September 11, 2001 is a date that will forever remain etched on the hearts and minds of many. It is a day of infamy and a day of sadness, and like so many tragedies before it – either national or personal – just about everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing the day the Twin Towers fell.
Where were you on September 11?
“I was in high school at the time. When I walked into my class and saw the images of the Twin Towers being hit by the airplanes, I thought we were watching a movie at first. But my teacher informed me that what I was seeing was actually the news. I couldn’t believe it. The rest of the day was just a total shock for me. I felt, and still do feel really bad for the families that were affected. To this day also, low flying aircraft makes me nervous even when I know there is no chance of anything happening. I just don’t like to see airplanes flying at low altitudes.” – Malinda Newman, Winona, Mississippi
“On 9/11, I was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado and I was at the gym doing my normal morning workout. When I got ready to leave the gym, the front desk had the TV on and they were showing repeats of the first plane impacting the first tower. I was in disbelief. By the time I got home and talked to my wife, Diana – who was not aware of what was happening – we both watched in equal disbelief as the second plane crashed into the next tower. Fort Carson and all military installation went into high alert. There was a rumor that where we lived could be a target because we lived at the base of NORAD, which is where the Air Force watches the skies for terrorists and other threats against the United States. This attack changed everyone’s lives as we knew it then. Three years later in 2004, I found myself in Iraq and again in 2005, fighting the war on terrorism. There is so much I can say about these attacks, but again, this has changed the way we live forever. They had awakened the sleeping giant!” – MSG Dennis J. Hamer, U.S. Army, Germany
“I was home watching the morning news and preparing to leave to get to my business in downtown Chicago when I saw the first tower go down. Multi-tasking, I thought I’d missed a news intro highlighting action shots of some forthcoming movie. A moment later, I realized it was real. My staff members and I filed into work confused and devastated. With little information, none of which was comforting, — and being close to the Sears Tower — we were among the many businesses in tall buildings that closed for that day. I had the pleasure of living in Manhattan briefly, years ago, and I visited the WTC site five years ago which was both sad and heartwarming. Visitors shared a silent bond of strength and heartbreak. Then, there, wherever we came from, we were all just Americans.” – Charisse Witherspoon, President/CEO of Witherspoon Marketing Group, Inc., Chicago, Illinois
“I was living in Uniondale, New York at the time, working for A.C. Nielsen. I walked into the doctor’s office and everyone was watching a news special report. The newsperson was thinking that the first plane inadvertently ran into one of the Twin Towers, but as we were watching the coverage, another plane came into view and slammed into the other tower. That’s when the point of view changed because more information was coming in about a plane crashing into the Pentagon and a field. It gave me a numb and helpless feeling because we didn’t have any knowledge of what was going on in the sky. Some of the news personnel even thought the radar systems [for our airports] had failed. But these events have changed our way of life forever. I now hate to travel and it’s not the airplane, it’s the airplane madness. And living in New York – New Yorkers are tough. They were mad and ready to fight. And being in the military, I knew we were going to fight somebody. But I didn’t know we would still be fighting them 10 years later.” – Mel Hawthorne, Mayor of Vaiden, Vaiden, Mississippi
“I was at St. Dominic’s Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi right in the middle of surgery during the attacks. And I was really scared thinking they were going to bomb the hospital. And I remember saying, “Lord, please let me make it through the surgery and keep me safe through all of this.” – Debbie Drake Seage, Fort Payne, Alabama
“I was walking out to go to work, and I had the remote in my hand to turn the TV off when I saw the plane fly behind Katie Couric’s head on the Today Show. I stopped in my tracks, and was shocked for the remainder of the day. I stayed on the couch and cried as it was such a hurtful thing. I’m more cautious about travel now and I’m even more aware of who is in or near my space.” – Willetta M. Hudson, Human Resources Leader, Geneva, Illinois
“I had just walked into my office when the phone rang. It was my wife telling me that a small plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I turned on the TV and watched the reporting. As a former pilot and aviation buff, I couldn’t help observing that it was a cloudless day and that the event could not have been unintentional. Suicide? Why would someone do this? One of my close friends arrived, a high time pilot himself, and we watched together and remarked that this could not have been an accident. We watched in amazement as the second airliner came into the frame of the TV screen and blasted into the second tower. I turned to my friend and said, “We are at war.” As my staff arrived and joined us, some began to hold hands. It was a shock that will last a lifetime. My emotions ranged from horror and disgust to extraordinary anger and contempt for those responsible.” – Allan Hammons, Hammons and Associates, Greenwood, Mississippi
“I was lying in bed looking at the news on television when I saw the planes hit the Twin Towers. And as I watched, I could not believe that this caused both buildings to fall and crumble. Obviously, I felt and still feel sorrow for those families who lost loved ones on that day. As things began to unfold, I saw the result of the plane crash into the Pentagon building, and the crash of another plane in a field in Pennsylvania. As I put things together in my mind, I speculated that this last plane was either headed for the Capital or the White House. These tragic events did not affect me personally except that it created a climate of fear and hatred against the entire Muslim world including those Muslims who live in and are citizens of the United States. I fear that even though over 60 Muslims died in these plane crashes, those unthinking individuals, whom are many, still blame the entire Muslim population. This in itself is a tragedy.” – Leo Branton Jr., Attorney, Los Angeles, California
