story4226.xml
Title
story4226.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-11
911DA Story: Story
We didn't have the television on... nor the radio. My husband was sleeping in, on his only day off of the week. I was going to drive to the county library to do some genealogical research, and upon entering my car and turning on the radio, I heard a news bulletin...
The announcer was saying that an airplane had struck the World Trade Center...
Running back into the house I yelled to turn on the tv... my children were finishing up their reading assignments for the morning and looked startled as I burst into the living room. My husband ran to the television and we turned on Fox News Channel... Oh, my gosh....
We had tuned in just in time, it seems, to witness the second airplane being driven through the second tower... live. I just dropped to my knees, and started crying... the PEOPLE, the people, Oh NO...
My husband was looking stunned, and my poor son, who was 11 years old at the time, just kept asking "What is it? What's going on?" as we tried to usher our 5 year old daughter out of the room... No, she was just too young to have to deal with this.
And what was next? As we watched and discovered that the Pentagon was hit, and another airplane was down in Pennsylvania, the questions were flying through my mind at the speed of fear... Are all of the planes in the air accounted for? Are more places going to be attacked? Where is our President? Is he and his family safe?
Is there something coming at US? Right now?
As the day wore on, and we sat transfixed to the images on our television, we immersed ourselves in prayer, to the Almighty God... He is our rock and our strength. I knew that we would be fine, as His peace flowed over and through me.
God would take care of us. God would comfort the comfortless, and give peace to the afflicted...
And the old saying, that old flag, kept creeping into my mind also... DON'T TREAD ON ME... Yes, that was the spirit of the People of the United States of America. We would work together, and come through this... With God's help.
God bless America.
Gini Shackelford
The announcer was saying that an airplane had struck the World Trade Center...
Running back into the house I yelled to turn on the tv... my children were finishing up their reading assignments for the morning and looked startled as I burst into the living room. My husband ran to the television and we turned on Fox News Channel... Oh, my gosh....
We had tuned in just in time, it seems, to witness the second airplane being driven through the second tower... live. I just dropped to my knees, and started crying... the PEOPLE, the people, Oh NO...
My husband was looking stunned, and my poor son, who was 11 years old at the time, just kept asking "What is it? What's going on?" as we tried to usher our 5 year old daughter out of the room... No, she was just too young to have to deal with this.
And what was next? As we watched and discovered that the Pentagon was hit, and another airplane was down in Pennsylvania, the questions were flying through my mind at the speed of fear... Are all of the planes in the air accounted for? Are more places going to be attacked? Where is our President? Is he and his family safe?
Is there something coming at US? Right now?
As the day wore on, and we sat transfixed to the images on our television, we immersed ourselves in prayer, to the Almighty God... He is our rock and our strength. I knew that we would be fine, as His peace flowed over and through me.
God would take care of us. God would comfort the comfortless, and give peace to the afflicted...
And the old saying, that old flag, kept creeping into my mind also... DON'T TREAD ON ME... Yes, that was the spirit of the People of the United States of America. We would work together, and come through this... With God's help.
God bless America.
Gini Shackelford
Collection
Citation
“story4226.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed April 9, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/7254.