I was 31-years old, and these are my memories of that fateful morning:
I was not long into my morning commute to work when I heard on the radio about a plane hitting the North Tower of the World Trade Center. I was thinking to myself how someone could not see such a massive structure and just blindly fly into it. That is one heck of a pilot error!
Approximately 18 minutes later, another plane struck the World Trade Center; this time the South Tower. It was right then I knew this was no coincidence; this was an intentional act of evil.
When I got into work, nobody was working; they were all standing in the same room around a 13″ TV we had. For whatever reason unbeknownst to me, I looked down at my feet and noticed I had on a pair of unmatched shoes while my co-workers were speculating the who, what, and ifs of this dreadful spectacle unfolding.
Word spread on the TV that there was the possibility of a highjacked plane in Pennsylvania.
All of the sudden the TV reported that a plane had crashed into the Pentagon.
I was thinking to myself, “Oh my God, what is going on? Who is doing this? Why are they doing this!? What is happening?”
I can still remember staring at that little TV when all of a sudden footage panned to the South Tower of the World Trade Center as it started collapsing in on itself.
“Oh God! There are people in there!” as my eyes started to tear up.
Then, Flight 93 went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Shortly thereafter, the North Tower collapsed, right in front of our eyes on the TV.
It was at this point that my eyes were full of tears, and I didn’t know what to do. What could I do? I felt helpless and a broken heart for all of the innocent people (and families) who had just perished that morning.
Not long after, we received word from the Campus President that all Carnegie Mellon staff are being sent home in the interest of safety.
The drive home was somber to say the least, and I don’t really remember much of the drive back home. I do remember calling my Mom, and she was pleading with me to go “come home” instead of my current adult residence.
My childhood home is located in a rural area, and one of the most eerie experiences I ever had was noticing the complete lack of all air travel in the sky as all aircraft travel in the nation was grounded. The skies were literally silent that day.
I ended up staying for most of the day into the early evening and headed back home, unsure of what was in store for this nation’s future based on the day’s horrifying events.
As I sit here, reflecting on the emotional events of a quarter century ago, I am overcome with immense heartbreak and pain for all the victims and their families. My heart\chest remain heavy, and my eyes still swell up, especially on this anniversary of September 11.
I simply will close this post with this:
I honestly don’t understand how humanity can be so cruel to one another.
It was impossible to comprehend then and it still is today, Braden. The evil human beings are capable of. I remember thinking after I first learned about the Holocaust that I would never be the same, and that has been true. It’s horrible to know the worst. We must also remember that the opposite is also true. Some humans are capable of great goodness. But still we mourn.