Ten years ago yesterday marked the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. A day that I will never forget until the day I die. It was the day that America changed forever. The terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, The Pentagon, and the plane that didn't make it to the Capital or the White House will forever be in my memory. We will all be able to tell the story of "where were you on 9/11". Here is my story:
I was in my apartment on the south side of Des Moines. I was getting ready for work and had the Today show on. It was my day to work 11-8 so I was taking my time in the morning. When I turned on the television I was watching a plane fly into one of the Twin Towers. At first I thought it was a movie clip because it looked so real, and then I realized that this IS real. My heart started racing but yet I couldn't take my eyes off of the t.v. The next thing I knew I saw the second plane hit the second tower, saw the explosion and thought my God, what is happening? I panicked and call Eric at work and he was okay, then I had to hear from all of my family members. I called my dad in Minnesota, my sister in Kansas City and my brother in Arizona and everyone was okay.
As things started to unravel I watched another plane crash into the Pentagon and the last plane was still in the air. The entire country was put on hold. Over 5000 planes were grounded in a miracle moment without error. There was the 4th plane and people didn't know what was going to happen with it. It turns out that the plane was hijacked and was headed for either the White House or the Capital. The passengers overtook the plane and crashed it into a meadow so that no more lives would be taken and the terrorists would not succeed. We heard all of this later of course. The passengers on board were able to contact family members and tell them what was going on. True heroes that is for sure.
I think the most horrific moment is when the first tower started to crumble and come down. There was debris and smoke and paper and people running everywhere. As the second tower crumbled the death toll was staggering. I think it was almost 3000 people with over 350 of them being firefighters and policemen. I cried and was fearful to go to work, because you start to wonder, "where is the next attack going to be?" I did go to work and it was really hard to take care of people who really were doing okay all in all especially when all of this was happening. Dr. Ekwena was one of the docs I worked with and he was crying because he left Nigeria, a country of war, to come to America and now we were under attack.
As all of the stories replayed over the last couple of days, I cried a lot. For the kids who lost parents and for all for all of the heroes who fought and are still fighting for OUR FREEDOM and safety. I remember that it took months if not longer to be able to look into the sky and see a plane and not visualize that plane crashing into the Twin Towers. I have a photo from a trip to New York City on top of the Twin Towers, and they are gone. Now ground zero is a haunting memory for many, a memorial and a reminder that we can never forget what happened that day and who has fought for this country.
For the husband who told his wife I love you one last time before his plane went down in a field, for the wife who stopped in the stairs to call her husband to say I will love you forever, for the mothers and fathers who kissed their kids goodbye the morning they died, for the policemen who rushed in with firemen to help get others out only to die themselves, for the soldiers who fought back and lost their lives. Today, tomorrow, ten years from now, we will remember!
And as the last note of this journal entry... Osama Bin Laden was caught and killed in May 2011. He has met his maker and he will be judged!
