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Our View: Where Were You That September Morning?
September 11, 2016
We publish this piece on an annual basis, and we encourage you to comment below, answering the question ‘Where Were You That September Morning?
September 11, 2001. It’s been 15 years.
Life, at least when that morning began, seemed good. I’ve always been a work at home dad, so I was home with my two girls. The youngest was almost four months old, and the oldest was approaching her fourth birthday. It was a normal morning. The little one was asleep, “fat and happy” as we used to say, after a morning bottle. The oldest was in the living room just a few feet from my office watching PBS Kids on the TV as I worked on a project for a client.
Then this arrived in my inbox:
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 08:52am– World trade center damaged; unconfirmed reports say a plane has
crashed into tower. Details to come.
I got up, walked to the living room and flipped the TV to CNN. They were talking about how a pilot could make such an error, hitting such a large building. They were speculating that it was just a small plane. But then as the TV news helicopters zoomed their cameras in closer, the anchors were beginning to notice what I had already thought….those holes the tower were to big to have been a small plane.
(continues below photo)
I called my wife at work in Atmore. She had seen the breaking news email, and had tried to visit the CNN website to see the story. If you remember trying to use the internet that morning, it was near impossible to get a news website to load; they were all overloaded. She was unable to see the pictures. I was describing what I saw on the TV to her.
I managed to grab a picture from CNN via my web server and then download and email it to her. We were speculating about how it could happen when the second one hit.
I remember saying “wait, hold on, wait…”. I told her what I just watched on the TV. The second plane had hit the other tower. We quickly decided that we were at war as the anchors on TV speculated again that perhaps there was a problem with some navigational system, causing jetliners on a beautiful, clear morning in New York to fly into some of the tallest structures in the world.
Another breaking news email arrived:
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:21am– Second plane crashes into World Trade Center.
She and I began to speculate ourselves that we were at war. What would we do? What should we do? What about the kids? It was not panic, understand, but just that protective momma and daddy instinct, I suppose. Prayer. That was a good idea. Maybe go to the bank and get out a little cash. That seemed like a good idea. How would you prep for a war on American soil? We were not sure.
I continued to relay information about what I was seeing on TV to my wife at work, who, in turn, would relay the information to her coworkers. They had a TV, but no cable service or antenna. They ended up fashioning a homemade antenna to see a fuzzy picture.
Meanwhile, the breaking news emails kept arriving…
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:32am– Sources tell CNN one of two planes that crashed into World Trade
Center was an American Airlines 767.
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:42am– President Bush calls plane crashes at World Trade Center a
terrorist act.
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:45am– Significant fire at the Pentagon. Details to come.
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:46am– White House evactuated. Details to come.
The Pentagon on fire? The White House evacuated? Notice that in CNN’s email they were in such a hurry that they misspelled “evacuated”. One sentence at a time, the situation became more grave.
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:55am– CNN confirms a plane hit the Pentagon
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 10:03am– One of World Trade Center towers collapses; fire forces
evacuation of State Department
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 10:30am– Second World Trade Center tower collapses in Manhattan
Over and over, we watched those towers collapse on TV, and we watched our Pentagon burn.
Our almost four year old asked a lot of questions. “Were people hurt? Did they need a Band-aid?” The magnitude of the event was lost on a four year old. Looking back at those first few hours, I think the magnitude of the event was lost on all of us.
Like many Americans, I sat glued to the TV that day, continuing to watch the video of the towers falling. Our almost four year old asked if another building fell down or if it was the same one. It was time to change the channel on the TV.
You might remember that many of the entertainment TV stations ran network news feeds. Others just simply ran screens about the day’s events. There was no USA network, no ESPN, no MTV. But on PBS, we found children’s programming at a time it was not normally on. For a little while, sitting in the living room floor holding my kids, the world stopped turning that September day, as we watched Big Bird and the Cookie Monster.
Country artist Alan Jackson later wrote a song “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?”.
Some of those lyrics:
Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day
Out in the yard with your wife and children
Working on some stage in LA
Did you stand there in shock at the site of
That black smoke rising against that blue sky
Did you shout out in anger
In fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cryDid you weep for the children
Who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don’t know
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left belowBut I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
Where where you when the world stopped turning that September day? Your comments are welcome below.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Bethany Reynolds, click to enlarge.
Comments
18 Responses to “Our View: Where Were You That September Morning?”
I was in class early at Jefferson Davis Community College in Atmore. Our teacher came to the room and told the few of there what happened. We followed her to her office and watched events unfold on a small, portable t.v. she had there.
I was stationed in Pearl Harbor Hawaii, bc of the time difference it was ~4am when I received a call from my mother crying telling me to turn on the news… I, like many watched in disbelief the two towers burning… Realizing the significance, I quickly donned my uniform and drove to my place of work(Branch Medical Clinic) on Pearl Harbor Naval Station. The base had already been placed on high alert, searching every vehicle entering the base, even those of us on Active Duty in uniform(it was still dark out). We spent the next few hours watching the news while the commands’ leaderships were debriefed and deciding on security postures. The bulk of our staff(being medical personnel) were put on essential personnel watches around numerous historic sites. I personally was with a team stationed near the Pearl Harbor memorial, the fear being terrorists may try and strike the USS Arizona bc of the historical significance. Most of us spent the next 36 hours on watch with the base being in complete lockdown before they decided to start rotating watch crews so we could rest. I ended up retiring a few years ago but not before serving in combat in Iraq and getting some retribution to some of the foreign borne insurgents.
