It was an amazing day. The sun was bright, the air was crisp and the aroma of fall was in the air. I remember where I was and what I was doing the precise moment we began to understand the tragedy that was beginning to unfold before our very eyes. I remember it so well not only because of the events themselves but what it made me think at the time. I was a mere seven weeks pregnant with my first child. The only person at work that knew was my supervisor. I hadn’t even told everyone at work but was thinking to myself what kind of world am I bringing a child into?
I was working at the service center for my company when someone got the CNN e-mail alert that a Cessna plan has hit one of the twin towers in New York City. I was thinking to myself how horrible and what could have happened to the pilot that would cause such an accident. Minutes later another plane hit the other tower. Terrorism had never entered my mind. We all logged onto the CNN news site to find out the latest. We soon found out it wasn’t a Cessna plane. The words terrorism were lingering in the air and soon became a reality. We were under attack. We are sitting around our computers trying to find out the latest when the towers started to collapse. We then hear about the plane that hits the Pentagon and then another plane going down in PA. Minutes later my supervisor ran out of the building. He is in the reserves and was deployed months later. He returned to the USA but is on his second tour of duty as of now.
By the afternoon they had told us to go home to be with our families. I was astonished and still couldn’t believe the events that unfolded throughout the day. There were many people that were affected by everything that happened. People either lost family members, had a friend or new someone who had a friend. Though I didn’t lose anyone directly I know of many people whose live were directly affected. A friend of mine told me tonight that her husband was suppose to be having lunch on top of one of the towers that day.
Though these events happened six years ago it seems like yesterday to many of us. Many facts became known after the events and how the terrorist planned their attack on the United States. It is scary to think how destructive they were in such a short period of time. I know that it was a hard lesson to learn but we are all vulnerable in our own way. I support our troops in their effort to demolish terrorism. If my sons were old enough I would certainly hate to see them have to go overseas but would be proud that I had raised them to be passionate about what they believe and to try and do something about it. No one wished to go to war. Freedom is precious and worth fighting for and I would like to thank all those willing to put their lives on the line to fight for not only my freedom but the freedom of others. In this day in age we have enjoyed this luxury and those who are opposing the war may have forgotten what it may be like to live without something as precious as freedom.
Harrigan Tales 