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#1182 | Sunday, April 14th, 2002
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Our alarm goes off at 5:22 am Alaska time. I got up to let the cat out and wandered back into the bedroom to get my clothes before showering. My husband stays in bed until about 6 am when the second alarm goes off, but the radio continues to talk and sing to him while he dozes.
When I walked back into the bedroom at about 5:30, Jim asked me if I'd heard about the World Trade Center. I asked him, "What'd they do? Bomb it again?" He said he wasn't sure since he was half asleep when he heard that "something" had happened. I got into the shower and proceeded with my routine since I had the radio on in the bathroom and knew I'd hear it whenever they mentioned it again. And . . . mention it they did!
Jim was up by 5:45 am that day and sitting in front of the TV upstairs with a cup of coffee. I went up as soon as I was dressed . . . in total disbelief! He had watched the second plane hit . . . and we both watched the first tower fall and then the second.
To say we were both pretty rattled is putting it very mildly. We were in shock and couldn't believe something so horrible could happen in our country.
We went to work that morning and every day following - Jim to his job as assistant city attorney, and me to one of two local public schools as a speech-language pathologist.
I knew the kids at school would be affected, and . . . they were. Since we live in Juneau and have thousands of tourists in town every summer between mid-April and late September, some of the school kids were terrified! When said quickly, ?tourist? and ?terrorist? can sound similar, and we had several children who were afraid to go outside for recess or anything else. They were afraid the ?tourists/terrorists? would get them.
Inside, I just cried . . . for the kids . . . for those who died . . . for the survivors . . . for all ethnic peoples . . . for all of us, because the acts were so incredibly senseless. I can?t even imagine the hatred others harbor against us.
I still cry inside. It feels like there?s a pit in my heart when I think about all this even now. All I can equate it to is the ?duck and cover? drills we would have at school when I was a child. I knew we were practicing for something terrible that could happen, but . . . I was too young to realize what was happening in our nation. I do remember the feeling of nervousness and agitation that was created by an unknown terror. The biggest difference is that I?m an adult now . . . and I?m well aware of the ramifications of these terrible events.
We in Juneau weren?t as affected as many across our nation. But . . . we had more than a few tense moments since all air traffic was grounded . . . as was all shipping. Nothing could come in . . . nothing could leave. It was so eerily quiet to hear nothing in the air but birds in a community that is landlocked by an ice field on one side and the Inside Passage on the other. We are totally dependent on both air and water traffic for all our goods and always have planes flying.
Tourist season was essentially over . . . three weeks early. And . . . it hasn't yet begun for this year.
No national sports . . . baseball and football took a week off. Every player sported a flag on his uniform the following week. Not only was the national anthem sung, but at the seventh inning stretch "God Bless America" was sung and broadcast at every game . . . and I?d sing along in my living room or car. Just typing this brings tears to my eyes still.
Many local people immediately put out flags and other patriotic colors. Flags and other patriotic things weren't available for purchase locally for many weeks. I think it was January before I could finally purchase a flag to fly. It gives me inspiration daily when I watch it waving in the breeze on one of our driveway light poles.
I find myself singing "God Bless America" aloud or to myself quite often.
A local teenager who visited the fire station in New York that lost so many firefighters began making and selling flag pins (for donations) . . . and sent all the money to that precinct. She and her family were there the week prior to the disaster. The pins are still available for purchase.
A woman in Skagway, AK asked me in late March where I got the beautiful flag pin that was on my shirt. She didn't want to copy the idea but was touched by my story and wanted pins for herself and others.
I thank the National Guardsmen and women at the security stations in the airports when I fly. I think it's a mistake that they will soon be decommisioned and removed from the airports without the trained personnel available to replace them.
I thank the airport security people for wanding me, searching my bags and asking me to remove my shoes. I appreciate the extra measures they are taking.
The first Seattle Mariner's baseball game I watched in early April showed the singing of "God Bless America" during the seventh inning stretch. I wish they were still broadcasting it during each game. (The baseball season is only 14 days old.)
What do I want? World peace . . . but I don?t think I?ll live to see it. I want safety for all . . . enough food for everyone . . . acceptance for everyone regardless his or her race, religion or color. I want love and not hatred . . . no violence.
I'm a dreamer. And, I believe in God . . . and liberty and justice for all . . . Amen.
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Dixie | 49 | Alaska
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#1183 | Sunday, April 14th, 2002
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I live in California, so by the time I got up in the morning, it was all over. I woke around 8:30am, but lay in bed lazily, looking outside at the beautiful day. I had been working on a massive project the day before at work and I happily announced to my boyfriend when he picked me up from work that I should complete the task by tomorrow. I got out of bed first and went into the shower.
I was in the middle of the shower when something strange happened. It sounded like the faucet and pipes in the bathroom were talking to me! They were humming loudly and I turned off the water to figure out what was happening. That is when I heard the TV in the living room, turned on as loud as I've ever heard it, so loud that it was vibrating off the faucet and pipes in the bathroom. I heard bits and pieces through the bathroom door....United flight blah blah blah this, United flight blah blah blah that.
