The Day America Changed Forever

I cannot go through my life and skip past this date without some recognition: September 11, 2001. Need I say more? It was the day that America, and, life as we knew it, changed forever:

Everyone has dates that stand out in their minds for one reason or another, but, this date is a day we all share. It connects every single one of us together. We all wear it on our faces and our thoughts or words cannot escape it every year. September 11, 2001 marks the day that an evil force slipped through our security and unleashed the most hateful and largest massacre from a foreign enemy on our sacred soil.

I was not born yet when Kennedy was shot, I barely remember Elvis dying, and, up until this point, the only national event that really impacted me was the Challenger Space Shuttle exploding. So, I will have to say that this event is the "Where were you when...?" question of my existence.

So, where was I when I first heard about the first plane crashing? I was at work at the corporate office for the home builder I told you about in my last entry. It was a typical day and I was in my "hurry up and get it done" mode that I used to slay my stacks upon stacks of purchase orders that I had to issue. The hallway outside my office was busy and I could see a steady blur of coworkers and trade partners whizzing by out of the corner of my eye. Then, it got quiet.....really really quiet... UNUSUALLY quiet. My office was in the rear of the building and I soon noticed that I was the only one around in my section. It was too early to be lunch, but, no people. ANYWHERE. There was one hallway that I did not frequent often, "management row," where the big wigs were. It was a long corridor where the executive assistants, Vice President, Sales Manager, and the President and Owner of our company occupied. My entry level position did not call for me to brush elbows with this crowd much, but, neither did a lot of others that were piling up as far as I could see down that hallway. So, I curiously joined the steady flow of people gravitating towards the biggest office at the end of the hall, although I did not immediately know why.

The only television in our office building was in that big office and the news of the first plane crashing was blaring out into all of our surprised ears. Most were listening and some were talking quietly among themselves, then, we were nicely nudged to get back to work after we shared some initial reactions. It seemed like a tragic accident, nothing more and nothing less.

So, I returned to my desk, and, by this time, my radio station had discontinued the music and a steady flow of news was streaming through my speakers, for the rest of the morning, as I tried to return to my workload. When the news of the other crashes started flooding the airways, it quickly became evident that this was not an accident. Our beloved nation was under attack. It became impossible to concentrate on anything else as each report elevated more emotions in all of us, and, that was the only day I can remember when the phone calls, faxes, and loads of paperwork piled up and it didn't matter.

Every September 11th since then, I usually spend all day avoiding the television. This year, I spent the majority of my day doing my impression of Edward Scissor hands in the yard with my clippers. The thought of staying inside and catching a glimpse of any of the original news footage of 9/11, especially the clip of the plane flying into the tower, is always too much for me to bear every year. So, this year, I chose to head outside and I feverishly clipped and chopped at the bushes for hours and caught up on much needed yard work as a productive distraction. Even though, my eyes were spared of those images, my mind raced through most of them all over again anyway. I am going to finish this entry with the same reoccurring thoughts I always have every year:

President Bush was in my town that day! He was sitting in a chair reading to local school children when a man from his team whispered about the first plane crashing into the World Trade Center in his ear. Regardless of how you feel about President Bush, imagine being him at that moment! He was being video taped and having to stay composed in front of all of those little eyes looking up at him while being informed of such news.

Those innocent passengers and flight crew members and what a shitty twist of fate they were all forced to be a part of. They were trapped on those doomed planes carrying out suicide attacks against their will. What were their initial reactions when the hijackers went into action? I think about how horrific their last images and emotions were.
The people inside those towers and at the Pentagon. So many people started their days in ordinary ways, hitting snooze on the alarm clock, grabbing one last cup of coffee before running out the door, kissing their honey goodbye, dropping the kiddies off at school, then, off to work like any other day. They never knew that typical morning they would be killed instantly or end up trapped inside crowded, dark and smoky corridors fighting for their lives in a couple of hours.

How about the heroic battle in mid air between the terrorists and passengers who fought back on Flight 93? What a triumphant moment that could have been, but, it ended in tragedy, like the rest of the planes, except it was maneuvered into a field in Pennsylvania. Where would that plane have ended up and how many more would have perished if those passengers did not get out of their seats and fight back?

My final comment is where did all the loyalty and patriotism go? Every house around town had an American flag raised. We stood together as a nation, bruised, but, not defeated and we mourned our losses and showed a united support for our government and our military as they fought back. Then, slowly, the flags disappeared, Bush's approval ratings tanked, the war is still going on, and, the only time I hear about any of the emotion is on its anniversary. I realize we can't talk about it everyday, but, despite our political views, we must support our military as long as they are still out there and I miss seeing those flags up reflecting our faith and pride.

Last month on 9/11/09, I put up our American flag outside our front entry as a symbol of remembrance and respect for that day 8 years ago. My five year old son asked me, "why I put the flag up?" and I told him, in the most simplest terms so he could understand, that "our flag represents our country" and I put it up that morning "to show others that we were remembering and respecting a day our country and our people were hurt really bad." He asked me "why we couldn't keep it up every day if it was a nice thing to do?" Pretty profound for a five year old! I had no good answer as to why we should take it down , and, I have kept our flag up ever since, which I used as the image.

One final fact to absorb: (as found on Answers.com - http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_people_died_in_the_September_11_2001_attacks)

"In total 3,497 people died in the attacks on 11 September 2001:
2,735 civilians in the World Trade Center died
87 passengers and crew members aboard American Airlines Flight 11 that hit the North Tower
60 passengers and crew aboard United Flight 175 that hit the South Tower
343 New York City firefighters and rescue workers and 23 New York City law enforcement officers, 47 Port Authority workers and 37 Port Authority Police Officers, lost their lives when they rushed in to save the victims in the World Trade Center
36 passengers and crew aboard United Flight 93, who gave their lives stopping four hijackers over Pennsylvania
64 passengers and crew aboard American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon, killing them and 125 people in the building.
In addition -
19 cowards - the terrorists who hijacked four airliners and murdered 3,497 people - also died."