I know that many people are blogging about 9/11 on today, but I felt the need to put in my 2 cents.
I still remember that morning very clearly. My son was 3 years old and we had been watching Blue's Clue's, of course. You have to know that my son was a Blue's Clues addict at that time. I watched so much of it that I would actually have dreams that I was "with" Steve. Anyways, we were watching his favorite show and my mother called. She asked if I was watching the news and that a plane had just hit one of the World Trade Center towers. So I turned the channel to Good Morning America, just in time to see the second airplane hit the other tower. My heart dropped, and I started to cry. This upset my son, and him being 3, I knew there was no way that I could explain this to him, so he would understand why I was crying. I remember telling him that mommy was said because a plane crashed into a building. He asked me if I knew them. He was such a smart little guy! Because Mom was crying he became upset. I took him to my room and turned on the TV for him there. He knew that was a big deal, because he was never allowed to watch TV in Mom's room unless she was with him. I just couldn't turn off the TV.
I sat there all day watching the events unfold. Then when the 3rd plane hit the Pentagon, my heart really stopped. I did know people that worked there. Growing up in Northern Virginia, everyone you knew worked for the Government and many worked in the Pentagon. It slammed home for me at that time, This was no accident, this was no coincidence. This was happening. American is being attacked on our home turf. I was angry, I was livid, I was scared. If they could do this over Washington D.C., one of our most protected cities, they could hit anywhere.
I remember the silence in the skies. It was surreal, how quiet it got. We lived in Michigan at that time and not too far from 3 airports including an air force base. Plane noise was so common, you didn't even think about it, until there were none. Then the air planes started up, they were coming from the air force base. I didn't know it at that time, and became really frightened. Was this another attack? I grabbed my son and ran outside to see the planes fly overhead. I hoped they were ours. I am not good at plane identification, but I did realize these were ours, but were they being flown by our guys? Yes, I became paranoid. Who didn't that day. We were being bombarded everywhere by speculations on what was happening.
The day went on, and I continued to be glued to the TV, even becoming upset at times when I had to stop and care for my son. I didn't want and couldn't stop watching what was going on. The towers fell. Those tall magestic towers fell like our dreams that day. It felt like the end of the world. And before they fell, we saw glimpses of people falling or jumping out of the towers. As much as the newscasters tried to shield us, the images slipped through. I remember the wall of debris and dust moving down the streets and covering the city like a dirty blanket, smothering the last of our hopes that people could be saved from the inferno. I felt like I couldn't breath watching the panic on everyones faces that were running from the grey monster chasing them down. Even the newscasters and reporters were terrified. Words failed everyone at that time.
Then in the days that followed, we found out about those brave souls that stopped the 4th plane from reaching it's destination. God bless them and their families. We heard the stories from the plane and the towers and the Pentagon of people that saved others, that called their loved ones to say good bye, that tried to reach the outside world to let them know what was going on. The brave firefighters that rushed in buildings that everyone else was rushing out of, to try and save as many as they could, and lost their lives in the process. The men that were trapped in the endless rubble that was once the two towers, and how upon finding them, our spirits were lifted. If they survived, could there be more? Sadly there were not. We saw the pictures that plastered every surface in New York, of missing loved ones. We heard stories of those that made it out and those that stayed behind to make sure everyone got out.
We went to war, to make sure that the people that were responsible, could never touch us again on American soil. Songs were recorded about our great men and women of America. We were One Nation, Undivided. Then we fell apart. We found out, people knew this could happen, knew it was going to happen. We got angry at the terroist and the government. The war went on too long. We wanted our men and women to come home. We forgot why we are there, and what we are fighting for. Yes it has taken too long. There should be some way for us to find the men responsible for this nightmare. But we also forget, we are not the only ones under attack. Every country has had acts of terroism. And we need to support eachother against these people who believe in attacking innocents in the name of their God. We are not innocent, we have done the same, but we have learned from our mistakes. It is time for them to learn as well. America is the land of the free and the home of the brave, and we Never forget. I will never forget those people that gave their lives without choice and those that are giving their lives with choice. Support your troops and question your government.
