nmah3044.xml

nmah3044.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I remember when I was on the St. Charles River in Boston, observing the Boston Pops for Independence Day fireworks, I was thinking that 225 years was a ripe time for a empire to get challenged. Why, I don't know. To think that I flew of the same airport that the two planes that destroyed the World Trade Center, only two months earlier, is a little errie.

On September 11, 2001, I awoke on the West Coast to a Breaking Newscast. The first thought that came to mind was, what plane crashed now? The prior breaking newscasts I remembered featured a plane crash, and I was paranoid to fly because of them. So, I come to TV and see the WTC on fire. Now, I must be the only American that did not know what the WTC was! I had heard of the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, but I had no clue that they were tallest buildings in America.

I turned off the TV to go to work. 2 planes were still unaccounted for; one of them was destined for the airport near where I work. I briefly turned the TV back on for an update and saw that the South tower had fallen. I went to work that morning wondering about those 2 planes. I drive by SFO Airport everyday, but this particular day SFO was closed. First time I had ever seen it like that. I went to work and my manager had a briefing with our staff to discuss what had happened. Within an hour at work, we learned that the other two planes were now accounted for, one hitting the Pentagon and the other crashing in Pennsylvania. By this time, the second tower had collapsed.

Later that night, I went down to the bay front, where planes usually come into SFO like fireflies to a campfire. The sky was dark. For the first time in so many years, the local beachfront actually got a night of sleep. Well, perhaps they were like me, glued to the TV in awe of what had just happened that day.

I jumped online later and checked the fatalities to see if I knew anyone. Fortunately, when all four planes were headed to my home state (California) and I knew native New Yorkers, I discovered that I knew none of the dead. I did a check on my last name, and found a firefighter, a year older than me, who died with the first name of my friend from New York and my name as the rest of his name. Thanks to Internet, I was able to research him and discover what fine hero he really was. I couldn't do that with Pearl Harbor.

To see an event that I had feared for 17 years actually happen, as New York was often the folklore target of Nostradamus prophecy, is beyond words. In late August, I had already been in grief for the late R&B singer, Aaliyah, and I didn't even meet her. My sympathies and best wishes go out to the all the families that lost loved ones at the WTC. I raise two fingers in a victory sign and say, Fight On and God Bless!

I was paranoid long before 9/11 about the possiblity of 9/11. But, now, thanks to our dear media, I worry about the subway, biological and chemical attacks. I am uneasy in large public places, but what scares me more is that we have a smart enemy and our media plays right into their hands. I feel as though the enemy is using the media's desire to inform people against us by knowing that we will distribute it to a large audience and further analyze how it should work. Scary times, but life goes on.

I have always admired that one true thing about life is the positive always partners with the negative. Before 9/11, our country was divided. We were protesting our President and screaming voter fraud. We were gambling our life savings on internet fantasy companies and watching them crumble in the internet fallout. When this huge negative happened, a tremendous positive rose from the ashes. Our country united like never before. Our fellow Americans raised record donations to help out the victims. A city that was known throughout the world as a business comes first attitude, became a city of comraderies and the discovery of a true leader, in the mayor, Rudy Guliani. I think people should remember 9/11 as the day when in our darkest moment, our country rose to occasion and demonstated to the world the testament of the American people. It was a sad day, but it was also an event that united our country. The threat to our security had alwasy been there; only now we have a reason to believe the threat. But, every negative has it's positive and that's what I intend to reflect upon in the coming years.

Absolutely. I say the Pledge of Allegiance with more authority now, and I admire the sacrifice our military is making to defend our country.