September 11th, Retrospective.
I just want to let you know, that this post is something different. With 5th Anniversary of 9/11 upon us, I would like you to share your memories with me about the tragedy that shook our nation, and how that same tragedy brought us closer together as a nation.
9/11/2001 8:30 AM - Urbana, IL
I remember waking up in my dorm room, groggy, but awake. As a kid, I have always loved the month of September, not because of classes, but the weather. Every day would be a wonderful day to be outside - not quite hot, not quite cold. As was my morning routine, I turned on the TV to the "Today" show as I got ready for my CS 257 class. I was going to be late... again.
As I turned on the TV, I saw the "Special Report" bulletin flashing all over the screen, and so I sat down to watch and see what was happening. Laughing to myself, I thought it was a kitten stuck up a tree - because that's how the media was, making a big deal out of nothing.
This time, however, I wish it was just a kitten up a tree. On TV, I saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center as they were speculating whether the first plane against the building was an accident. The sinking feeling in my stomach reinforced what I was thinking: No accident could ever have been that blatant. About 4 million thoughts went through my mind, and 3 million went towards my family - the majority of them lived in New York City and its surrounding burroughs.
As I tried to make a call over there - to a cell phone or a land line, I got the "All lines are currently busy" message from my cell provider. I could only imagine the chaos going on over there to my family in the Bushwick region of Brooklyn. When I talk to them today, they sat back and remembered the chaos, the worry, but thankfully they were safe.
If one word could describe how I felt, that word would be "Surreal." I was in the middle of a cornfield, and 1800 miles away, there was chaos.
The weather outside couldn't have been more perfect. The skies were a deep blue with bright white clouds, and it was about 75 degrees... in my imagination, a day like 9/11 would have been significantly more hellish. But when I looked on TV in New York, the skies were the same blue, but there was a blot - a massive amount of smoke and rubble rising towards the heavens.
This picture was ingrained in my mindPeople were filing out of Manhattan, walking on the bridges en masse, it was something straight out of a movie. Everything felt like a bad dream that would just go away, but I know that the cold reality was that our lives, all of our lives would change in a very different way.
I was a resident advisor at the Florida Avenue Residence Hall in Urbana, and they jokingly called our buildings the Twin Towers. Living on the 11th floor, I felt somewhat unsafe - and I know that was silly, but the safe secure world we lived in was turned upside down. I started to wonder of the well-being of my residents - I had one from New Jersey, and one from Egypt. I worried for both of them - my guy from New Jersey had family who worked in Manhattan, and I was worried about Ahmed because of potential retaliation because of the terrorists in mind. While I knew that we wouldn't have the same issues as interment camps back during WWII, I knew there would be backlash against Islamic people - I expected the worst, but hoped for the best. I was pleasantly surprised. Students at the University acted in swift motions to embrace students of Islamic faith and also those who may be misconstrued as a "Terrorist." In the next days, we held round-table meetings, open discussions trying to educate those who wanted to learn more about the cultures of the world.
From that day forth, I was watching MSNBC and FOX News non stop, my mind was just transfixed on how the US would act. Still very much in shock to the loss of life, I started focusing on what was important in my life. I remember Ground Zero and how it looked the day after all the smoke cleared.
Remains of Tower 2So, what's the purpose of this post? REMEMBER. It's so easy to lose perspective after 5 years but don't. While most of us here didn't have anybody remotely connected to the tragedy at 9/11, just spend a moment today and think about the lives lost and how our nation put differences aside to come together. Sending flowers, memorials, prayers, and a constant flow of love healed wide open wounds. People living in fear could smile again. That ability to come together is what makes this country the greatest country in the world.
5 Years later, it doesn't feel like the end of the world anymore, life has returned to some semblance of normal. Mind you, we have higher gas prices, a Department of Homeland Security, and our Armed Services overseas helping establish democracy in countries that somehow forgot what it was like to live with the freedom and liberties we enjoy. So today, my my thoughts and prayers are for those whose lives changed that fateful day - the families of those who died, the survivors, the brave First Responders who risked their lives to save others, and our Armed Forces and their families.
I will close with this link of a tribute video of the events of 9/11.
Beacons of HopeSo, if you have a chance, and I hope that you do - please drop me a comment - let me know what you were doing on 9/11. I believe that remembering brings us closer together.
Thank You,
Suraj
11 Comments:
Very good blog.
