Sunday, September 11, 2011

Where Were You on September 11?

September 11, 2011 Birmingham, AL Even as a young boy I can recall hearing adults mull over the question, "Where were you when JFK was shot?". The relevance of a persons location at the moment of discovery used to be trivial to me. I wasn't around on that tragic day when America watched her President fall victim to political hatred, so it seemed a little difficult to understand the emotional relevance to "where were you?".

On September 11, 2001, Americans awoke with a routine sense of safety that has since--never returned.

I was teaching at Cory Middle School, in Gadsden Alabama on that morning. It was a pleasant morning, one easily remembered from the frequent recollections of the events that unfolded hour by hour on that day. Cheryl Taylor, a teacher across the hall, interrupted the class with a knock on the door and a sense of panic. "Turn your TV on! A plane has crashed into the world trade center!" she said.

Within seconds, over 30 students and I watched the screen as chaos began to unravel before our eyes. Billowing from one of the towers was a stream of smoke, and you could sense that more was to follow. Across America, the workday ceased as we all were captivated of what horrors fell before our eyes. We no longer felt safe. We called loved ones. And as planes fell from our skies on that day, we wondered who was responsible for such an awful crime.

I remember turning the volume down with that class and we began a discussion. "The world as you know it, will be different from now on." We had been attacked by a "faceless coward" and those of us who watched our television screens on that morning knew this was just the beginning...including those innocent 7th and 8th grade students.

I remember where I was. I remember how helpless I felt as I watched lives extinguished beneath the ashes of a 100 story building. I remember wanting justice.

In the summer of 2010, I was fortunate to visit the lower Manhattan and take a tour of that tragic site. I was with a few other teachers and about 30 students who were only a few years old when the planes struck. I watched as they were engulfed with the stories from an audio tour that took us from place to place. It was then, I realized a sad truth. This is the only world they have ever known. September 11th has always been a part of their vocabulary. Many don't understand the horrors most of us have experienced because sadly, it is all they have ever known.

To those who enter buildings that go ablaze, we salute you. To those who fight a war, ensuring that the attacks on American soil cease to exist, we salute you. To those who's families were rocked by the tragedies that unfolded on that horrible day, we mourn with you.

And to the young people now who hear the world speak of, "where we were" on that day, and fail to understand it's significance, we pray that you will never have to turn on the TV to the news of some awful tragedy and watch a new generation grow, amid the fears of terror.

God Bless America

Robert Abernathy

3 comments:

  1. Yesterday on my facebook page I transcribed, as a note, my journal from the week of 9/11. In reflecting on that journal this week, the overwhelming gratitude comes back to me for not just the "big" heroes... but also the local, unsung heroes who were all the teachers of our children. Needing a sense of normalcy and a measure of security, our children came to school... and you, the teachers nourished them with the reassurance and strength that they needed. The first two adults I saw on 9/11 were the teachers of my children; the looks in their eyes spoke volumes. They knew they had a job to do; their calm, solid resolve to guide our children through those harrowing first hours helped shape the tragedy into something the kids could handle. I have thought so many times of how hard that must have been for the teachers, who would rather be watching TV every minute, taking care of their own families, and digesting what this meant to our immediate survival. Instead, our children's needs were put first, and for that I will always be so grateful.

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  2. I was driving to work and heard the news of the first plane crashing into the towers - as soon as it hit, someone in the background, on the radio station, said, "Oh my God, a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center!" Within a few minutes, I was praying for New York, our country, and praying my children were safe. Wishng I could turn around and go pick them up instead of going to work.

    I had often wondered, what it was like for so many Americans - when they heard Pearl Harbor was being attacked. On the morning of September 11, 2001, I found out just how they felt.

    God Bless America and God Bless our military, firefighters, police officers, health care providers and all volunteers, who dedicate any and all spare time to "HELP" those in need!

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  3. Rob,
    I will never forget that day at Cory Middle School. I was helping Mary McCants in her lab with a computer problem and Joy Hallmark burst into the room and said "Turn on your TV, a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center". As we watched, I felt sick, empty inside. Administrators really did not want the students to watch, but we watched anyway. I felt as if I had been struck. I could not sleep for many nights following. I am thankful that I was in a place where we LOVED each other and could hold each other up in a very scary, uncertain time.

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