nmah137.xml

nmah137.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-14

I was in a dentist chair when the attacks occurred. My friends and family know me as a news junkie and someone who has always been patriotic...and yet there I sat, leaning back in a chair, as my dentist worked on my teeth, oblivious to what was happening. Suddenly the receptionist burst into the room to announce that my wife had called. My wife had wanted the receptionist to interrupt my dental work to make sure I knew what was going on. I will never forget that she did that for me. At first we didn't quite understand the severity of the situation and the dentist proceeded to try and finish his work. Soon, the radio that normally plays soft music throughout the dentist office, turned over to a national wire service. After a short time, I heard my dentist's assistant say that the North Tower had collapsed. With that, I started to choke back tears and wanted to leave the office immediately. My dentist was shaken as well and he was doing his best to finish up on me so we could all get out of there. It was then that I suddenly sat up in the chair, as some of the dental tools slid off my chest. It had just hit me that I remembered my brother mentioned he might be at the Pentagon that day. My dentist let me out of the chair and I hurried for the nearest phone. I tried calling my brother's cell phone, to no avail, and then learned that all phone service was down in the D.C. area. I then left the office and went to visit my other brother and mother, who lived nearby, so that I could get in front of the TV. It took a few hours, but we eventually got word from my brother that he was safe and sound and had not been at the Pentagon after all. Nevertheless, the initial thought of what could have been was a chilling feeling I had never felt before. I eventually made it back to my own house and spent the rest of the day camped out in front of the TV with the rest of the country. It was sometime in the afternoon that I heard a tremendous boom outside my house..and then heard it a second time. It was so loud that several of my neighbors stepped outside their houses to see what was going on. We all had that initial instinctive feeling that the attacks were spreading. Thankfully, we were overreacting. Living near Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH, we came to learn that an F-16 fighter jet had been scrambled to meet Air Force One in Nebraska, to escort the President back to Washington. Apparently, the pilot prematurely broke the sound barrier and created a thunderous sonic boom. I'll never forget that noise or the feeling it gave me on that day.

As much as I love my country, I never quite understood what the price of freedom meant until after that day.

The resolve of our great nation to pull together. The strongest feelings of patriotism Americans have ever felt. The leadership of George W. Bush and Rudy Guiliani.

I flew an American flag on my house, even prior to September 11, but its significance greatly increased for me after that fateful day. It has been a comforting feeling seeing so many others flying their flags. When I travel the country it is the one thing I notice more than anything else. One thing that I did do after September 11 is purchase a personalized licensed plate... USA4USA.