story11454.xml

story11454.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2005-06-10

I was sitting at my desk drawing, not paying attention to my math teacher, an ordinary routine Tuesday. The voice of our principal came over the announcements. "Please turn your classroom televisions to channel five immediately, the students will be heading home momentarily." Before this we had heard a distant rumble, but all that was made was somone saying "What was that?", and the teacher hushing him. The television was turned on and the class was full of suspense. I can't remember myself really being old enough to take much note of this event, but it had been a fairly amazing thing to have happened to me, just three miles away. On channel five, there was a news reporter shouting on a balcony with the image of the massive burning structure towering above the others on the horizon. Our teacher gasped and said "Oh my god!" I didn't really know what to think. I knew that building and had been to it before. I listened to the reporter shouting about how it might collapse and the plane flying into it. "Back to you Will" the reporter was out of breath. Now there was yet another reporter in front of yet another burning building. The newsman explained a terrorist jet had slammed squarely into the side of the famous building the Pentagon. I couldn't help but to feel shocked. My mind was racing trying to think of how or why somone would crash their plane to destroy hundreds of lives including theirs. Tears were streaming down my teachers face. This had to be something big. In a matter of minutes my dad cam to pick me up from my classroom. On the way home we could here the fighter jets zooming around the pentagon. I thought of all the lives that were lost and how it would be to be in New York. Thousands of innocent people, and a few terrorists who must of thought it was a good choice to make to sacrifice their lives just to kill Americans.