story1159.xml
Title
story1159.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-08-19
911DA Story: Story
September 11th, 2001 was my first day ever as a substitute school teacher. I had signed up to teach for the Richardson Independent School District in Richardson, Texas and was assigned to the Christa McAuliffe Alternative School. This is the school where students who have become disciplinary problems are sent for a predetermined amount of time for corrective action. I wanted to be early and so I left my home in time to check into the office and introduce myself to the office staff. As a result, I had switched off NPR just moments before the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center and was not aware of anything until one of the other teachers came in and told me the second plane has just crashed into the New York landmark. I turned on the radio to hear of the explosion in Washington. At the time the location was unknown and the target was undetermined. The nation was in a state of panic. As televisions were turned on throughout the school, I witnessed the collapse of the two towers of World Trade Center.
Stunned, I sat down at my desk with the radio still on and wrote out a long hand statement.
Here is the transcription of those thoughts. Today, August 19, 2002, will be the first time I will have read them since I put pen to paper. These are the raw, unedited thoughts of that day on one common American.
September 11, 2001
It is an incredible day today as I sit here watching & listening to the reports of the attacks on the World Trade Center in Manhattan & various building in Washington, D.C. I am substitute teaching at the RISD alternative school, the Christa McAuliffe Learning Center. This school is the last stop before jail for many of it?s students.
It is very hard not to burst into tears right now. Both towers of TWC were hit by large aircraft that had been hijacked. Subsequently both towers collapsed entirely. There have been no estimates of the loss of life. But also a large aircraft was flown straight into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. All Federal buildings are being evacuated, all airports are being closed, all aircraft have been ordered to land at the nearest airport and the hijacked aircraft used in the attacks were all three commercial airliners with passengers & crew on board.
The destruction is unbelievable. Both the World Trade Center towers were 110 stories tall and the loss of life will be in the thousands. A report of a third 50 story building in Manhattan in close proximity to TWC collapsing can only mean further injuries and fatalities. In addition, there are panic reports that other facilities in D.C. are being attacked but no confirmations.
The student?s reactions here is odd at best. Some are overreacting as trouble teens might react; lots of boasts of ?Let?s go to war? and ?It?s the Palestinians? and other statements of bravery braggadocio. But they have no idea... no idea.
The school is within a block of the local mosque & Richardson has a very large Muslim population. Concern that someone may be stupid and retaliate have been voiced but the school resource officer says the Police are on the highest alert for trouble.
This is my generation?s version of Pearl Harbor. Hundreds if not thousands of lives are lost untold amounts of injuries will result. My God, what has happened today The President should be on the air after his return from Florida. No one knows what the reaction of the U.S. will be or against whom... no one knows.
The footage of the collapse of both towers of TWC is nothing short of horrendous. Having been there (at TWC) , the size and magnitude of the disaster is overwhelming. The buildings are so close together and it is close to Wall Street and the ferries to the Statue of Liberty. It is just incredible, unbelievable and horrifying. I cannot imagine what the City of New York will like after this. The usually stoic New Yorkers can never be the same. TWTC was such a part of the NYC skyline that it is hard to think of city without them. Amazing, just amazing...
Rumors are flying about closing the borders permanently (both Mexican & Canadian borders are closed today), going to war with the Middle East, stopping immigration. Unconfirmed reports say that several 4-star generals have been killed at the Pentagon and that other planes are still unaccounted for at airports. Several international flights have been diverted to Canada.
What will happen? Is this related to the raids in Richardson? Will the 4th Amendment stay intact? What will our ?national policy? be? Just this morning, Don Imus was talking about our lack of policy and what should or could be done?
No telling what will happen... and we are watching ?I Love Lucy? in class.
The Galleria and all public/Federal buildings in downtown Dallas are closed. People are hunkering down wondering what is next... no one know...
Later that day
Reports now at about 2:30 p.m. say as many as 10,000 may have died in TWTC alone, not counting all the onlookers who were watching as the buildings collapsed. In addition, countless numbers of emergency workers & police officers were already on the scene of the 1st tower when the second plane impacted. It took less than an hour for the first tower to collapse and then 28 minutes later, the second tower groaned & came down top first.
Seeing this on television gives a person almost a surreal sense that this cannot be real, Only in movies do we see entire building collapse with such catastrophic results. But unfortunately, this is real. But just hours later, it already feels distant. It happened this morning. Lives are going on, clean up starts but what happens next? Where does it go from here? How does a broken world get fixed? As one reporter said, ?Not since the Revolutionary War, have Americans been attacked on their own soil.? It is so hard to believe. It almost seems like a movie or a dream...
