur during my lifetime. Boy, was I wrong. My friend Noah was coming out of the locker room and he said, "what's up? What's everyone looking at?" I said, "The World Trade Center have been attacked by terrorists." Then Noah said, "It was probably those damn Arabs." I looked at him and said, "Why did you say that?" He said, "Because they are stupid." The next thing I heard was that officials believe that the Taliban and Osama bin Laden were responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center. As I was watching the television, CNN replayed the first plane, American Flight 11 from Boston, hitting the
North Tower of the World Trade Center. As I was reading the notes at the bottom of the screen I saw the second plane, United Flight 175 from Boston, crashing into the South Tower. I couldn't believe that I witnessed this! LIVE! I never thought that I would see someone fly a plane straight into a building It's about 9:45 a.m. when all of sudden someone in my class shouted, "LOOK! " I looked up and saw that the Pentagon, our nation's defense headquarters was struck by another plane. My teacher Mr. Bruning looked at the class and said, "We are going to war." We all looked back and said, "why?" He told us it's because terrorists attacked our military headquarters. At the end of my gym class I was talking to one of my friends about the attacks when suddenly CNN went back to New York City as the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. At the same time the South Tower was collapsing I looked at the bottom of the screen and it said that the White House was being evacuated. I only then realized how serious the attacks were. At 10:28 a.m. I was in English, I looked up at the screen and saw that the North Tower at the World Trade Center collapsed. My friend Amanda said, "Holy Cow! I can't believe what is happening!" I never saw the plane crashing in Somerset, Pennsylvania but I did read the notes at the bottom because it said that a plane did crash in Pennsylvania. Later that day the CNN news reporters said that people were calling their families and telling them that they were going to try and take the plane back from the hijackers. That is what they figured happened in Pennsylvania.
When I got home, I was still in awe. I asked my Dad, "did you know what happened in Manhattan?" He said, "no! Why? What happened?" I told him that terrorists have attacked the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon. He couldn't believe what I was saying. A couple of hours later my mom came home. I asked her how her day was. She said only that she was watching the world blow up around her. Later that same night my family and I were watching television when President Bush's speech came on. He vowed to go after the terrorists.
September 11th has affected many people. For instance the families who lost loved ones in the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and hijacked airplanes. I also felt bad families of lost firefighters and police officers who put their lives on the line to save other people. All I know is that I will never forget the day that the United States got attacked by Terrorists. Now I know how my grandparents felt when the United States went to World War I and World War II I know now that now I'm truly PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN.