[Joeiss]

It's Been Six Months

It's hard to believe that half of a year has past. It's been six months since a nation has been stunned. It's been one hundred and eighty two days since three buildings were attacker. It's been 4368 hours since America was under attack. It's been two hundred sixty-two thousand and eighty minutes since a new war was started, and an attempt to destroy terrorism was given birth. Yes, six months ago the World Trade Center "Twin Towers" were truck by two planes which were hijacked by terrorists. Yes, six months ago the Pentagon was hit by a plane which was also hijacked by terrorists. Yes, six months ago a plane crashed in Pennsylvania because those brave passengers rallied against the terrorist hijackers, and saved possibly thousands of people from where the plane was headed. It's been six months since I heard the news that terror had swiped America off of its feet.

It was second period at my highschool. I was in drama class. I was changing out of my drama clothes and into my school uniform when I heard the pager buzz. The school chaplain started to talk. He started a prayer, so I crossed myself and slipped my dress shoes on and put my bag over my shoulder. I could not hear the exact words of what the chaplain was saying because the other kids in my class were talking and being noisy, but I could see the look of fear, the look of sadness in my drama teacher's face. I walked with a fast pace from the middle of the drama room to the speaker where my terrified teacher was standing in disbelief. I did no say a word until the prayer was over. I still did not know what was happening while I was finishing praying the Hail Mary. As soon as U had crossed myself, and my teacher had crossed herself, I asked what the school chaplain said. My drama teacher then told me that there has been a terrorist attack in New York City and Washington, DC. It was that moment that I knew the world had been changed. I still did not know the specifics of what had occurred, but all I knew what that it was bad, very bad.

The school bell rang and I left my drama class. Everybody in the halls had confused looks on their faces, so I blended in wonderfully. The only words which I heard as I walked to my English class outside in a portable were, "Did you hear what happened?" and, "Yes, but I do not know what was hit by the planes." I do not think that any student knew what was happening that morning in America. There were only guesses upon guesses for that five minutes in between my second and third period classes.

I walked up the steps to my English class which was in a portable. I walked into my class and immediately asked my teacher what happened in America. He replied in a negative tone, almost in a disgusted tone and said, "Why would I know? I only heard what you heard five minutes ago!" I walked to my seat and that is when I finally got an answer. A girl who sat in the front of the class said that the World Trade Center towers were hit by planes. Confused, I asked her what the World Trade Center towers were, and she said something about the "Twin Towers". The Twin Towers? What are these? The only Twin Towers that I knew about were Tim Duncan and David Robinson, two basketball players who earned that nickname because of their height. The class went on and I still did not know what exactly was happening in New York City and Washington. But, I soon found out.

After English class, I had my lunch period. I quickly ate my lunch in the cafeteria and went to the library to finish some of my homework from the night before. I completed my work and exited the library. Before I made it to the doors, I saw that there was a television behind the librarian's desk. I thought the television was just in black and white, or scrambled, because all I could see was two colours : black and grey. Little did I know that there was nothing wrong with that television, but that I was looking at the remains of the two World Trade Center towers.

When school finished, my brother drove me home. We arrived at my house at around three o'clock, and we immediately turned on the television and switched the channel to CNN. We watched until five o'clock, which was when my parents arrived home. They hugged us and kissed us. They called my sister to make sure she was okay. My parents left work in Toronto early that afternoon, and arrived a couple hours later. We, as a family watched the news until late at night. I learned what the "Twin Towers" were. I must have seen footage of the World Trade Center being attacked at least seventy five times. Mass destruction just occurred in America, and I felt scared.

Initial reports of the total amount of deaths were high, very high. Thankfully every day those numbers dropped lower and lower. On September 11, 2001, some new words were added to my vocabulary. Terrorism. Osama Bin Laden. Twin Towers. Taliban. Al Queda. These words are all words that when I hear them, I am saddened. I am saddened because thousands of people died on that morning of September 11th. I am still saddened because of all the pain and suffering I saw on the news that day. I am still saddened because of the amount of deaths that have occurred in retaliation to the events of September 11, and I hope that peace can happen in this hectic world of ours, and I hope that terrorism is a word that we all can take out of our vocabulary.


By : Joeiss



Now, please share your thoughts with everybody else on these forums. It can be long or short, but please share your thoughts on the events that happened on September 11, 2001. Thank you.