Wednesday, September 7, 2011

United We Stand

It’s hard to believe that the September 11th attacks were ten years ago this week.  Like most of you, I remember exactly where I was that September morning.  Eleven days earlier I had graduated from Indiana University and moved to Indianapolis.  I was excited and hopeful about starting what I liked to call my “real life”.  That morning, I slept in and missed both planes hitting the World Trade Center.  By the time I saw the first images of people running down the street from a big cloud of dust and debris – I could scarcely comprehend what was happening.

It’s easy to look back now at the decisions we have made since as a country and find fault.  My “real life” turned out to be full of more heartache, war and an economy that never quite recovered.  I suppose like everyone else, my life changed a little that day.  America changed a little that day.

I will never forget the feelings I felt as I watched our country under attack.  I was sad, I was angry, I was horrified, but most of all, I was proud to be American.  I don’t say that often, but it’s true.  I have never felt so connected to my fellow citizens as I did on that day.  That is what I remember as I think about how to best memorialize the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks – our unity.  Police and recue workers from around the country left their families and went to New York to help in the recue and recovery efforts.  Blood donations soared and all around the nation, people were helping people. Something good came out of something so bad – even if it only lasted a short while.

So this week, in honor of the September 11th victims, I will be focusing on the good, not the bad.  I will do my part to bring back that feeling of unity that I had on September 11th.  It may be just a small random act of kindness to a stranger. It may be spending time with people I love, or giving back to my community.  I may just be one person, but it’s a start. So my question to you this week is, “Where were you during the September 11th attacks?  Do you plan to do anything special to memorialize the tenth anniversary?”  Answers are due no later than Tuesday, September 13th, 2011.  My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of September 11th, and our country’s servicemen and women who have sacrificed so much – thank you!

13 comments:

  1. I remember that I was in school at the time of the attacks. My teacher had just turned on the T.V. which was already on the news and he contacted the office to tell everyone around the school.

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  2. I remember I was in school, and we didn't really know what the teachers were talking about, but the principal had everyone meet in the gym and explained what had happened. I also remember because it was my brother's 9th birthday.
    -Nick C

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  3. All I remember from 9-11 was that when I got home, there was nothing on TV except for news and all I had was a stupidly rented tape of Dora the Explorer which ended up being the suckiest suck that ever sucked.

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  4. I was in my 6th grade block class. A teacher came into our classroom and told our teacher a plane hit the World Trade Towers. When she turned on the TV, she was incredibly calm, so I wasn't sure what to think. I didn't know much about terrorists or Afghanistan, so I just assumed it was an accident. When the second plane hit, I knew something was wrong, but each news station wasn't making sense. It took me at least a week afterwards to fully comprehend what happened.

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  5. I was in 7th grade in history class (learning what i thought history was about) when the attach happened. It kind of shut the hole school down for that day, every class stopped teaching, and we all watched the tragedy on the news. My uncle works for a company (cant say witch on), that requires him to be at the pentagon, and flying a lot, and my first thought was him being on that plane. My mom instantly was calling me freaking out, wanting to know if i had talking to him or not. No one in the family could get a hold of him for hours. But think god we finally reached him and that he was not on that plane but was in flying at the time. (I know crazy right). But all is good. Things I plan to do are just to think of loved ones and hope that nothing like this happens again.

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  6. It was the first month of my freshman year at Purdue studying Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering. That morning I had my Introduction to Aeronautics class and we had a representative from Boeing to talk to us that day.
    This first plane hit just a few minutes before class started and 1 student had heard about it and told that class. At that point everyone believed it to be an accident, and the Boeing rep confidently said that the building was in no danger of falling.
    By the time class had let out the 2nd plane had hit as well as all the others in Washington and Pennsylvania (though being good students none of us heard it during class). We went outside to hysteria of "We're under attack, we're under attack!"

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  7. I was in 5th grade. I believe it was after we were finishing up english in class. The teachers had gathered in the hallway to talk about what had just happened. They turned on the television so we could see what was going on. We all assumed it was an accident. When I got home, my parents were watching the news. They had announced that it was on purpose. I didn't know what to think. I was sad that such a thing happened there. I visited the site in 2004. It was nothing but concrete and was surrounded by a big wire pence. They had a listing of the peoples names that had passed on the side of one of the fences. It still saddens me every year when we are reminded of what had happened to America. I pray that this does not occur again. It was unnecessary to do such a thing.

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  8. I was a Sophomore at Perry Meridian taking the ISTEP test. I did not see anything until afterwards. By then the my class and myself witnessed the crashing of the second plane. I did not sleep for weeks, too afraid that the Guard was going to call up my Uncle to fight the guys responsible for this horrible act. How I deal with this is that I live my life in remembrance for those who died.

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  9. I was taking the ISTEP test and our teacher stopped class to tell us there was a terrorist attack in New York City. I had no idea what that meant, and only knew something was wrong because of the fear and sadness in his eyes. After that, the entire school was in scare over a plane possibly hitting our school. I remember sitting in the lunchroom waiting for a plane to come crashing through the side of the building. Later that day, we sat and watched the television, as we watched the second plane hit. We tried to tell the teacher, but she didn't believe us until they played back the live footage. It was eery to say the least. I remember some kids laughing, but all I remember is being scared. I remember almost every detail of that day.

    I remembered September 11 by attending a memorial service for the victims who gave their lives, and those who loved someone who lost theirs. May they find peace.

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  10. I was in my 7th grade science class when I found out about the attack. I remember a teacher coming into our class and telling us to turn on the TV. We all sat in astonishment; really not aware of what was fully happening. People where saying it was an accident and then we finally found out we where under attack. I remember being scared and sad. Such a crazy day but its good to see that even though we are all different and have our own beliefs we all are still Americans and can work together when its needed.

    I remembered September 11th by remembering people who have died and their families.

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  11. I was fixing someone's air conditioning, worked the whole day, met up with a friend, watched the news for a while, I was in a band at the time so we met up and practiced. Then watched some more news after that.

    What I did on Sept 11 this year, watched movies, played video games, avoided watching any of the 9/11 tv specials.

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  12. I just woke up to a phone call from a firend telling me that it wasn't an accident. I said what wasn't, and he told me to turn on the T.V. We both watched in horror. After the second plane hit he said we were going to go to war over this. At the time I still wasn't in the Army and working at a steel mill going on my 8th year there.

    After watching some of the footage, I decided to join in November of that year.

    I plan to do nothing out of the ordinary but to make a prayer to the men and women of that dreadful day. All of those that lost their life, or gave their life....

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  13. I was taking a test my sophomore year in high school on September 11th. I remember feeling really sad seeing it happen live on tv. I also remember being worried that my dad would be called back into active duty. It turned out that I didn't need to worry about that, but at that time I didn't know the extent of the attack so I figured anything was possible.

    I hope that everyone that comes across someone in uniform they should stop and thanking them for the sacrifices they have made for our country.

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