9/11 Attacks

If there’s one major thing I remember that happened while I was in high school, it would be the September 11^th attacks on the U.S. I was at school in my first period class (Interior Design) when our principal turned on the news in everyone’s class. We saw firsthand a plane crash into one of the Twin Trade Towers in New York. The whole class was speechless. WE couldn’t believe what we had just seen. None of us thought it was intentional. We figured the plane had accidentally crashed. That is…until the second plane hit the other tower. That’s when my stomach sank and I felt sick. News reports were on every channel saying that America was under attack. All I could think about was my own family. I had crazy thoughts running through my head that we were going to be captured, thrown in a prison camp (like the Holocaust of World War II), and be killed.

Later on we came to find out that some Islamic people had hi-jacked the plane and killed the pilots. There were some other planes that were supposed to crash, too, but the passengers on board made sure they didn’t crash in to anyone. They still died, though. This was the worst thing that had happened to our country. I fasted that day, and when basketball practice (or pre-season conditioning) came, I puked. Coach Stites asked me if it was lunch, and I told her I had fasted. She was so mad at me. I went home that day and sat glued to the tv with my mom and Spence. I had to work that night, and the only song on the radio was “God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood.

We also had a school assembly that day for the administrators to explain what happened. We were basically on lock-down I remember. There was one kid in the school named Moses, that always wore weird robes and had a beard. He held a sign in the stands during the assembly that read, "Let My People Go." We all got a good laugh at that.

That weekend was General Conference, and while watching it, it got interrupted by President George Bush pronouncing war against the Iraqi nation. I have never been so thankful to be an American. Nor have I ever had so much respect for our American flag, and those who fight for our country. I promised myself during a school assembly that I would never take our flag for granted. And since then, I haven’t. Whenever the national anthem or pledge is given, I sacredly cover my heart and respectfully honor it.