Where Were You on September 11, 2001?

The photo above is of the Tribute of Light, which since 2002 is activated on the night of 9/10 and the night of 9/11. This tribute originally in 2002 was located at the site of where the towers came down. Then because of the ongoing construction and cleanup at Ground Zero, the tribute was moved to another location nearby.

The Tribute of Light signifies the lost lives from the September 11 attacks that started at 8:46 AM on a sunny and clear morning in 2001. This tribute was to only be displayed from March 11 to April 14, 2002 and again on the second anniversary in 2003. Though it was planned to end in 2003, it has remained piercing the New York City night skies every anniversary since then.

MY MEMORIES OF THAT DAY

I remember I was getting ready to take my car into the car dealership for a tune up. I turned on my TV as I got dressed, it was about 8:50 AM, and as usual I was watching Good Morning America. I wasn’t looking at the TV at first but quickly turned around when I heard a voice say that a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers. From that point on I was glued to the TV set.

I remember calling my best friend Jeffrey, waking him up, and telling him to turn on the TV. He asked why and I said, a plane flew into the World Trade Center and one of the towers are on fire. This was around 9:00 AM, and I could hear him fumbling for his glasses to find his TV remote, still groggy from being woken up. Before he could get his bearings I yelled out, Oh My God! It was 9:03 AM and I watched in horror as the second plane flew into the other tower on national TV.

Jeffrey yells back, what happened? I said, the United States is under attack. Another plane just flew straight into the other tower. That piece of information really woke him up out of his half-awake stupor. He finally turned on his TV and we stayed connected on the phone for about another 10 minutes. Then each of us hung up as we were getting calls from other people alerting us to what was happening only 25 miles away.

In the days that followed everything seemed surreal. The skies were quiet, all aircraft were grounded, and everywhere you looked, American Flags were rippling in the wind. The National Guard Armory in the northern part of my township, became one of the main supply and support location for operations at Ground Zero and at the securing of the George Washington Bridge.

PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

Never again would we see something as awesome and as American as what is depicted in the photo above. I remember as a 5^th Grader in 1973, watching the building of the World Trade Center forever change the New York City skyline. Then 28 years later, the skyline would be changed again. Now One World Trade Center, dubbed the Freedom Tower during early construction, has changed the skyline one more time. The 104-story building stands at 1,776 feet tall, not counting the broadcast antenna at the top.

What were you doing on that day in history back in 2001? Please share your thoughts below. If you know someone who passed away that day, please share their names here so that they will live on in this blog post that is indexed into Google for all to see and read.