Where Were You When The Planes Hit?

For many years, I heard that if you ask anyone where they were when President Kennedy was shot, they will remember. I've asked my mother that question, and she can tell me with great detail exactly what she was doing, who told her, and what her reaction was. 43 years later, it is like it was yesterday.

For my generation, we will remember where we were when the planes hit on September 11, 2001. Just like mother, although in my case it was only 5 years ago, I can remember it like it was yesterday...

I was downstairs in our townhouse that morning, watching The Today Show and ironing some clothes. They reported that a small plane had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center. They showed a video clip. I called Greg at work and told him about it. He had seen it online. We both commented that it looked like a Cessna, or some other small aircraft.

That just shows you the immense size of those towers. What was reported as a small aircraft was actually a large commercial aircraft.

Then the second plane hit, and we knew it wasn't just an accident.

But hey, all this was happening in New York City, and we were safe and sound down near Washington, DC. Right? Until the plane hit the Pentagon.

At that time, we lived 4 miles from the Pentagon. Greg was at work in downtown DC. His office was on Pennsylvania Avenue, 10 blocks from the Capitol and 6 blocks from The White House. My father was at a meeting at the Department of Commerce, located diagonally across from The White House.

I called Greg on the phone to make sure he knew what had happened. And frankly, I told him to get out of there. He responded with 5 words, "I'm on my way home." His office closed up, and like everyone else working in DC that day, there was a mass exodus.

Around this time, I heard a big BOOM! It was so loud and so strong that it shook the sliding glass doors in my family room. To this day, I do not know what it was. Some suspect that it was a fuel tank near the Pentagon scene exploding. Others say that it was a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier as it headed towards Pennsylvania. It was not long after that we heard reports of the plane going down in Pennsylvania.

And so I started my wait for Greg. I was glued to the television. Finally I decided that this really wasn't a time to be alone, so I went to a neighbor's house. We watched the coverage there together.

It was a very frightening time. Not only was everyone waiting for their loved ones to make it home safely in a period of great uncertainty, but we didn't know if it was over. The news reports would periodically say that there was a commercial aircraft coming north up the Potomac River corridor towards Washington, DC at a high rate of speed. The fighter jets were constantly buzzing overhead.

I don't know what it's like to be in a war zone, but I think I got a little sense of it that day.

After 3 hours of waiting, Greg finally got home. The skies over DC were closed, so we knew that any aircraft we heard were military or police. But those jets and helicopters were constantly flying, 24 hours a day. We wound up moving down to the family room for the week, to be a little bit further from all the noise.

The next day, Greg took the Metro in to Washington and went to work. He was determined that the terrorists were not going to stop him. I was both proud and terrified that day. I don't know how much work actually got done in offices on September 12th, but those who went in made sure that the terrorists did not succeed. And Greg and I talked on the phone numerous times that day to make sure everything was okay.

A funny thing happened that day though. All around town, American flags started appearing on houses. Let's be honest, it's been hard enough to get people to fly flags on July 4th. But now flags were everywhere. There was a flag store a few blocks from our house. The line of customers was out the door. (President Bush later visited that store.) Flags were flying on cars, people were wearing flag lapel pins, they were everywhere!

We were a country united! We were the United States of America!

It took many months before I was able to view the Pentagon site. I just could look at it. It was too painful. Viewing it made it even more real than it already was. But I remembered seeing the firefighters draping a huge American flag by the accident site on that fateful day. It made for an amazing scene. Once I finally had the nerve to open my eyes as we drove by the Pentagon, I was amazed. Viewing it on television did not do the magnitude of the damage justice.

Almost 3,000 men, women and children died that day. Countless more were directly affected by the loss of loved ones, friends, and colleagues. This is a day that we should always remember, and probably will.

Take time out of your day today and remember. Remember those who were lost, those who came to our aid, and those who mourn. Also remember those who continue to protect us on a daily basis -- the police, firefighters, EMTs, and the military. Those are brave men and women.

President Bush has proclaimed today as Patriot Day. From his proclamation:

I call upon the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as appropriate officials of all units of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half staff on Patriot Day. I also call upon the people of the United States to observe Patriot Day with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and remembrance services, to display the flag at half staff from their homes on that day, and to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m. eastern daylight time to honor the innocent Americans and people from around the world who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

May God bless this country, and all those affected by the events of September 11, 2001.