nmah5688.xml

nmah5688.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-09-10

On September 11th I was at work. About 20 miles from Washington D.C.,
working in Sponsored Research at George Mason University. I was currently
working with a faculty member trying to get a grant done and in on time, when
my phone rang, it was my husband. "The World Trade Center had been hit
by a plane he had it on the news in his office if I wanted to come by". I was shocked
by this event, but still the faculty member and I worked on her grant. Then a co-worker
came into my area. Another plane had hit the World Trade Center and a third had
hit the Pentigon. "Oh my God" we all just sat there and cryed. Was there more?
What was going to happen next? Then came the report that there was a fourth plane
missing..................

I have a very dear friend and co-worker that has a son who was a capital police officer
on duty in the Capital Building that morning. She kept trying to call her husband
and daughter in-law to find out if he was ok. And then the phone rang again "Did you
hear that the Capital Building has been bombed". My heart stopped how can I give
my friend this news. Her and I sobbed down the hall and through two door to find reports
on the local news showing the Capital building on fire. It was almost 20 minutes
before the news reported that they were mistaken that the capital building had not
been bombed, from downtown the smoke from the Pentigon behind the capital made
it appear to be on fire.

Unlike most on the country we did not close down, we did as the President said we
continued work as usual. However It was not as usual. Women with children and
husbands in the DC area waited for phone calls that they had made it out of D.C.
One women thought her husband was in Crystal City only to find out he had had a
meeting in the Pentagon. "He was safe, Thank God". And finally we realized that
the grants that we had been working on were going absolutely no where. We were all
changed that day by a horrific event that ravaged are neighboring city, and changed the
lives of many people who worked in the pentigon. I just recently visited the crash site of
flight 93, and I will always remember and believe that those brave souls save the
life of the son of my friend Jean and saved our beautiful Nations Capital and the lives
of many more innocent people.

It has changed my live, but not like the people who wittnessed it. Or who had love
ones die because of it. I live very close to Dullas Airport. I used to whatch the
planes with fasination. Now I watch them with caution, concern, is it up high enough,
is it on a normal route, will it explode?

Yes, we must remember. We proved that we are strong, and compassionate and
that above all else Americans are good people.

Yes I flew my flag. I did it because I did not know what else to do. Everyone
wanted to help, flying our flags made us feel like we were doing something.
Even something little.