nmah5553.xml

nmah5553.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-06-25

Hi. My name is Heather L London (formerly Perschilli). On September 11, I was in the US Air Force in a class that prepares military members for the transition back to civilain life. As I walked into class, the television was on. I seen smoke coming off of one of the Twin Towers. We all thought a small plane had accidentally crashed into the tower. Then, we watched as the second plane came and hit the second tower, that was when we knew for sure that was no accident. As soon as that happened, the teacher, who was a civilian, informed us that the base was immediately closing to civilians and that we were all to report immediately to our duty stations. (We were all dressed in civilian clothes, which was a requirement for the class.) That was when things got hectic. I went straight to my duty station, in my skirt and high heels and when I walked in, everyone was glued to the TV. We had to stay there for a few hours. We were all so much in shock. It didn't really hit us until all the work phones and personal cell phones started ringing like crazy. Our families and friends calling to make sure we were ok, and to tell us they were ok, and also to tell us of people that may not be ok. To tell us of family and friends that may have been in the towers. I know for at least two weeks my husband and I were glued to the television. Tears running from our eyes every so often. It was just such a sad sad time. It was so hard to see all of the people who were looking for their loved ones. I remember flying to visit my family soon after and just uncontrolably crying on the plane, just imagining how scary and horrible it must have been for all of those innocent people, and how unbelievably brave all of those men and women were on the planes that tried to stop those horrible men! Then sooo many people lost loved ones, some lost more than one. I also remember going to eat at a restaurant with my co-worker in our uniforms. A man came over and thanked us for all that we sacrifice for our country and he bought our dinner. That really touched us.

I think every detail of it should be remembered.

Yes I had a flag everywhere possible. I think that the American flag is one the the most beautiful and meaningful things in the world.