nmah3667.xml

nmah3667.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

On September 11, 2001, I was in my office at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, working on student folders and listening to the BBC over the Internet. Suddenly, I snapped to attention--something about the announcer's voice had caught my attention. I realized he was saying that something had happened in New York--a plane had hit the World Trade Center and it was on fire. I ran out of the office to find all of my colleagues gathered, talking, and speculating that this was an attack, which I refused to believe. Then the second plane hit, and I was partially convinced. About an hour later, I went into another office to return a folder and one of the women was sitting at her desk with the oddest expression on her face--it was a combination of horror, disbelief, amazement and fear. She told me t hat another plane had hit the ground in PA, and that it had been heading for Washington. Then, I belived that we were under attack and I realized that I was seeing her expression mirrored on everyone's face. We didn't know what to do, then. We all tried to call our families but most of the phone lines were overloaded and unavailable, so we just sat, stunned and in disbelief. Finally, we heard that the university was putting CNN on the big screen in the auditorium and we went over in small groups just to see what was happenening in New York and Washington. I'll never forget the silence of our usually busy and noisy campus. Nobody talked, nobody laughed and some people were quietly crying. Occasionally, you would hear someone exclaim, Oh My God, my (mother, father, brother, sister, etc) works in that building, but for the most part, thousands of us sat in total silence just viewing the devastation. It was an eerie, unforgetable experience. Finally, we just filed out in order to make room for the hundreds who were waiting, silently, to take our seats.

Yes, I traveled to Australia and New Zealand this summer and I was surprized to find how hesitant I was to take that 14 hour flight and to be so far from home and family. I was also surprized at my reaction to the question has anyone asked you to carry anything.... I told the agent NO and nobody had better ask me to do that, either, if they know what's good for them--I was truly furious at the very thought that someone might try to use me to do their dirty work. I enjoyed my trip but I was very grateful to see Los Angeles on our return--and usually, I am sad to come back from anywhere.

I think that we must remember the united effort of every American to try to do something to help. We were a country truly united in September, 2001, and showed during that time what it means to be an American. I hope we will be able to convey this to future generations because it was so significant--a heartfelt outpouring of national emotion that I have not felt since John Kennedy was assasinated.

Yes, I flew the flag until the weather in Ohio prevented me from doing so. I also put on my porch light to show that the flag was flying.