Where Were You?

There are events that take place during our lives that impact us in such a way that we remember where we were or what we were doing when they happened.

Perhaps you can distinctly remember in great detail the moment your first child was born, your wedding day or the proposal. More often than not, we tend to remember more tragic occasions such as where you were when you heard U.S. President’s Kennedy or Reagan was shot. If you’re old enough, perhaps you recall Pearl Harbor or when John Lennon was shot or the exact moment when you found out that Elvis Presley died.

Certainly personal tragedies will always be remembered with the passing of loved ones, family or friends. Those moments stay with you until your day comes.

The most recent major event, that I’m sure anyone old enough to remember, happened nine years ago this coming Saturday September 11th. Of course I’m speaking of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

I had no personal connection to these events. I didn’t lose a loved one on that day back in 2001 but any freedom loving person had to feel attacked indirectly. Several of my fellow Canadian citizens were killed that day along with people from many other countries so there was a connection in that regard.

Sitting in front of the television last night I watched not one but two documentaries about the events of that day. The myriad of emotions that I felt then came rushing back. Nine years after the attack I’m still as pissed off and shocked as I was when it all unfolded on the television screen I was watching back in 2001.

Watching the second plane go into the other tower as I did years ago felt just as fresh and sickening. Seeing the countless people choosing to plummet to their deaths after jumping from the tops of the buildings with the knowledge that they wouldn’t survive the fall was horrific. How unimaginably bad was it up there? Their fates were sealed when the planes hit but at that time they didn’t know the towers were going to fall. It’s hard to imagine the pain and terror that those people were facing when jumping to your death seemed like the better option.

These and other images from that day are seared into my memory. I often wonder if having memories like these that you can’t erase are similar in any way to the painful memories our war veterans take with them. Many don’t like to talk about them. As horrible as my memories are I think it would be much more painful to have experienced it in person rather than watching it from hundreds of miles away on a screen.

There were happy, heroic and inspiring stories from 9/11 as well. Firefighters found a man perched on top of the rubble sitting above a section of staircase still standing. As the second tower collapsed, he rode it all the way down and somehow survived. There were several firefighters buried in the rubble that were trapped and injured but they were found and pulled out alive. And of course the passengers of United 93 who attempted to regain control of their aircraft over Pennsylvania are heroes. They didn’t survive but they fought back and kept those terrorists from reaching their intended target.

Where were you that day when you heard the news? I was still working as a morning radio announcer at that time and was expecting to be on-air for another hour and a bit when one of the news guys poked his head into the studio and told me about the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. I rushed to the newsroom and the closest television to watch what was happening. I distinctly remember saying, “There’s no way that was an accident. It’s a clear day! They hit it on purpose.” A short time later everyone’s fears were realized as we watched the second plane enter the picture and slam into the other tower erupting into a giant fireball. The only question at that point was how many more had been hijacked and where were they going to hit?

I quickly got back on-air and brought my listeners up to speed on the events unfolding in New York. I found a live ABC news feed on one of the satellite channels and decided to dump all regular programming and broadcast that instead. We stayed with that most of the day.

The world I knew changed that day. Terrorism was always something that happened a long way away on the other side of the planet. Now we live with that fear every day. It reminds me of growing up during the Cold War and wondering every day if this was the day the missiles would fly. Now we wonder if this is the day the terrorists will blow up buildings, subways or vehicles. Most days I try not to think about it, but it’s always in the back of my mind.

So where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard the news? Please feel free to leave a comment and share your 9/11 memories. I’d be fascinated to hear them.

I can't believe I have to add this but for those of you who are conspiracy theorists, you can keep those thoughts to yourself. I'm not a believer and won't allow those asinine thoughts into my blog.