I whole heartidly agree.
First, I can't believe it has been 5 years!!! That is crazy, I remember it like yesterday! I was in highschool chemistry and our teacher was looking something up on the internet. At first we thought it wasn't real. Then plane 2 hit. I remember feeling a sense of panic. Was it possible that this was happening? The rest of the day all the teachers just had the radios on and we sat, generally in silence listening to the events unfolding. As soon as the bell rang, I drove to the blood bank and gave blood because I knew it was going to be needed! Then I went to work where most people were just in disbelief. The store (Menards, by the way) was pretty empty most of the night, we mostly watched the tv's. It is so odd to think that something like this happened in my lifetime...its the JFK assassination of our time!
There I was a Freshman at UIUC.. in my third week. I woke up, showered, and headed for my early class (World Religions). I got the Lincoln Hall, sat down and waited for the lecture to start. We had been talking about how some people take religion to far and allow it to say that killing and war is a good thing. Your professor then said something like, "And in their craziness, people can do things that are not even imaginable. I have heard a report that a plane has hit a building in New York and that the government suspects Islamic terrorist. What could cause people to do this." We all we quiet thinking that a plane has just gone down... not that it had been used as a weapon.
Class got out and I decided to walk to the Union and get a drink (as I usually would have gone back to my dorm and practiced guitar until lunch). I walked into the Union and heard a dead silence, no one was in the lobby, no one was in the Quad shop, no one was anywhere... except the central Courtyard Cafe. T.V.'s had been rolled out and I stood watching the replay of the first plane in a kind of daze... then the second one hit LIVE. The terror that I felt roll up my spine is unfogetable. I stood in the same spot (right next to the grandfather clock) for at least two hours. Then I walked back home, not knowing what was going on, or what would happen next.
However, on this anniversary, I think it is time that we celebrate being Americans and over coming these attacks. If you support the government or not in the current affairs, that doesn't matter... what matters is that we, Americans, came together and got to see, though in our hour of despair, how great our nation could be. If we celebrate our country and our freedom on this day... we can make sure that the terrorist really didn't gain anything. If we celebrate how we overcame, then we hold the true victory.
Me, I believed that it was a blockbuster, a new movie with great FX, unfortunately it was the reality so no luck to go to cine. :-(
Bruce H.
I woke up to the sound of a ringing phone, wondering who was calling me and why they called before my alarm clock went off. It was my dad; he called to ask me if I had been watching TV and knew what was happening. I told him I had not and he subsequently told me that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. I turned on the TV and saw what my dad was talking about. It didn't hit me then because I was still waking up and thinking about going to my CS 257 class. It felt very surreal. I had no family in or around New York so it was tough for me to really feel how those with family there felt. I sympathized with them, but I knew I couldn't feel the same pain that they felt. I got ready and made my way to class, where my professor (Prof. Skeel) told us that he would let us out early due to the tragic events that were occurring. I remember not really being able to concentrate on what Prof. Skeel was teaching because I was thinking about those horriffic events.
My most vivid memories of the 9/11 tragedy are of the aftermath. I was in the Marching Illini and we were supposed to go Michigan for our road trip soon where we would get to perform our drill at Michigan Staduim - known as "The Big House" because it's seating capacity of over 100,000 was the biggest in the country. Not only was the trip cancelled, but all of college football, as well as major league baseball, the NFL, and other sports cancelled their games. We (the Marching Illini) were asked to play at a patriotic rally that Saturday in Memorial Stadium. The mood in the staduim was very different than all of the other times I had performed in Memorial Staduim for football games and freshman first nights. I remember playing Amazing Grace and Lee Greenwood's God Bless The USA, which became the anthem for post-9/11 America. I remember the unity, camraderie, and patriotism that was on display when we played, especially when we performed God Bless The USA. Everyone was singing together, not caring who you were, where you came from, how much money you had. Everyone became family bound together by the blood that was shed during the attacks. That's when it hit me how serious this tragedy was.
