story6239.xml
Title
story6239.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-12
911DA Story: Story
I was at home with my family when my Dad called just before 10:00 AM. He said "Turn on the radio, there's been a terrorist attack in New York." As a former Marine who had studied terrorism, he recognized the work of terrorists even before the President used the word.
We turned it on just in time to hear the 10:00 AM news, which included reports about the World Trade Center and the Pentagon being hit. One of the children commented that at least we were safe because we lived in a rural area, and then we heard the report about flight 93 going down in Somerset.
We stayed by the radio (we didn't own a TV) for the rest of the day, numb and shaking. We prayed the entire time, realizing that there was nothing else that we could do.
We had friends who were scheduled to fly west that morning and we didn't know what their flight was, or where it was from. We had no way of knowing if they were alive. We also had friends and family in Washington, DC, who live and work within sight of the Pentagon and White House. One friend even worked at the Pentagon on occassion.
As I listened to the reports throughout the day, I noticed a sharp contrast between the beauty of a late summer day, and the ugliness of an evil heart. The sky was cloudless cerulean blue, but my heart felt as though a shadow had fallen. Somehow the birds' songs seemed like a mockery, in the face of what had befallen our country. But nature went on, and so must we.
We turned it on just in time to hear the 10:00 AM news, which included reports about the World Trade Center and the Pentagon being hit. One of the children commented that at least we were safe because we lived in a rural area, and then we heard the report about flight 93 going down in Somerset.
We stayed by the radio (we didn't own a TV) for the rest of the day, numb and shaking. We prayed the entire time, realizing that there was nothing else that we could do.
We had friends who were scheduled to fly west that morning and we didn't know what their flight was, or where it was from. We had no way of knowing if they were alive. We also had friends and family in Washington, DC, who live and work within sight of the Pentagon and White House. One friend even worked at the Pentagon on occassion.
As I listened to the reports throughout the day, I noticed a sharp contrast between the beauty of a late summer day, and the ugliness of an evil heart. The sky was cloudless cerulean blue, but my heart felt as though a shadow had fallen. Somehow the birds' songs seemed like a mockery, in the face of what had befallen our country. But nature went on, and so must we.
Collection
Citation
“story6239.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 9, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/4085.