#1512 | Thursday, August 1st 2002
I was in my 3rd period chemistry class in Queens,NY when the news came over the PA system. At first i thought, this can't be that bad stuff has happened like this before. But the next period which is my lunch period was pure chaos. Rumors were flying rampant..."oh the white house has been hit...theres a mall on fire.." and then finally i heard that the towers had collapsed. At first i thought hey he might be exaggerating like everyone else. But as the day went on it became clear that it was very serious. I will never forget hearing countless names being called over the loudspeaker for kids to meet their parents in the lobby. And i was left to think what is happening. As if that weren't sign enough that this was a dire situation, 7th period rolls around and we get dismissed and told that school was cancelled for the next day. I couldn't beleive that when the announcement was made kids stood up and cheered. It made me sick. I didn't find out till i got home what had truly happened. I could see the smoke on my walk home from school and i could smell it from my room. I'll never forget that night me and my sister(who wasn't sure what happened to a few friends of hers) took a walk up on grand avenue in maspeth. We walked around till almost 5 in the morning. The whole time being constantly reminded of the rescue efforts being forged by the glow of lights from the city. Its a day i'll never forget. I hope that in the future people can come back and read whats posted here and know what we all think as these tragedies transpired.
Francis | 17 | New York

#1489 | Thursday, July 18th 2002
Hi, I live in Queens, NY and I was a junior in High School. I was just leaving my 3rd period class when i overheard a teacher say to my teacher that all of manhattan is closed, and a plane hit one of the twin towers. First I didn't think much of it, i thought it was just hear-say. When i arrived at my 4th period class, my computer teacher was looking for a cd player w/radio to hook up into the computers, so we can all listen to the news. Kids dictated from their walkmans what was happening. "Tower 1 was hit, Tower 2 was hit, Trains are closed, The Pentagon was hit, Tower 2 collapsed, Tower 1 collapsed. They're gone, They're really gone!" I was shocked, but still, the reality didn't really set in yet. Walking to my 5th period class, I saw my friends crying and heard them tell teachers "my dad works in one of the towers!" I felt really sad. My last class of the day, History, was the worst class ever... it felt like it was 10 hours long. We sat in silence the whole period. Girls in my class said they're mothers worked on the 76th floor, and near the site. There was nothing we can do, and it hurt. I realized, my aunt works in the towers. I was suppose to intern there for her one summer. Tears built up in my eyes but i held them back. Sitting in that class for 42 minutes was so crushing. Silence is what killed me the most. Finally the sound of the bell. I rushed outside and across the street to call my mom and my boyfriend. As I was heading outside, so many parents were waiting in the lobby for their children. At the phones, I couldn't hold in my tears any longer. I went hysterical. My sister brought me home, and I ran into my mothers arms. They told me that my aunt didn't go to work that day. I cried and cried. My mother calmed me down a little, but then I saw what has happened on TV. The second plane crashing into the Tower. My hysterics began again. Seeing this plane go so fast and then BOOM stop in a building was horrifying. I thought of all the people that were killed, how many families were now hurt. I felt such a pain in my heart, I really did. I hated the fact that there was nothing I could do... I'm underaged and can't donate blood, or volunteer, it just hurt badly. Later on that evening, my sister told me that my aunt had gone to work and she just got home now (it was around 4 p.m.) I was shocked, I thought she was home. My mom got off the phone with my aunt and she told me what she said. "She was on the 34th floor of the second tower. She left when she heard the first plane hit. The firefighters told her to return to the floor where they were and that the building was secure. She didn't listen and her and a bunch of others ran like hell out of there. It took her around 15 minutes to get out. She saw the second plane hit. She said that it was raining bodies, and that she had to jump over dead people, and try to avoid being hit by body parts." I thought this was terrible. Later that day, I sat in my front yard and looked at the pink sky that was over the park trees. There was a huge black cloud of smoke within the pink sky. It was sad. That night was the hardest. All night long you heard ambulences and police sirens, and you knew exactly where they were going. I kept the news on for most of the night, in hope that they would find people in the collapsed towers. I hoped and prayed that they would find thousands of people, but thats all they were...hopes and prayers. I could barely sleep that night. Images of the footage on TV of the second plane crashing into the building, and of people jumping from the buildings were all that played over and over and over in my mind. I cried, for that was all I could do. I felt the pain of families losing people they loved. I wish this day had never happened. Being young and dealing with this tragedy was very hard for me. I've never felt so patriotic or such a proud New Yorker. I'll never forget this day... I'll never forget where i was, or who i was with. I pray that justice be done to those that planned this. I pray for the families that lost their innocent relatives and friends. I feel that everyone's lives have been affected, especially those from NY, PA, and WA. God Bless America... Land that I Love...
Victoria | 17 | New York

#1471 | Sunday, July 14th 2002
September 11th was the first day of classes last fall at my boarding school in California. As I sat in the dining hall eating breakfast sometime around 7:30 AM, a girl in my class came up to the table I was sitting at and said, "You guys, the Pentagon has been bombed!" I said, "You're kidding!" It just seemed like it must have been a movie. We aren't normally allowed to watch TV at school, but they set up a TV in the auditorium for people to watch the news whenever they had some free time. That was also the only day the boom box in the bathroom has ever been set to a news station while people were showering after sports. It was pretty surreal.
Lucy | 17 | Kansas

#1467 | Saturday, July 13th 2002
I woke up and my mom was watching tv and listening to the radio, and they were talking about a plane hitting a twin tower.. Me, being stupid as I am.. had nooo clue what the twin towers were.. I didnt think anything of it. Then I was in my computer applications class and my teacher had a tv on. We seen the second plane hit, and we sat and watched it during class. We did that in every class.

It was very weird to have it happen to the US... you just wouldnt think about it until it really does happen.

Amanda | 17 | Minnesota

#1466 | Friday, July 12th 2002
Being in New Zealand, I was fast asleep at the time. My Dad came into my room a little after 6am, "America's been attacked". At first, in my dazed state, it didn't register. I got out of bed and went out to watch what was happening on TV.
Complete shock. I immediately assumed I was witnessing the beginning of World War III. We all sat around the TV silently cursing before realising we had to get out of the house and go to work/school.
It seemed nobody was unaware of the morning's events. I can't remember a class I went to where we actually worked. The majority of the time, we sat glued to the TV, watching and re-watching what had happened. Talking. I don't think any of us had ever heard the name Osama bin Laden, so our History lesson was spent trying to discover him; what he stood for, etc.

Over the following weeks our television and newspapers were filled with images and reports, also personal accounts including those that had lost loved ones.
Last week at the library I picked up a book 'Tribute to the WTC'. It was amazing to see the building of the two towers - so much work, material, time gone into their making.. so strong-looking.

I do hope they will re-build the towers. I quite liked Brad Pitt's idea of having a see-through part on each tower where they were hit (even though that would probably be somewhat eerie).

Lana | 17 | New Zealand

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