I wiped myself, walked out of the bathroom to find my boyfriend watching CNN. I saw my first images of the towers on fire and collapsing. It was all a blur as I tried to make sense of it. I was shocked when I realized that the towers were no longer standing. My boyfriend turned to me and said, "You know this means war."
I didn't to watch TV all day, as I knew that's all I'd ever do if I stayed home, so I got ready for work. My boyfriend drove me to the shuttle stop, angry as hell and saying we should bomb whoever did it into the stone age -- using nukes if possible. I didn't feel angry, I was shocked and stunned, not even sad yet -- as it had yet to settle in my mind.
My shuttle bus had not arrived yet and I walked down the street thinking about what had just happened. I saw people walking on the lonely street, did they know what had just happened? I looked at the brand-new newspapers in the vending machines -- they seemed so behind-the-times and old news. I thought about the times I had been to New York and seen the WTC. I thought about the movie Meteor from 1981 which showed the Twin Towers exploding. I thought my own thoughts when I was there in person, wondering how the Towers could ever be safely demolished and imploded. I could not imagine how they could be brought down safely without damaging the surrounding buildings because they were so *freakingly* tall. And what I tried to visualize in my mind I saw with my eyes on CNN, and it was horrible.
I got on the shuttle to work. It was a short trip to the university. I thought about a predication I made idly in a chatroom a week before predicting a massive terrorist attack on the U.S. that would far eclipse Oklahoma City. I thought something that was gonna happen in the next 10 years, I didn't imagine it was right behind the corner. I worried about the FBI using Carnivore and reading my comments and thinking I somehow had advance knowledge.
When the shuttle got near my work, it was clear that something was wrong. There were police everywhere, a newsvan, and police tape everywhere. That summer I was working at Hoover Tower, a conservative institution and where many terrorism experts have studied. Apparently someone had phoned in a bomb threat to the Tower and the building was being evacuated. So it looked like there was no work today afterall. I found one of my co-workers standing nearby and he told me what had happened.
So I decided to go to my other office nearby and work on the project I had planned to work on today. I went into my office, closed the door, and logged onto CNN.com. And that is how I spent my day, updating every few minutes. It turned out to be no different than if I had stayed home and watched CNN on TV.
And that project? I haven't worked on it since.
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Sarah | 31 | California
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#1184 | Monday, April 15th, 2002
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I was in drivers ed when another teacher came in and told us that the pentagon had been hit. We turned on the TV and sat in complete silence until we were let out about an hour later.
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AC | 16 | Delaware
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#1185 | Monday, April 15th, 2002
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Monday, April 15th, 2002
On the morning of September 11, 2001,I was fixing my Dad's breakfast (he has Alzheimer's Disease and lives with me), when I turned on the t.v. news. At first I thought I was looking at some action movie, but I knew that movies weren't shown at this time on this channel. Then it set in: I was watching the World Trade Center being attacked! I went numb all over, a sense of being in a surreal nightmare came over me. I continued to watch the rest of that day, learning about the Pentagon attack and the passenger plane heroes who died rather than let terrorists attack the White House.
For the next two weeks, I would find myself sitting bolt-upright in bed at all times of the night and early morning, with a feeling of emptiness so vast that I felt I was being swallowed alive. I felt the pain and confusion of all of those souls who had departed this life so prematurely; and I felt the tremendous pain of all of those (family, friends, employees) who were left behind to deal with the horror.
I am so tired of Americans being called derogatory names. As a people, we are mostly hard working, thrifty and industrious, while finding time to volunteer and donate money and goods, in order to make this a better world for everyone. American is the most compassionate nation in the world, and I am extremely proud to be an American.
America, like all other countries, has its heroes and cowards, its honest and dishonest, its peaceful and destructive, its active and apathetic. But I can tell you that from my perspective, we have the best government in the world, because each and every citizen is a part of our government.
During the Vietnam War era I did not fly the American Flag, because so many of the bigots, rapers of the land, and dishonest people thought they were patriots by flying our flag. But now I fly our nation's flag, because we as a nation were directly attacked and must display unity for all to see.
To me, a true patriot loves the land, its animals, its people and its natural resources. A true patriot does the most he or she can to leave this world in a better condition then when he/she found it. And a true patriot will defend the United States when under attack, but above all else try to resolve disputes through diplomacy, realizing that all wars claim innocent victims, and that achieving peace through peaceful means is the most coveted of all victories. I may not always like who's currently administering our government, but will always love my country. And so I fly the American Flag, because I love my country.
American has been attacked and hurt, but this, too, shall pass...and we shall overcome.
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Crystal | 55 | California
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#1186 | Tuesday, April 16th, 2002
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I remember sitting in my technology class when my teacher said two planes flew into the world trade centers.At first i thought it was a joke.When I was at home my mom was so devestated.SO was I.I told my sister and she started crying rite then and there.It really sucked for my friend because his birthday was on september 11th.Wat a great gift.
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Miek | 13 | New York
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