These were my thoughts that day.
Thanks for the forum and the archive. I hope someday that generations to come will have an opportunity to know what a turning point in United States history 9/11/01 was for America. My only question is... which way did we turn; for better or worse?
Patrick E. Nance
757 James Drive
Richardson, Tx 75080
972-644-9074
emswife@attbi.com
DOB: 5/26/53
Age: 49
Stunned, I sat down at my desk with the radio still on and wrote out a long hand statement.
Here is the transcription of those thoughts. Today, August 19, 2002, will be the first time I will have read them since I put pen to paper. These are the raw, unedited thoughts of that day on one common American.
September 11, 2001
It is an incredible day today as I sit here watching & listening to the reports of the attacks on the World Trade Center in Manhattan & various building in Washington, D.C. I am substitute teaching at the RISD alternative school, the Christa McAuliffe Learning Center. This school is the last stop before jail for many of it?s students.
It is very hard not to burst into tears right now. Both towers of TWC were hit by large aircraft that had been hijacked. Subsequently both towers collapsed entirely. There have been no estimates of the loss of life. But also a large aircraft was flown straight into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. All Federal buildings are being evacuated, all airports are being closed, all aircraft have been ordered to land at the nearest airport and the hijacked aircraft used in the attacks were all three commercial airliners with passengers & crew on board.
The destruction is unbelievable. Both the World Trade Center towers were 110 stories tall and the loss of life will be in the thousands. A report of a third 50 story building in Manhattan in close proximity to TWC collapsing can only mean further injuries and fatalities. In addition, there are panic reports that other facilities in D.C. are being attacked but no confirmations.
The student?s reactions here is odd at best. Some are overreacting as trouble teens might react; lots of boasts of ?Let?s go to war? and ?It?s the Palestinians? and other statements of bravery braggadocio. But they have no idea... no idea.
The school is within a block of the local mosque & Richardson has a very large Muslim population. Concern that someone may be stupid and retaliate have been voiced but the school resource officer says the Police are on the highest alert for trouble.
This is my generation?s version of Pearl Harbor. Hundreds if not thousands of lives are lost untold amounts of injuries will result. My God, what has happened today The President should be on the air after his return from Florida. No one knows what the reaction of the U.S. will be or against whom... no one knows.
The footage of the collapse of both towers of TWC is nothing short of horrendous. Having been there (at TWC) , the size and magnitude of the disaster is overwhelming. The buildings are so close together and it is close to Wall Street and the ferries to the Statue of Liberty. It is just incredible, unbelievable and horrifying. I cannot imagine what the City of New York will like after this. The usually stoic New Yorkers can never be the same. TWTC was such a part of the NYC skyline that it is hard to think of city without them. Amazing, just amazing...
Rumors are flying about closing the borders permanently (both Mexican & Canadian borders are closed today), going to war with the Middle East, stopping immigration. Unconfirmed reports say that several 4-star generals have been killed at the Pentagon and that other planes are still unaccounted for at airports. Several international flights have been diverted to Canada.
What will happen? Is this related to the raids in Richardson? Will the 4th Amendment stay intact? What will our ?national policy? be? Just this morning, Don Imus was talking about our lack of policy and what should or could be done?
No telling what will happen... and we are watching ?I Love Lucy? in class.
The Galleria and all public/Federal buildings in downtown Dallas are closed. People are hunkering down wondering what is next... no one know...
Later that day
Reports now at about 2:30 p.m. say as many as 10,000 may have died in TWTC alone, not counting all the onlookers who were watching as the buildings collapsed. In addition, countless numbers of emergency workers & police officers were already on the scene of the 1st tower when the second plane impacted. It took less than an hour for the first tower to collapse and then 28 minutes later, the second tower groaned & came down top first.
Seeing this on television gives a person almost a surreal sense that this cannot be real, Only in movies do we see entire building collapse with such catastrophic results. But unfortunately, this is real. But just hours later, it already feels distant. It happened this morning. Lives are going on, clean up starts but what happens next? Where does it go from here? How does a broken world get fixed? As one reporter said, ?Not since the Revolutionary War, have Americans been attacked on their own soil.? It is so hard to believe. It almost seems like a movie or a dream...
These were my thoughts that day.
Thanks for the forum and the archive. I hope someday that generations to come will have an opportunity to know what a turning point in United States history 9/11/01 was for America. My only question is... which way did we turn; for better or worse?
Patrick E. Nance
757 James Drive
Richardson, Tx 75080
972-644-9074
emswife@attbi.com
DOB: 5/26/53
Age: 49
Collection
Citation
“story1159.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 13, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/8604.