September 11, 2001 is forever burned into my mind. I still remember my exact location when I heard the news.
It was 8:45 a.m. and we were beginning our workday at a small paper in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. A reporter burst into my office and told me that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center. Side by side we rushed into the news room where the staff was glued in front of the television.
As we watched the chaos unfold, we worried about the people in the building as the second plane slowly came into view. In a state of confusion we watched as the second plane buried itself deep into tower number two, bursting into a cataclysmic ball of flames.
With people's jaws wide open, I exclaimed "We are under attack!" As my team looked at me with questionable gazes, I restated "We are under attack. Two planes do not fly into the World Trade Center within minutes of each other by mistake!"
The next few hours were filled with emotional highs and lows encompassing anger, fright, patriotism and sorrow. As the day unfolded, Americans scrambled to locate family members and launched unprecedented search and rescue efforts. At the time I could only imagine the atmosphere and tension in the White House as our leaders frantically yet strategically laid out our course of action. Never before had America experienced an attack of this magnitude on American soil. At moments time seemed to slow to a crawl, while at other times, it was difficult to follow the rapid progression of events.
I am still haunted by the images of people leaping to their deaths rather than perish in the inferno. The collapse of the Twin Towers amid the clouds of dust and smoke left me with an impression that I was witnessing Armageddon, and the thought that such destruction was caused by only nineteen terrorists is mind-boggling.
Al-Qaeda's attacks were tactical, well planned, and were executed for the sole purpose of inflicting maximum death and destruction to Americans. Although the NY City attacks garnered more attention, we can't forget about the third and fourth hijacked planes which were flown into the Pentagon and a field in rural Pennsylvania, believed to have been targeting the White House.
In the end 2,974 people were killed and the American landscape changed forever.
Although eight years have passed, Osama Bin Laden and his followers continue to plot against Americans at home and abroad. Therefore America must remain vigilant and determined to fight terrorism for the protection of our homeland and the preservation of freedom for future generations.
Some may say that eight years have passed and we need to forgive and forget. But to those I say it is the sacrifice of our heroes past and present who provide you the freedoms to voice such statements. I do not wish harm on those who would not harm us first. I don't bear ill will for those of foreign lands or differing beliefs. But I will give my last dying breath to protect my family, safeguard our borders, and honor the memory of those who died on 9-11.
As we watched the chaos unfold, we worried about the people in the building as the second plane slowly came into view. In a state of confusion we watched as the second plane buried itself deep into tower number two, bursting into a cataclysmic ball of flames.
With people's jaws wide open, I exclaimed "We are under attack!" As my team looked at me with questionable gazes, I restated "We are under attack. Two planes do not fly into the World Trade Center within minutes of each other by mistake!"
The next few hours were filled with emotional highs and lows encompassing anger, fright, patriotism and sorrow. As the day unfolded, Americans scrambled to locate family members and launched unprecedented search and rescue efforts. At the time I could only imagine the atmosphere and tension in the White House as our leaders frantically yet strategically laid out our course of action. Never before had America experienced an attack of this magnitude on American soil. At moments time seemed to slow to a crawl, while at other times, it was difficult to follow the rapid progression of events.
I am still haunted by the images of people leaping to their deaths rather than perish in the inferno. The collapse of the Twin Towers amid the clouds of dust and smoke left me with an impression that I was witnessing Armageddon, and the thought that such destruction was caused by only nineteen terrorists is mind-boggling.
Al-Qaeda's attacks were tactical, well planned, and were executed for the sole purpose of inflicting maximum death and destruction to Americans. Although the NY City attacks garnered more attention, we can't forget about the third and fourth hijacked planes which were flown into the Pentagon and a field in rural Pennsylvania, believed to have been targeting the White House.
In the end 2,974 people were killed and the American landscape changed forever.
Although eight years have passed, Osama Bin Laden and his followers continue to plot against Americans at home and abroad. Therefore America must remain vigilant and determined to fight terrorism for the protection of our homeland and the preservation of freedom for future generations.
Some may say that eight years have passed and we need to forgive and forget. But to those I say it is the sacrifice of our heroes past and present who provide you the freedoms to voice such statements. I do not wish harm on those who would not harm us first. I don't bear ill will for those of foreign lands or differing beliefs. But I will give my last dying breath to protect my family, safeguard our borders, and honor the memory of those who died on 9-11.
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