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#1743 | Sunday, September 8th, 2002
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+September 11th 2001+:
In England you are 5 hours ahead of New York (Eastern Time), so it was about 3.00 here, maybe a little bit before. I had to walk home that day, I thought it was a little strange because my dad sometimes picks me up on Tuesdays, the day the tragedy happened. When I arrived home, I put one foot in the door and heard my mum say ‘Sickening to even think anyone would want to do this’. I stopped in my tracks and wondered whet had happened. I walked into the living room and looked at my mum & dad, they both had tears in there eyes, I looked at the television and to see smoke pouring out of a skyscraper. At first I didn’t realize what had happened. So I said to my dad ‘What’s up’. He told me that the world trade centers in New York had been hit with two planes. They had both collapsed in the process. My mouth dropped and immediately started to cry. I sat down as my knees felt week. I saw a image of someone falling in mid air. I just couldn’t put my finger on why would someone do this. I broke down and thought of the people who had lost someone or those who had lost their lives. I couldn’t watch. So I left. As I left they also said that 2 other planes had crashed, but one crashed in a field, the passagers got control of the plane but it crashed. All night I thought about it. Why? Why would someone do this? I had nightmares that night, I just couldn’t get it off my mind. Even now, I still feel the pain.
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Claire | 16 | United Kingdom
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#1744 | Sunday, September 8th, 2002
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On 9/11/2001 I was just starting my senior year of high school. Second period had just begun and we were patiently ignoring the teacher in our American History class. Little did we know that day was not going to be a review of American history but a day of making it. I had a portable personal tv on waiting for things to calm down in class when a news special report came on. The picture switched to the twin towers with smoke coming out of one of them. I tell my teacher to turn on the classroom tv. As we watched in confusion then horror our principal comes over the P.A. system telling all teachers to tune in and that, 'It seems a terrorist attack has been unleashed on the World Trade Center.' Once schools had been released in Philadelphia we all noticed how erie and quiet the skys were without air traffic. That was my account of the horror of 9-11.
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David | 18 | Pennsylvania
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#1745 | Sunday, September 8th, 2002
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On September 11, 2001 at the time of the attack, I was on my way to school, I was riding with my mom, and we had just dropped off my brother and sister at school. I first heard it on the radio, I thought it was a joke so we turned the radio station and every one of them said that a plane had hit the WTC in NYC. Then they said that 2 planes had crashed into it-thats when I knew that this was a terrorist act. When I got to school, i went into my class room and all the teachers had their TVs turned on and they were showing what happened, then "this just in"--a plane has crashed into the pentagon. I just put my head on my desk and prayed. Later they said that all the airplanes had been grounded and that another had crashed in Pennsylvania. Walking down the hall, very few people were talking, and if they were they were crying or in shock.
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Erin | 17 | Mississippi
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#1746 | Sunday, September 8th, 2002
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First Period- Spanish played it self out in a completely normal way. It was the last class I would ever take in a pre- 9/11 world.
Second period- English class goes as normal. There is no announcement made as the first tower is hit. However, just after the bell rings and I gather my things to leave class a student a year older than I rushes in and yells to the teacher, "Ms. Watkins, somebody just flew a plane into the World Trade Center." I proceed to World History believing the incident to be only a small private plane that accidently hit the buiding. I thought any casualties would be minor.
Third Period- I arrived to a classroom full of confused students. Stories had spread rapidly and were in many cases utterly false. It was said that armed helicopters had been attacking the Capital, that the National Mall was on fire, and even that enemy submarines had been firing missiles at New York City. Our teacher did little to comfort us. We were not allowed to talk about the incident or watch the television news. Instead, she lectured us on the Byzantine Empire.
Fourth Period- Our algebra teacher was in shambles. She did not say a word the entire period. She just sobbed at her desk as CNN brought me footage of the tragedy for the first time. At this point, no one was sure what was going on or who was responsible. Still not able to fully grasp the situation, my peers and I concocted adolescent revenge fantasies of assassinating Saddam Hussein or attacking Palestine. Though ridiculous and often brutal, I think these plots helped us to feel less helpless in a situation where we were unable to do anything.
Fifth Period- We are given a chemistry worksheet to complete but the TV is left on. Nobody does the worksheet. With such historic, horrific events unfolding in front of you, it is difficult to give a damn about oxidation numbers and balanced equations.
Lunch- The only topic of discussion is what is happening in New York and DC. We are still unsure as to what is going on. More revenge fantasies are debated.
Sixth Period- In Directed Study, a slacker class that resembles a loud and obnoxious form of study hall, we watch the news all period. Some do homework, I do not. I may have had some that day, but I do not recall doing it. By this point bin Laden's name had been mentioned by the media, and thus several raunchy cartoons featuring him were drawn by several students.
After School- My academic team practice had been cancelled. I went home and watched the news for hours. My mom decided at about 5:00 that we should go to the grocery store and wanted me to drive as a way of preparing for my upcoming driver's license test. I tried to rush the trip along so I could get home to the TV faster. The store was practically empty except for a few people stocking up and canned foods and bottled water. I suppose uncertainty is a great motivator for such things. After returning home I watched ABC news until midnight. If you ever see this, thank you Peter Jennings. You were phenomenal that night. I remember seeing you choke up on the air, and it helped to know that even a man so respected as yourself could cry unashamedly in front of millions. I cried along with you.
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Travis | 16 | Georgia
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#1747 | Sunday, September 8th, 2002
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Senior year had just started and I was in Psychology class 2nd period. Someone had told me that a plane hit the Empire State Building. I breathed a sigh of relief as i thought, "Thank God it wasn't the World Trade Center." A few minutes later, my godmother (who happens to be a teacher at my old high school) pulled me out of class to tell me that it had been, in fact, the Trade Center and there were 2 planes, not one. As I collapsed, crying, she made me think of whether or not my parents were on time for work that day... I couldn't remember. Their cell phones were out... My grandparents hadn't heard from my mother... All I could do was beep my dad constantly with a phone number at school. After a few hours, my mom finally called me and I found out that my mother, father, and stepmother were all late for work that day. I have never been more fortunate.
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Samantha | 18 | New Jersey
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