Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
We all know the words, or have at least heard the song that Alan Jackson wrote and made famous not long after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. A day forever engrained in the lives and minds of Americans all over the United States. For me, I just old enough to remember what was going on, but not quite old enough to understand the severity of that fateful day. I was in third grade, just coming back from my PE class. We walked in to our classroom to our teacher crying in front of the TV set. We didn't continue on with class that day. We couldn't turn off the TV. Little did I know that I would have the humble opportunity to see Ground Zero just a few years later and again once the Memorial was completed. Where were you when the world stopped turning? Although I nor my family were directly affected by the Terrorist Attacks, something resonated with me that kept drawing me in long after it happened. Today, I find myself glued to the TV, watching countless documentaries and reflections about that day. Roughly 3000 Americans perished that day and the days following. First responders, firefighters, police officers, volunteers and countless others risked their lives to save those trapped in the World Trade Center Towers, the Pentagon and that field in Pennsylvania. Today, more than 2,000 of those brave American's are battling cancer and other deadly diseases from the toxic dust and debris they inhaled. Where were you when the world stopped turning? Today, on the 13th Anniversary of 9/11, ceremonies in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania of those lost. Moments of silence marked each individual impact, along with the collapse of each tower. Family and friends read the names of those who perished. It all started in New York at 8:46am EST, the same time that the first plane hit the North Tower 13 years ago today. Today, a country remembers that fateful day, a day that changed America forever. I have had the humble privilege of visiting Ground Zero twice in my life. Once in 2009, when there was still a visible hole where the towers once stood. Then again just last year, shortly after the new memorial opened to the public in 2013. Seeing the two memorial pools, build where the towers once stood and engraved with the names of everyone who perished that day, left me speechless. Now, as I sit here watching a documentary titled "Voices from the Towers," it becomes more real than ever. In the words of Alan Jackson: Did you weep for the children who lost their dear loved ones And pray for the ones who don't know? Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble And sob for the ones left below? Did you burst out with pride for the red, white and blue And the heroes who died just doing what they do? Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer And look at yourself and what really matters? Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
1 Comment
Rick Swanson
9/11/2014 03:09:21 am
I was sitting right where I sit today, on my couch out on Long Island some 35 miles East of the Trade Center. I watched it happening on television and around midday I headed in towards Manhattan. The main roads, Long Island Expressway, and the Northern and Southern State Parkways were each closed to Westbound traffic other than emergency vehicles so I had to take local roads. By the time I entered Queens, which is part of New York City but still over 10 miles from lower Manhattan traffic was bad and moving slowly. I passed right past Cunningham Park which was the staging area for all of the fire trucks and fireman from the Long Island departments sent in to assist the FDNY anywhere in the city they were needed. I was only able to get as far West as an area that overlooks part of Flushing Meadow near where the 39 and 64 Worlds Fairs were located as traffic was basically at a standstill on every street. I was able to see the new Manhattan skyline and the smoke coming up from where the Trade Center had stood. It took me over an hour to go a few blocks and get myself on the expressway heading back East. Normally the busiest road on Long Island had very few cars heading Eastbound, and except for a few emergency vehicles nothing headed Westbound. What would normally take me about an hour took over four hours that day 13 years ago. I had been right by the towers a week before. I had to pick up a copy of my birth certificate from the NYC Department of Records which is very close to the Trade Center. I was very lucky as I personally did not know anyone who was lost that day, but I was also unusual as most everyone here did know someone. It was horrible. I will never forget that day.
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