nmah5257.xml

nmah5257.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-10-23

On September 11, 2001, I was a seventh grader at the Marlborough Middle School in Marlbrough, Massachusetts. When the planes hit I was in my second period music class. We had written songs and were peforming them that day. My teacher, Miss Major, recorded the first few, but when the teachers were informed of the attacks she stopped. Students, on the other hand, weren't allowed to be told. I felt a little angry about this. I could understand not telling the younger grades, but I thought that the seventh graders were old enough to know. I found out walking home from school at two thirty. My sister Jessica and I were passing our friend Jeff Kerrigan's house when we saw Jeff and our other friend Nick Peterson in the yard. We stopped to say hi and Jeff said, "The World Trade Center and the Pentagon building were hit by airplanes."
When he said this, I thought there had been a mechanical failure or something. Only a few, if any, people could have been killed. So Jessica and I stayed with Jeff and Nick for a little while. We played a little, but mostly we sat and talked.
Around three thirty I decided to go home, still not realizing how terrible the attacks had really been. When I got home, my mother was standing in the driveway. I asked if she had heard about the attacks. She said she had. Then she told me that she had to go pick up my sister, but I could turn on the news.
When I got inside, I immediately turned on the TV. We didn't have cable then, but every station we had was showing coverage. I watched the Channel 5 News on ABC, Channel 4 News on CBS, and the Channel 7 News on NBC. I also watched the Fox 25 News on Channel 25 and the WB 56 News on Channel 56. At one point, one of the stations showed the second plane hitting and I nearly threw up. I just couldn't believe this was happening. I wished it was a bad dream, that I would wake up and everything would be fine.
When my mom got home, we sat and watched together for a little while. When she told me about the airplane passengers' last phone calls, I started to cry. My youngest sister, Rachel, came in and saw me crying. She asked why and I didn't know what to tell her. Finally I said, "Bad guys stole planes from Logan Airport and crashed them into the places where the government makes their secret plans."
The thing that really scared me, though, was how human the reporters were. Normally, it's as if they were robots, cool and calm no matter what. But when Tower 7 fell, I remember watching a lady reporter start to interview someone. Smoke came billowing out from behind some buildings just as they began talking. People began to scream and run. The reporter yelled, " Oh my God! We have to get out of here! Leave the camera!" Then they all ran off.
I stayed in the living room all afternoon. That night, Rachel had an open house at her school. I didn't want to go, but Mom made me. She said that I had to get out of the house for a little while. It was the strangest feeling to walk down the street and not hear any planes in the sky. Normally, I take the sound of planes completely for granted, but that night it was just too quiet. Once I got home, I watched the news again until nine o' clock, when I had to go to bed.
The next few days were the most patriotic days I had ever and probably will ever see. So many people had a better view of their country. When we stood up and said the Pledge of Alligience together with every other school in the nation, I knew it was a pretty big moment in history. My relatives flew up that weekend and my sisters, my cousins, and I had a craft stand. Half the money we made went to a cancer fund and the other half went to the Red Cross 9-11 fund.

Yes, my life has changed since September 11. Before then, I never thought anything like this could happen so close to home. Whenever I fly, I fly out of Logan Airport. This summer, when I flew across the country, I was scared the plane would be hijacked. Anything can happen. America learned this lesson the hard way.

I think the most important thing that should be remembered about September 11 is the bravery of all of the men and women who gave their lives to save others. All of the New York and Washington D.C. rescue workers went above and beyond the call of duty. And they weren't the only heroes. The people of flight 93, the ones that fought the terrorists, they were also heroes. If they had just sat back and watched, many more people may have been killed. The true heroes are the ones to be remembered.