When I think about the tragedy now, I think a lot about the little things that changed or happened. I think about how the National Anthem had a new meaning for everyone and where it used to be a formality at sporting events, it now evoked a deeper sense of pride in our country. I remember how the world as we knew it stopped for a few days - sporting events were cancelled, other things put off so that America had time to heal. I remember that every sport looked to Major League Baseball as to whether or not they should cancel their games. Baseball cancelled their games for a week, and the NFL and NCAA followed suit. I remember the decision by Lorne Michaels and the cast of Saturday Night Live not to cancel the show because people needed to laugh and take their minds off of the tragedy, if even for a few moments. The special guest that night was New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. I remember how frustrated and angry people were at how powerless they felt. The biggest little thing I remember is how patriotic and united everyone became as a result of the events that transpired. Suddenly race, color, creed, age, religion, and gender didn't matter anymore - or at least not as much. I remember being frustrated as to why it took a tragedy for America to become like that, and why we couldn't behave like we were then under less tragic and better circumstances.
Looking back on September 11, 2001, I think we as a country have made great strides in our recovery. I was in New York a couple of weeks ago and the attitudes of the people were strong yet sensitive. They were very forward looking, ready to move on yet very reverent about those past events. I went to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty and it seemed to mean more to people than it may have before 9/11. It made me realize just how fortunate I am to be one of the people on this Earth who can call American home. One of the placards around the Statue of Liberty had a picture of the New York skyline prior to 9/11. Looking at the placard, then turning around to look at the skyline as it stands today really meant something to me. I couldn't fathom how I would feel if where I'm from, Chicago, were to lose a major part of its skyline. Considering that made the events even more real and hit closer to home. Unfortunatly, I was unable to go to Ground Zero, but I plan on visiting there someday so that I can pay homage to those people, living or dead, who were in the heart of the tragedy. I plan on visiting in rememberance of America, who's will and resolve was tested one September morning, and who showed the world that we will come together in the face of tragedy and stand united.
September 11, 2001. A day that will live in infamy.
I can't believe it's been 5 years. I was in my junior US History class, and we were, ironically, talking about who has the power to declare war, when the principal came over the intercom system and instructed teachers to turn their tvs on to channel 5 (NBC). For the rest of the day, we watched the live news coverage. When I was in P.E. and we didn't have a tv, we went to a classroom that did. I remember tons and tons of rumors flying around the school - we were going to war, they were setting up a table after school for the draft, the Sears Tower was next, St. Louis (an hour away) was a target, etc.
After school I went to work, and we were actually very busy. I guess people wanted pizza, a sense of normalcy, that evening.
It definitely doesn't feel like it was that long ago.
Well I was in my computer class or rather i was on my way to my computer class when students in the hall are buzzin around saying that a plane crashed into the WTC.Keep in mind that I didnt have a cell fone at that time so i was somewhat scared as to what that meant for us. I went to Health Professions High School which is fairly distant from the WTC yet we could see the smoke from down the block. There was total chaos in the school between the teachers and the students flipping out bc they were unable to contact loved ones bc the main cell towers were out. We were lucky that the internet was running bc that was our only source of information. Classes resumed as if nothing had happened and everyone was in a daze. I was supposed to have cut classes that day..i believe it was a thursday...but luckily i had not. I was amongst my friends as they worried for their parents and other family members who worked or went to school in that general area. Stuyvesant High School is approximately 4 blocks or less away from the WTC and I knew pple who attended that HS- i was worried. I was also worried for my mother who takes the little girl to play with friends at BATTERY PARK which is VERY closeby to the WTC. The day progressed and yet panic filled the hallways as we changed from class to class. Before i knew it my mother had walked i dont know how many blocks to pick me and my cousins and some other kids we knew. We were prepared to walk the BROOKLYN bridge bc the L train had ceased. We werent sure what to do but it was approximately 7 of us. We were able to grab the train after gettin something to eat. We took the train as far as we could and had to walk quite a bit. I remember being home and awaiting my Dad's arrival from work. He works in the Bronx and the commute on a regular day was hell and we had no communication with him for the day- we wished for the best. The evening had approached and one by one my aunts and uncle arrived home covered in dust from the falling buildings..it was scary! They had to walk the brooklyn Bridge for hours just to get home. My dad had gotten a ride with a co-worker and he was thankful that me and my mom were home safe. we were stuck to the television for days on end and soaked up every ounce of information that was being passed around. I was scared and saddened for the pple who were forced to their untimely death. My HS was not too far away from Union Square Park and they had set up a memorial there for the 9/11 tragedy. I bought candles and made posters and took flowers. I then sewed an American flag onto my backpack--just to show that i was affected by the tragedy and to show my patrioticism for my country. My bag is still adorned by the flag to this day.
