I Remember

On September 11, 2001, I was working at MetaGroup in Reston. I worked the hours of 6AM to 2PM, so I had already been at work for some time that morning. I was walking down the hall for some reason and I saw people in the video conference room clustered around the TV. I went in to find out what was going on. They were watching news coverage, and told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. There it was on screen, smoking and flaming. As we watched, the second plane came in and hit the other tower. I went back to my office and called my mother, telling her what had happened and that she should turn on the TV. Then I called my husband and told him the same thing. He popped in a VHS tape to record the coverage. Then I called my sister who was driving up the area to start a new job. Mom called back when she heard that a plane had hit the Pentagon, and that another plane was headed toward DC. My sister diverted to mom's house, and I left work to go too. When the towers collapsed, we called dad and asked him to come home from work. The phone system was pretty much overloaded by this point, as was the internet. After we learned that the fourth plane had crashed in Pennsylvania, I drove home. The roads were pretty empty.

A few months later I would meet a new friend. Her Air Force husband had been in the area of the Pentagon that was destroyed (that's where his office was), but had been called to a meeting in another part of the building. He lost some good friends and saw some horrific things that day. He's been plagued by nightmares for years, and just recently was able to get on an AF plane without a panic attack. I don't personally know anyone who died that day, at any of the attack sites. But I will never forget 9/11.

This other post was a tribute I posted September 11, 2004.

America will remain the land of the free, ONLY so long as it is the home of the brave.