“I was at work and my cousin called me from Texas and asked, ‘Did you see that? A plane just hit the Twin Towers. Turn on the TV.’ He started crying and said, ‘What is the world coming to?’ As I sat back, I watched as more details about the attacks unfolded. Emotionally, I felt sorry for all those who were hurt or killed. But I was most concerned for my Christian brothers living and working at Bethel, the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society in Brooklyn, New York. – Jennifer McNeal, Early Educator, Winona, Mississippi
“I worked for the City of Chicago at the time, and I worked in the Daley Center, which is a government building. We were looking at the horrific event on television in my boss’ office, and the news was encouraging that all government buildings be evacuated since there was speculation that Chicago would be a target. I called my boss (who was off this day), and he, too, was looking at the news. But he said we had to wait for Mayor Richard Daley to give the orders for us to leave. Needless to say, we were terrified because we could hear and see all the other government employees leaving the building. We felt like we were going to be sitting ducks. The atmosphere was thick with disbelief, and anxiety was rising in all of us. As we waited for evacuation orders from the mayor, the Illinois State Police came in and ordered us to get out. At first we were afraid to obey, but using the action and voice of authority, they told us to “GET OUT.” We were not even allowed to turn off our computer or any other office equipment. Outside was unbelievable. I thought I was in a Japanese horror movie. People were running to the public transportation. “El” trains were so crowded, you had to wait over an hour for a train that usually comes every eight minutes. When I arrived at Kedzie Avenue and Lake Street, I waited another hour and a half for a bus. By that time, it was more than a hundred people standing with me. I used the time to talk to people about the signs of the Last Days as foretold in the Bible. The response was great. Even though it took me over six hours to get home, witnessing to others about the Bible is what calmed me and others. Will I ever forget 9/11? Not hardly, because my birthday is September 12.” – Nikki Roberts, former City of Chicago employee, Chicago, Illinois
“I was on my way to court in Calhoun County that morning. I was a supportive witness in an animal cruelty case. I stopped at a convenience store and as I walked in there was a TV on the wall above the cashier. I saw the first tower smoking and before I could ask anyone what was going on the second plane burst through the second tower. I knew immediately there was foul play. This could be no accident. I was horrified – stunned. I went on to court, called my friends outside and told them what had happened. I was hurt because they were focused on the trial and didn’t grasp that people were dying in the inferno of the buildings. I cannot forget the images, cannot forget the individual people I learned of, and will always think of the bravery that day and try my best to immulate it. God bless our precious country and her people.” – Doll Stanley, Director of Hope Animal Sanctuary of In Defense of Animals, Grenada, Mississippi
“September 11, 2001 is a day that shocked the entire world. What’s even more shocking, for me, is what I experienced before and after that tragic event took place. On September 7, 2001, I was on my way back to the recording studio in Manhattan with some friends and as we were approaching the studio, I started having a weird feeling as well as a vision that something bad was getting ready to happen in Manhattan. I stopped walking and surveyed the area around me and looked towards the sky to see if something was going to come crashing down to the ground. As I stared into the dark skies above, I envisioned 2 – 3 fighter Jets hovering in the air over Manhattan, followed by a plane crashing into a building while people were running for their lives! My friend Val asked if I was okay and I shared with her the vision and the feelings that I was dealing with. On the morning of September 11, I’d just finished a mixing session for one of my recording projects about 7:30 a.m. Since the studio was my home, I decided to get a few hours of sleep so I could continue working on the project later. I finally woke up around 3 p.m. and noticed that no one was in the office. I was also hearing an enormous amount of police, fire and ambulance sirens in the area. Instead of looking outside to see what was going on, I decided to call one of my business colleagues in Tokyo to see how the deal with Universal Records was coming along and she started crying and screaming ‘Byron, You’re ok!’ and I said, ‘Yes. I’m fine and why are your freaking out?‘ She told me that two airplanes crashed into the Twin Towers. When she said that, I thought about the vision I had a few days earlier and I immediately ran to the fire escape to take a look outside to see if what she said was true. Once I opened the door to the fire escape, I noticed dustlike particles flying around in the air that covered everything like a blanket of snow, police cars blocking the streets and Time Square had become a ghost town. Later that evening, I began having more intensified feelings as well as visions. I could sense the spirits of the individuals that passed away walking around wondering what happened to them just like in the television series, “Lost.” My heart truly goes out to those that lost a loved one during that tragic event and everyone around the world will always remember them.” – Byron Burke, CEO, BB Media Global Group, New York, New York
“My husband had gone to town for his doctor’s appointment and when the doctor walked into the examining room, he asked him if he had watched the news? My husband said, ‘No,’ and the doctor said, ‘Good. I’ll check your blood pressure before I say anything else.’ Once he was told about the towers, my husband could hardly believe it, and he was sure his blood pressure shot up. I sat down to watch the news and I was horrified. I called my sister, Dorothy, in Memphis. Having known from the Bible to expect mind-shattering, unbelievable acts of violence, war, nation against nation, brother against brother, which would all together be signs that we’re in the Last Days, or the time of the end, I thought, “Well, this certainly plays into the many, many prophecies being fulfilled, such as Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21 and 2 Tim.3: 1-5. It was made more clear than ever to me, who really rules the world and is causing such awful events. 2 Corinthians 4:4 and 1 John 5:19 says, “The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” – Alita DeBerry, Writer, Memphis, Tennessee
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