Most of us will never forget where we were the morning of September 11, 2001.For me, it was at my desk in the back of the newsroom at the Flint Journal. Up until about 8:45 a.m. it was a pretty routine morning in the newsroom. The paper was basically done and most of us were leaning back thinking about what we were going to do the rest of the day.
Then the first plane hit the towers. Brooke, who handled the actual production of the newspaper in the mornings, realized that everything would have to be changed. A large business feature was scrapped and the rest of us went to work to find a local angle to the story.
We were on the phone to sources, looking for anyone who might be, or know someone who might be close to the tragedy.
All I remember is being on the phone from about 9 a.m. until noon. My recollections of the event were of work and talking to local people, or former local people, who were watching the event unfold in front of their eyes.
People would stop by my desk and give me the play-by-play, but I didn't really feel the complete effect of the terrorist attack until I got up from my desk, about 11:30 a.m., and found a television and watched the replays of the attack.
Then, and only then, was when the realization of the enormity of the act hit me. People had told me the towers fell, but when I saw it with my own eyes on the replay, I wept. Knowing that many, many lives were being lost at that moment was too hard even for a hardened reporter.
Today, let's remember all those, police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and civilians who lost their lives in this attack. Let's also remember all those who have fought in the cause to make sure it will never happen again.
It is a good day to fly the Flag.
1 comment:
I was WB on Seymour Lake Road, approaching Sashabaw Road listening to the Dick Purtan morning show, when I heard "Big Al" say something about the towers being hit by a plane. I thought he was in the middle of a skit, until I realized this was breaking news.
Once I reached the nearest television, it was
overwhelming! I will not forget the stillness on the farm with no air traffic, while we waited to see what else was in store for our country. It was a haunting feeling.
The loss of life, the birth of heroes all in a few moments of time frozen in our memories. Hopefully, in the years to come, this will be recorded in our history books so that no citizen ever forgets 9/11.
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