Today we remember the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. What an amazing and scary day in American history. The images still bring a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes.
I was in 7th grade at Cerro Villa Middle School in Orange California. I had just woken up and turned on the TV as usual while I got ready for school. It was about 6:30 in the morning when the breaking news hit. I remember standing there in my room unable to move. I didn't really understand what was going on, but I knew right away that this was bad. The first tower had been hit and I watched smoke pour out of the building. I continued getting ready and fifteen minutes later the second tower was hit. I sat in my living room and cried thinking of all those people who had died. At first we thought it was a huge accident, but as the second tower was hit, and then the pentagon a couple hours later, we learned that it in fact, was a terrorist attack.
Mom took us to school. I remember minutes seemed like hours as we all stayed glued to the television. Parents took their kids out of school to be home with them. Afraid that something might happen to our little city and they wanted to be together. The teachers were instructed to keep televisions and radios off during school hours so they would not scare the students, and to "carry on our day as usual. " Carry on our day as usual? Are you kidding me? Did you NOT see what just happened? There is no such thing as normal anymore. A couple teachers would not turn on their TVs but the majority did. Silence fell over the students as we walked the halls. After school I went to a friends house to work on a school project and again stopped everything to listen to the presidents speech that afternoon.
I don't remember much more of that day. But I know, what I do remember, I will never forget. We have been at war ever since.
Four years later I visited Ground Zero with my mother. There still stood a pile of rubble with a chain link fence around it. Messages and pictures all around of the brave men and women we lost. I could not help but cry. I could imagine what it felt like being there on that day. Ash and soot filing the air, debris falling from the sky, people screaming in pain and fear.
This hell on earth that had come to life.
Ten years later, we are beginning to heal. Families and friends remember this scaring event, and I'm sure every year the wound is re opened and the feeling of pain is back. We know with time all things heal. We are thankful for the military men and women who risk their lives for our country. We are grateful for the service men and women who gave their all to help on 9/11. We remember the hero's, we remember the loss, we remember the fear and we remember the fight.
There is a concern with today. Osama Bin Ladin was killed in April, and we have heard threats concerning this weekend that bombs may fly and bridges will collapse. We can only pray that this does not happen and is an empty threat.
We have constructed a monument to those lost in that tragic day and plan on building a building bigger and taller than the World Trade Center.
We are proud to be an American and we WILL fight.
We Will Never Forget.
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