I had just got home from a 24 hour shift at the Pensacola Fire department. and was watching fox news when the plane hit the first tower. I called my wife at work to let her know what was happening. I was on the phone with her when the first tower fell. and I told her all those fireman that went in to save those people are dead. God help us.
I was on an airplane. Flying back to Orlando where we lived at the time ..trip was for purchasing our home here. We had no idea what was going on. Took forever and a day to land as we circled Orlando airport …there were planes everywhere and we were finally cleared to land. When I exited the tram and we walked across the field and entered the airport…there were people everywhere..as I went up the escalator and looked up at the tv monitors the first tower fell. When I realized what was going on ..in tears I fell to my knees…My heart still goes out to all that lost their lives that day. It has taken me years to fly again…took a flight earlier this year…it was my first since that day. Prayers to all those who lives were effected by this tragedy.
I was in new symrna beach fl, In my 3rd grade class.. My teacher was told by another teacher what had happened we turned on the tv and everyone was devastated. #9/11#NEVERFORGET
My husband & I were working in High Point, NC. Road construction.
Never forget.
YMCA exercising…. I never thought a plane could do that kinda damage.
I was at work, working at Stone Container/Graphic Packaging, and remember it like it was yesterday still. I remember hearing of the first attack and then the second, and thinking they must have gotten this idea from a movie or something. When I heard of the others I remember wanting to leave work to get my children from school and daycare and I walked out back to look up at the sky and just knew our good Lord was coming to take us away from this.
I was about to start a lab experiment in chemical warfare decontamination program at the Air Force Research Laboratory. We reacted similarly, live on a small TV. As the events unfolded realized things in our country would change, just not sure how. Since then, I was no longer so carefree and began to pay attention to world events and politics more, looking deep. One of my main questions was why would they do that? I thought USA was loved and respected all over the world. I was naive.
The base went to Defcon 4, we were told to go home and did. Held our loved ones close.
The drama of victim, perpetrator and rescuer plays out in the world stage, in families, communities, small towns. The blame games causes dysfunction and strife.I had no idea the animosity between warring nations
Since then I have studied about past wars and politics, human nature etc.
There is a time to fight I suppose but after that, deployment after deployment for service members…Afghanistan, Iraq now ISIS.
The more I learn, the less I know.
Peace
I was grocery shopping in Winn Dixie when the first plane hit, but I made it home in time to see the second plane hit the Twin Towers on T V . It was like a bad dream. I remember how all people were filled with patriotism. The racial problems seem to go away for a while after 9-11. We were not black. We were not white. We were Americans.
Same place as I always be. Celebrating my nephews birthday. Bi refuse to letters ruin his special day. I only have good nemories because God gave me a precious little man to love
I was at the drive-thru at my bank making a deposit. When it came over radio.
I was living in Dallas, TX and was on my way to a client in Dallas, TX. I was driving past the “oil rig” at 6 Flags over Texas when the radio broke in that a plane had hit the south tower. I arrived at my client and told them and they turned on the TV to watch and I went in to teach the class. When I finished the class and came out the door, they were crying and I was told of all the attacks.
The next day I was contacted by the American Red Cross to respond to help in the Morgue. I refused because I had managed the morgue at the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City and was not mentally comfortable with dealing with NYC/WTC at that time.
I was on the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67). We were getting ready to pull away from the pier in Mayport, FL when the fist tower was struck by a plane. Then the second plane hit the other tower. We transited up the coast to pick up the airwing and headed toward the area to enforce a no-fly zone. The next day another carrier took our place and we left to do work-ups to get ready for deployment. I will never forget that day.
Just outside of Washington DC, on a bus loaded headed to tour DC, when My wife called and said “Have you seen the news?” we pulled into a truck stop and watched in Horror as the second plane crashed into the second tower as everyone was gathered around a TV. called the Hotel across from Andrews Air force Base and was told we could not get into DC. We turned the Bus around and headed back to Pensacola. in time for Sunday Prayer for our Nation!
Join All Escambia & Santa Rosa Churches (All Denominations)
tonight @ The Bay Center
United in Pray rally 6pm tonight
I was at my dad’s (Jack Stewart) just finishing up his breakfast when our pastor Bro. Kevin Flannagin called and asked if we had the t.v. on yet? My dad a World War II veteran stayed in front of the t.v. after that call taking in every detail from seeing the 2nd plane hit the World Trade Center to watching it crumble to the ground and all other surrounding events. He had seen so much in the war abroad and now felt he was seeing war on his own homeland the United States of America. We stopped and prayed for each and everyone involved in this enormous event.
Day shift, International Paper Mill , Cantonment , Fl.
Was working in bayminette at a ladys house. She told me a plane had hit the world trade center. Stopped working and went to her t v and saw the second plane hit the other building. She asked “what happened?” I told her, “We just went to war.”