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September 11, 2001 WTC NEWS & LINKS

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remembering where i was on 9.11
Posted by: Mike Meister from Hamilton Sunday December 09, 2001 @ 11:55 PST
i was sitting at my desk at work when the co-worker next to me said a plane had crashed into one of the towers of the world trade center. my first thought was that it was a small plane and i remembered how i read that one time a plane crashed into the empire state building. but, i was concerned and started thinking about what new york would do to repair the building -- how odd it must look to see a little plane hanging out the window of the building. shortly after there was more news that a second plane had crashed into the other tower and that these weren't small planes but huge jet liners that were exploding upon impact of the buildings. my concern for what was happening grew to epic porportion. i called my mother who i knew would be at home and most likely have the news on. i could tell from the sound of her voice that she was frightened. she told me how she was watching the morning talk shows and they cut away to a live feed after the first plane crashed. she said as she was watching it she saw the second plane crash into the tower as they were discussing the first plane crash. i couldn't believe what i was hearing. i knew immediately that we were under attack and that it had to be terrorist. the whole office was buzzing. soon everyone had their radios on. as i walked through the office, there wasn't any area that wasn't tuned into what was happening. workers with internet access had their computers logged onto the latest news developments. lots of people where unsure what was going to happen next and there was speculation and rumors of what people had last heard. everyone was talking about it and sharing information as they were finding out news. as i made my rounds in the business center, i observed others. it was very hard to concentrate on work. a gal in my area came over before i left for lunch and said that one of the towers had collapsed. i dismissed this at first as impossible. i explained to her that on a visit to new york city i had taken a tour of the wtc. i told her how i had been up in the observation area; that it was a huge structure of steel, concrete and metal and with the strong construction of the tower, it wouldn't collapse. again, i got on the phone to speak with my mother who i knew had the news on. she said that she had turned the station to cnn and that indeed one of the towers had collapsed. my jaw dropped and i was in shock. my mother told me that thousands of people were now dead and that a third plane had crashed into the pentagon. i was without words. 'how could this be happening'? was my only thought. i collected myself and tried not to show too much emotion. being in the work environment you want to project an image of staying calm, cool and collected so as not to escalate others emotions who may not have the strength. however, it was long before you started hearing people crying at their desks and hearing more stories of other planes being hijacked and some going down. i left for my lunch hour. living 10 mintues from home i got in my car, turned on the radio and went home to see what the news stations were reporting. every radio station had suspended their music and they were all reporting the events taking place. hearing it on the radio, was surreal enough. but, seeing the news and the images on screen was a moment that left me beside myself. i broke down in the privacy of my home and didn't want to return to work. i knew the magnitute and severity of this event would forever change the face of my life and our country going forward. over the next several days you could see the grief on peoples faces even if they weren't expressing their emotions verbally. a day didn't go by that i wasn't listening or watching the news for any new information. e-mails were being sent to me from all my friends, co-workers and family members. some of the e-mails spoke of the events that happend on 9.11 and depicted graphic pictures of that day, but most were e-mails of inspiration and patriotism. i gained a knew sense of pride for my country, my president, and everything that i would normally take for granite. 'god bless america' were words that held a profound meaning and strength and i was caught up in the unity that was bringing us all together. never before have i felt and experienced all of america coming together as they did for the weeks after. it truly was an event that will be forever etched into my memory.