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#72 | Tuesday, September 18th, 2001
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I was off work on that Tuesday and so was my boyfriend - he had an hospital appointment to go to.
After his appointment we stopped off at his parents house to sort out their internet connection - my brother called me, it must have been about 2'o clock UK time - he said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York - our first reaction was "oh ok" obviously not realising how bad the situation was. We put it down to an accident - I hung up and forgot about it.
About an hour later - I was in the car ready for our journey back home, I was waiting for my boyfriend as he was on the phone to his mum - suddenly he rushed outside and told me to go back into the house.
I didn't understand what was going on - he had a look of disbelief on his face, and as I ran back into the house the first images I saw on telly was of the second terrorist plane crashing into the World Trade Center.
My heart went, what was going on? My boyfriend explained that New York has been attacked my terrorists and that the Pentagon was hit too. While he was on the phone to his mum his mum had told him that both the towers had already collapsed.
I didn't believe it - how could they both collapse?? And the the images unfolded infront of me on the tv screen - I watched in horror as I saw people jumping out of the windows.
I had so many emotions - I didn't know what to feel - I was so confused. Questions were popping up in my head "how?, why?"
My brain just couldn't take in everything it had just seen on the telly.
Our drive home was silent - we had nothing but the radio on with dj's and terrorists experts discussing what had happened and why. Discussions came around to whether London would be next. We drove past Canary Wharf on our way home - it was about 4.30pm and the traffic was unbelievable - the Canary Wharf building had been evacuated incase it was under attack next - helicopters were flying over the Docklands business centres just incase.
I was in a daze - I kept thinking about the amount of people in New York who who would have been getting ready to start a working day - only to have their lives turned completely upside down.
It is going to take a long long time for the world to recover from this tragedy.
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Maz | 23 | United Kingdom
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#73 | Tuesday, September 18th, 2001
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I woke up late. As such, I started my morning routine late and did not turn on Good Morning America as usual. While I was changing my 18 month old daughter's diaper, the phone rang. I figured I'd call them back since I wasn't able to get to the phone at that moment. A few minutes later, I turned on my television just in time to see the second plane hit. All of a sudden I knew who'd been calling: My mother, to tell me the news.
I called her and we cried for a moment. I realized my dad, working in a lab in NY, probably didn't have access to news. I called him. "Is this some kind of April Fool's joke?" In his famous April Fool's joke, he'd convinced his wife that the leaning Tower of Pisa had toppled and so he figured this must be along the same lines. "No," I replied, "It's not April." He said he'd call me back and did so a few minutes later. "This is huge," I remember him saying. There hadn't been news as important since the Cuban Missile Crisis, he recalled.
I called my husband, on his way to work. "Turn on your radio. There's been an attack on the World Trade Center." My husband, a United States Marine reservist, was quick to comply. "Oh my God."
My mother called again, the Pentagon was under attack. "Hilary, Jack is going to get called to war over this." Now it was my turn: "Oh my God." We just had a new baby a month and a half ago.
The rest of the day was a blur as events continued to unfold. I screamed as the towers collapsed. An hour later, I took my older daughter to the doctor's for an appointment. The entire staff was huddled around a radio. The mood was eerie. The nurse told me about another hijacked plane that went down in PA. I thought about the children on board and hugged my daughters tight.
The next 4 days were spent watching the television news, praying and thanking God that the massacre appeared to be over and crying everytime a sad face appeared on the screen asking for help in finding a 'missing' loved one.
My heart now swells with pride each time I see Americans waving flags and singing in unity. It was a small thing to most, but I also felt a surge of pride to see four Marines remove our undamaged Marine Corps flag from the wreckage of the Pentagon. Amid the disaster, it remained untouched by flame.
Now, a week later, we pick ourselves up and return to our lives unchanged but for a new feeling of patriotic unity and a collective resolve to make those responsible pay for this.
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Hilary | 26 | Connecticut
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#74 | Tuesday, September 18th, 2001
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i overslept and didn't go into manhattan as i originally planned. my friend called frantically in the morning and left a message that something was happening in the World Trade Center. i scrambled out of bed and rushed to turn on the television and saw both towers crumbling in the aftermath of the attack. my heart was in my throat because the person i loved was on the 42nd floor. i collapsed crying on the floor thinking he could never survive that. but i called him soon afterwards and he was safe. he was late to work that day.
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*=) | 23 | New York
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#75 | Tuesday, September 18th, 2001
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just getting out of my Freshman english class at UGA. classes got cancelled. everybody was in a panic. i went back to my dorm room and woke up my roommate with the news. he blinked dumbly and his expression was something like "um. what the hell?" He had been alseep until 11 am. pretty soon other guys on the hall were coming into our room watching the news. it was pretty scary. i remember thinking "one day my kid is going to ask me 'what were you doing when they took out the WTC dad?' This was history right before my eyes." I'd only thought people like my dad and grandfater had memories like this. JFK, Pearl Harbor... wow.
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Thomas | 18 | Georgia
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#76 | Tuesday, September 18th, 2001
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I had just woken up, it was 9am. I turned on my television to CNN as I did every morning before, but this day it was different. On the 14" screen was a picture of the World Trade Center with one of the two towers ablaze. I was shocked, but I immediately dismissed it as an aircraft accident. I turned to my restroom, picked up my razor, and began to shave and prepare for my day. I watched the screen and listened to the commentators attentatively. Suddenly, I saw it: a second plane came into view of the camera and rushed head long into the second tower. I was devastated. This was obviously not an accident. I contacted my friends, family, everyone I knew over the next 30 minutes to an hour to update them. I cried off and on during that time.
I was in New York City in November of 2000. I saw the World Trade Center. I marvelled at its splendor and gawked at how amazingly huge it was. The week before the terrorist attack, I had visited Toronto and went up the tallest building on Earth, the CN Tower. It all hit home. Without proper retalliation for this attack, our skyscrapers will forever remain a target to the hatred and blackened hearts of our aggressors. One of the greatest moments in my life, visiting the CN Tower and going up it may possibly be something that the world will be frightened to experience themselves moving forward.
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Jody | 22 | North Carolina
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