Approximately a month ago I visited the remains of the WTC and i had to cry in disbelief. I couldnt imagine that it was there that my friends and i would go shopping after our summer classes which we attended at Stuyvesant HS. I just stood there...staring..thinking...and blanking out all at the same time. I took a picture of the famous cross which was left from the building...It was crazy.
And here we are today-5 years..and the horros still resonates within us. The disbelief remains every time they show the video of the planes hittin or even still the former site of the WTC. I am now watching the conclusion the movie "The Path to 9/11" and it is troubling to my mind and heart. It pours salt on the wound that prolly wont heal as long as there is media. 2,973 people is the approximation of casualties from the 9/11 attacks...wild.
I cant even imagine the pain that the families of those who are lost in the attacks have felt or rather are feeling. I wish they find solace in their mind and heart for their loved and lost ones.
I shall end this blog entry now--I am sorry for taking so much of your time but i honestly never wrote my feelings and thoughts about the 9/11 attack on the WTC. Thanks Suraj...
Thanks Cuz, for giving us a first hand view of what happened that day! Our thoughts are with you all in New York!
I was at work when I heard on the radio that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I thought it was so bizarre that I told my boss what I had heard then returned to work. Just a little while later the DJs announced that another plane had crashed into the WTC and that there was an unconfirmed rumor that it was a terrorist attack. I was shocked and again I told my boss what I had heard. The rest of the morning we just sat and listened to the radio reports as they came in - the Pentagon crash, the missing plane and finally the missing plane crashing into the field.
It was so horrifying, I felt numb. I was overcome by an overwhelming sense of helplessness as I listened. I knew there was nothing that could be done for the people trapped in the towers or in the missing plane. I was so happy that the people on the plane were able to stop the terrorists from fulfilling their mission and so sad that they lost their lives doing it.
After 9/11, it was amazing to watch this country pull together, to see all the ordinary citizens who became heroes. To hear the stories of self-sacrifice as people struggled to save not only themselves, but co-workers or people they had never met. It was also frustrating to see people trying to capitalize on the tragedy by selling supposed "souvenirs" from the WTC.
Tragedy seems to bring out the best and the worst in people. Here's to remembering and honoring the best.
I was 17 years old and a junior in high school when on the morning of 9/11/01 a classmate of mine came into the cafeteria where we were having breakfast, and he announced "Dude, a plane just flew into some building in New York, it was SO cool". We all kind of rolled our eyes at him in a "whatever" kind of way, because this kid was always saying bizarre crap like that. Within the first few minutes of our first hour class, however, we realized that a plane really did hit a building, and it was in NO way cool. The whole school watched CNN all day, and actually saw the 2nd plane hit live. Teachers were upset and crying, but the students were really just in disbelief, not understanding what it all meant. When you're 17, you usually just think about yourself, and most of us, though disturbed by the images on the TV, were mostly just excited that we got out of class and got to watch TV all day. When I got home from school, my mom was in tears and explained to me really what all of this devastation meant. I didn't really think too much about it. I was saddened that a lot of people had perished, but I really didn't understand fully what was going on. And time passed. And now 5 years later, I am actually mourning for the first time, and understanding how horrific all of this was, and still is. I've been engrossed in the movies, documentaries, news stories, articles, etc. Re-living this again is actually helpful to me in coping with the event; and I didn't even realize 5 years ago that I was affected by it at all. But today, as I watch the footage again and again, I grieve for those who died, I grieve for the families left behind, and I grieve for the city of New York. But more important than that, I am so pleased to see our country unite together and display our patriotism. We truly are the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Teale
My September 11th experience was extremely confusing. I was a junior in High School and my friend came up to me and told me a plane had hit the World Trade Center. To be honest, I was 17 and completely self-involved...I didn't know what the World Trade Center was. It wasn't until my 3rd or 4th hour class that we addressed what was happeneing. We talked about it for a few minutes and then moved on with our lessons. In my following classes we were allowed to discuss what we had heard for five to ten minutes and then move on. We have open campus for lunch, so I went home to watch the news that day to understand what was happeneing in New York. I remember actually gasping out loud in shock when they replayed the footage of the planes hitting the buildings.
I'm still really ashamed for the administration of my High School for not allowing us to view or discuss what was happening to our country. It was a traumatic event that shook the nation, we should have had a right to see the events that were occurring.
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