I was in a large meeting room at Coca Cola when I heard the news of the second tower being hit. There was a small tv in the corner and several of us were gathered around it. The folks that were from NY or had family up there were desperately trying to get in touch with loved ones, but could not get through because of everyone trying to so the same. I remember seeing the pentagon being hit and thought, we are so close to DC and we are under attack. Everyone was scared, in shock and didn't know what to make of what they were seeing. I remember my parents being on vacation in Las Vegas and they we planning to fly back that day. I called them, woke my mother up at a ungodly hour due to time zone differences and told her to turn on the tv and that they were not flying home that day as they had grounded all commercial flights in the US. Everyone at work was told they could go home because no one had their mind on anything but their families and that we could be going to war. I went home and stayed glued to the tv like most folks that day, astonished at the craziness of it all. My parents finally made it home four days later. I think our country is still suffering from 9/11 today; loss of life, the cost of war, the security measures we take. Bin Laden did what he set out to do that day, but one thing he did not take away was the American spirit.
Karen Wooten
I opened the office that day,as usual, and turned on the TV as my boss liked to watch Good Morning America in the a.m. I watched with horror as we saw the first tower hit and we all assumed it was an accident. When I watched the second tower hit we realized this was more than an accident. Then we got word on the pentagon and the flight crashing in Pa. I just couldn't wrap my head around it all and rushed home to alert my dad. I bumped into a neighbor who was tending her garden at the time. She asked how I was, like most do, and I said "oh it's terrible, just horrible." She said "I know, it's hard when our parents live with us. My mother lived with me for a long time." It took me a couple of seconds and I told her what had happened. She'd been in her garden all morning and didn't know anything about the attack. My next memory is watching President Bush telling the nation we may not hear about all that gets done but his team will be watching out for us and our lost souls. I never felt more secure. His leadership was awesome.
Jean Gannon
Honestly, most of that morning is a little fuzzy. We had a three and a half year old and a four month old. I know Lane always took them to preschool. I do remember waking up, probably from a morning nap, and laying in the bed watching the news as one tower had smoke billowing out of it. I was in shock, like most Americans. Then, the unthinkable. A second plane crashed into the second tower. It was clear this was an attack on our nation. I went to the computer and emailed our aunt whose daughter lived in NYC near the towers. She responded that she had heard from her, but her boyfriend was in the stairwell of one of the towers trying to get out of the building. They had lost cell contact with him. I made it to my stairs and fell to the bottom step in tears. I prayed for this sweet young couple who had plans to marry and build a life together. For it to be destroyed because of the hatred of freedom was just not right. Our family was lucky. J.D. made it out of the tower, and he became a part of our family.
9/11 The Survivors from Brian Sasser on Vimeo.
The remainder of the day was surreal. As did the rest of America, I had a righteous anger in my heart for those who care so little for life, for freedom.
Sandy Brindley
Today
I am sure we are all fighting back tears as we scroll through Facebook posts of friends memories, pictures of the towers, pictures of the memorial, pictures of the raised flag at ground zero. But we are also fighting back tears, and anger, for what happened in Benghazi a year ago today. Four Americans died. We still need answers for why they died. We still need to see justice served for their deaths. That day will come. Until then, today is a day of remembrance. It is a day to honor the lives lost. It is a day to come together as Americans and realize America is the greatest nation on Earth.
NEVER FORGET 9/11/2001 & 9/11/2012
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