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#535 | Wednesday, December 19th, 2001
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I live in NJ but I came into the city September 10th for a Yankees/Sox game. (Yanks rule!) The game was rained out and my sister and I stayed with a friend at Columbia that night. We were to take the 9:00 bus home that morning of the 11th because I had to go home to pack for the drive to school in NH that day. We were in the Port when the planes actually hit. As we boarded the bus, I received a call from my dad on my cell phone. The coverage was breaking up but I could make out "Something terrible....World Trade Center..plane crash....not be able....get out...city." My first thoughts were it was an accident but as the bus pulled out onto the ramp, I saw the massive brown mass clouding the crystal blue sky obstructing the view of lower Manhattan. I could hear much activity going on the bus driver's radio. When I heard,” The first one's gone," that’s when I realized it was no accident from a tiny 4-person Cessna. We approached the Lincoln Tunnel but it had been sealed off for fear that it would be the next target. Our bus driver then stopped the bus and stood up.
"We've been attacked, we're under full terrorist alert. We can't leave the city” he said as he searched for words. Nobody quite understood the severity of the situation.
“I have to make a call!!! It’s urgent!” an elderly woman several rows behind me shrieked.
“I’m sure we all have people to call but all phone lines are down.” He said trying to reassure her. The bus was abuzz as we drove around in circles. Finally, we returned to the port and were told to stay on the bus. “NO!” my sister whispered to me. “We will get off this bus, we’re not going to stay anywhere where there are people” she ordered. Her being 5 years older I listened. I was just in a state of disbelief and confusion, this was a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. We got off the bus and ran through the Port Authority building to the street. The taxi line was about 20 people long, everyone frantically dialing cell phones, some crying, some just standing in disbelief trying to absorb everything. A vendor nearby turned on a radio and a group gathered around and sat on the sidewalk together as they listened to the events unfold. People on the streets gave each other mutual shoulders to cry on and just tried to understand together. We stood on the line for taxis but every car was racing uptown to get further away. But one stopped at the end of the line, a good-hearted cabbie that saw two lost teenaged girls.
We went back uptown to our friend’s apartment. It was then that it hit me, when the radio spurted out the words “terrorist” and “Osama bin Laden.” A person had intentionally done this. That name sounded so cold, so heartless. Our cabbie tried and tried to get in touch with his wife. He finally got through. The relief in her voice as she sobbed hysterically into the phone brought tears to my eyes. How many thousands of people weren’t as lucky as her? The pain was unconceivable.
Once we reached our destination we bid our cabbie farewell and thanks and turned on a TV. I saw the most horrific sights in my life, The amateur footage of the second plane flying into the tower, the deluge of the towers collapsing, and the ghost-like lower Manhattan with people blanketed with debris running for their lives are images forever ingrained into my memory. I spent the rest of that day watching the television hoping to find an answer, some kind of explanation justifying the horror. The usually composed Peter Jennings broke down on the air. It was all of us. We tried to be strong but the tears came penetrating through. This was unlike anything that had ever happened to our generation. It was a day that all of us would remember forever. I couldn't sleep that I night. I stayed awake and listened to the roar of the low flying fighter jets as they circled Manhattan.
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Ash | 15 | New Jersey
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#536 | Wednesday, December 19th, 2001
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I am a New Yorker. I came to live in New York from London, U.K. 15 years ago, I am 43, a mother of two. I was at my home in Tribeca. I heard the roar of the jet and ran to the window to see the tail end of the first jet disappear into the tower. I watched as the horrid event took place and listened to hundreds of grinding sirens as firemen and police raced to their sad fate. I am changed forever. God bless all who perished, all who mourn, and all who are fighting for liberty at home and abroad.
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Barbara | 43 | New York
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#537 | Wednesday, December 19th, 2001
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i was in my office and the time is 7 pm
we got the immediate news from reuters
since we do online trading in
commodities.it is a disaster.
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Rajesh | 23 | India
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#538 | Wednesday, December 19th, 2001
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September 11th a day to live in imfamy for all of history. It's a day I'm sure to never forget. I will never forget where I was when I heard the news. I was in Mr. Fredricks 2nd mod Psychology I class. I felt like my world had come to a screaching hault. Watching the towers crumble at the hands of terriosts seemed so unreal. I never thought I would ever live to see something like that in America. It still feels unreal more than three months later. My condolences to all of those who lost family in New York, at the Pentagon and all of those seemingly forgotten in the feild of Pennsylvania. Never can we turn back the hands of time. But I hope the unity and patriatism of this country after September 11th will always remain. Because I can say everytime I drive down the road and see the proud red white and blue of the flag of my country it makes me realize how lucky I am to be an America. God Bless America!!!!
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Luisa | 17 | Maryland
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#539 | Wednesday, December 19th, 2001
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I was at schools when it happened. The teachers weren't allowed to tell us, probably because I am only in 5th grade. We went the whole day without suspecting a thing. When I got home, my dad was sitting watching the TV. I knew something was wrong because of the serious, grave look he had on his face. I said, "What happend?" He said nothing. So I sat down and watched the TV. Again and again the tape of the crashes played again and again. When my mom got home, she didn't talk much. We got calls from all my friends and relatives, asking if everyone was ok. That night, we called a zillion people. When George W. Bush addressed the people, it was the first time I ever saw my mom cry. I am deeply saddend by the events, and hope that everyone who was affected is ok. God Bless America.
P.S. On a lighter tone, my friend's dad worked at the WTC, and survived. Unfortunately, he had pieces of glass and metal in his head. He said that Juliani would be after him! LOL!!! (Cause you aren't allowed to take anything from the WTC)
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Claire | 11 | New Jersey
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