The Day That Changed America
Mahaska County Remembers 9/11
Mahaska County, Iowa – The president has been shot. He’s been rushed to the hospital. Some of us think of JFK and where we were at that moment in time, some like me think more of Reagan. We remember what things smelled like, exactly what was around us, where we were, and what we did afterwords until the day the good Lord takes us home.
Coffee, and a drive to work. The routine of waking the kids for school, and a football game. Thoughts of an upcoming harvest. To many of us, September the 11th was just another day, like every other day. It’s a Tuesday morning, were catching the stride of the week after forcing our way past Monday. We were rushing towards classes, many of us were already at work at 7:45 central time when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
Life continued for the rest of us, some still sleeping from working overnight shifts, as others started to hear vague reports of a small plane that accidentally crashed into the Trade Center. Our world was still normal for most people. We were safe, this is America and we have nothing to fear. But unknown to all of us, just 1 minute after the plane had crashed into that tower, NORAD scrambled jets from Otis Air National Guard Base.
How many rescue workers viewed something similar to this sight as they would pass near one of the Musco trucks entering and leaving Ground Zero?
The cable news channels started streaming live pictures of the damage to the North Tower of the World Trade Center. People are uncertain as to what has happened, and itself a tragic event. So while people are catching up on this news, at 8:03 local time people around the world witness a most shocking event of seeing a full size airliner, Flight 175, slam itself into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. At that moment, people stood frozen in time. That moment has happened again. You remember everything in exact detail. You can see in your minds eye that plane crashing into that building over and over again, but yet can’t believe what you have just seen. Then you realize, America is no longer the same, we are not safe, you are not safe, and you are not sure what is happening.
At 8:24 NORAD is suspecting that Flight 77 is a hijack, and one minute later the FAA shuts down all airports across the nation, no commercial flights or civilian flights at all. By 8:31 President Bush makes a brief statement from the elementary school he has been visiting that morning to tell the American People something that is already painfully evident, that we are the target of an apparent terrorist attack.
The pain continues when at 8:40 local time, we find out the Pentagon has been struck. Flight 77 plowed into the heart of our military might. The FAA now orders all flights to land at the nearest airport, while they evacuate the White House and the US Capitol. Fighter jets are seen and heard patrolling the skies over Washington DC for the first time, performing Combat Air Patrols.
The flag that flew over Ground Zero from a Musco truck is flying once again for the 10th Anniversary of 9/11.
Back in New York, at 1 minute to 9 am, the South Tower collapses. America stands even more shocked at this sight. Cries are heard around the nation for those suffering this tragic event, and also for ourselves as we understand more and more how much our lives will change. By 9:10 central time, sections of the Pentagon collapse, and all the while we hear of yet another hijack plane. People see planes over Washington, reports that the Sears Tower had been hit, and the rumors grow. But at 9:28 our time, the North Tower of the World Trade Center falls in on itself. People stand stunned, not only in New York but around America.
We all learn of a plane crash in Pennsylvania, United Flight 93. It would be some time before we learned of those new American heros that jumped into action to save their fellow Americans. This is the first battle of the war on terror. With decisive action and that confidence of “Let’s Roll”, they made their stand.
The Nation stands silent. Our president is airborne, those in power are moved to “secured locations”. Uncertainty fills the air and the minds of everyone. Then those self preservation moves that people do, start to kick in. Have to have groceries, gotta fill the tank on all the cars. Oh, do I have enough rounds to defend my family, or as many others did, buy their first firearm. Cries to God for the pain and sorrow went up. America wept.
We Remember
By 3:36 central time, President Bush along with his fighter escort were the only planes to be seen in the sky as they passed over the area making the fastest time possible to Washington. And for me personally, for what ever reason as I was sitting outside in the yard that afternoon, it came to my attention that I had never seen the blue sky without the traces of aircraft contrails, and how quiet it was, as one doesn’t realize the noise even the most faint jetliner makes miles and miles away, and the silence carried two meanings for me that day, the other being as though the Nation collectively had it’s head bowed in prayer and silence.
When 7:30 central come along, and the President makes his famous speech, our horror has started to turn. The nation as a whole was taking it’s deep breath, building itself for the fight to come. We were still rattled, had been knocked down, but we were standing up proud and we were preparing for all that was to come. We were united.
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