I’ve seen a few of these posts around today – I think it’s an important part of remembering. Not in the Darryl Worley way though, please no….
I was a senior at Whitworth University. I just woke up and turned on my computer. I always used to check the news first thing in the morning. When I went to CNN.com that morning, the website looked way different than normal. And there was something on the website about terrorists and a plane crashing into the Twin Towers. My first reaction was that their website had been hacked.
And then I turned on the radio – and couldn’t believe what I was hearing…I ran over to the HUB (the Student Union Building) and there was a cafe area with a bunch of TVs. Everyone was there watching the news. I think most professors canceled classes and it seems like everyone was just there…watching…unbelieving…
I remember how angry I felt – watching the planes, I just remember getting angry and thinking things like “We need to go GET those damn terrorists.” I had to check myself there (pacifist that I was/am). But it does help me remember how easy it was for Bush to do whatever he wanted after that…we were an angry, angry country.
That night we held a Prayer Vigil at Whitworth…
Where were you on 9/11?
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I was home in Colorado on vacation from my job in Alabama. My mother had planned to take a drive through the mountains so I could get my fix before heading back down south. I got up early and saw the news on the Today show. I got her up and we watched for a couple of hours, but then decided to go to the mountains anyway, because there really wasn’t anything we could do, but sit and worry.
It was nice to be among the permanence and solidity of the mountains that day.
i was at home and started watching the news which was my practice at that time. then the breaking news of the fire at WTC came on. then watched at the 2nd plane came hit the other WTC bldg.
being from NJ i called a number of my family & friends to alert them to the news (i didn’t expect any of them to be in the buildings). i was broken hearted and crying as i watched because i knew what the firefighters and emergency service people were doing in the building (having spent two years in fire service in NJ) i knew who was running up stairs, hooking into stairway pipes, carrying people down and out of the bldg.
the interesting family story came from my mother. she breeds & raises champion show Welsh Corgi dogs (think ‘best in show’ and you have the world of my parents). my mom has in her contracts that new owners have to take their dog to the vet within 48 hours. mom sold a lady a puppy and she took the dog to the vet on tuesday. the dog was renamed ‘lucky’ as the young lady worked on one of the upper floors of one of the WTC.
I was in my church office with the ministerial staff and my co-workers. Cannot think of a better place to be at a time like that.
~Mad(elyn) in Alabama
9/11/01 I was serving as Associate Pastor of a church in San Antonio. We had a funeral that day with services at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetary. Someone called and told me that a plane had hit the WTC. “Seriously? How could they not see the WTC?” But they did see it.
Fort Sam was shut down for weeks and Mildred waited patiently at the funeral home for it to reopen before she could finally be laid to rest.
We were living in Palestine. To be an American on 9/11 in the Muslim world is an experience that has shaped me more profoundly than almost anything I’ve touched.
Some reflections on that day an those immediately after:
http://bit.ly/UPEAs
http://bit.ly/1aOKmS
http://bit.ly/1FA0UV
http://bit.ly/4RJoq
i was doing youth ministry at my home church then. and i was actually at the local high school on that day, participating in a program called Challenge Day. they made an announcement that morning that ‘something’ happened — but it wasn’t until our midmorning break that the details of the news were communicated to the school. it was about 2 minutes later that i ran into one of my students, allison, in the hall – she was crying near-uncontrollably: her dad worked in one of the towers. it was an amazing blessing to be there on that morning of all days — to be present with her and others who were dealing with so much. allison’s father was fine.
I was in my senior year of high school. They made an announcement in the school during our first class that something had happened and that, though it may be difficult to understand, and shocking, they would appreciate the teachers turning on the televisions in the classrooms. They said that we would be staying in our first period class for longer than normal and that the schedule would be adjusted accordingly for the rest of the day.
We had a fifteen minute break a little later. I walked down to my newspaper teacher’s room because I was kind of at a loss, and we had things to work on, so I figured the best thing to do was just go on with plans as normal. Instead, she sent me out to get the “first reactions” of students in our school. I was mortified. I stood around all morning asking people how they felt about the biggest disaster to ever befall our nation since we had been alive. I decided at that point that I could never make it as a reporter.
I was a youth minister in Texas. I remember getting up and dressing as usual. I turned on the news as usual so I could make my breakfast and go into the office…don’t remember which network because I didn’t pay attention to that stuff and frequently switched between CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News.
I saw the smoke coming out of the tower and thought, oh boy someone left their coffee pot on last night. I saw the headline that a plane had hit it. Then the second plane hit. I was stunned. I knew that it wasn’t an accident. You just don’t see 2 planes hit in a row like that. I could see one doing it accidentally, but not two.
I sat down after and watched. I got enough sense to put in a tape and record. I still watch that tape every year as a personal memorial. I went into work after lunch. The minister and I talked for a while. We were in shock. We planned a small prayer gathering that night for anyone who needed to come and pray and for comfort. We all were confused and didn’t know why something like this would happen. But we remembered Jesus and how he told us that there would be people that would hate us for following him.
Tears were shed. One man, Patrick, was a firefighter who helped after the Oklahoma City bombing shared his experience in that and talked about the images the firefighters and police and rescue personnel would have burned in their memories forever. These events change people. It makes us remember what is important.
At a memorial a year later, these words were on a slide show we had on our PowerPoint: “The events of 9/11 and today’s memorials should sober the Christian–not to continual mourning–but to greater deeds of compassion. We should be jolted back to the importance of evangelism, the absolute necessity of trust in God, and the fervency of prayer.”
This holds true even today. Let us not forget what happened. It will be hard to forgive, but let us try. Let us remember that President Bush did what he thought was right. I am glad I didn’t have to try to make a decision like that. He didn’t prey on an opportunity, but strove to protect us and millions around the world. Ultimately, we must pray for our leaders because they have to deal with things of this nature while we are safe and secure in our homes and jobs and lives.
I was at home getting ready to go to work, listening to WNYC. They “reported a fire or explosion” at the WTC. A minute later the station cut out. I thought this was odd so I turned on the TV. The second plane was just about to hit. Later in the day I drove to an overpass in Springfield were I could see the smoke. Never got to work.