Timeline of events, in Eastern Standard Time, one year ago today.

7:58 a.m. - United Airlines Flight 175 departed Boston for Los Angeles, carrying 56 passengers, two pilots, and seven flight attendants.

7:59 a.m. - American Airlines Flight 11 departed Boston for Los Angeles, carrying 81 passengers, two pilots, and nine flight attendants.

8:01 a.m. - United Airlines Flight 93 departed Newark, N.J. for San Francisco, carrying 38 passengers, two pilots, and five flight attendants.

8:10 a.m. - American Airlines Flight 77 departed Washington's Dulles International Airport for Los Angeles, carrying 58 passengers, two pilots, and four flight attendants.


8:46 a.m. - American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The plane hit floors 94 to 99. Special reports come on the air on every major television station to report the tragedy.

9:00 a.m. - (6:00 a.m. Arizona time) My alarm clock goes off and wakes me from my restless slumber. The TV was on all night long and I remember having nightmares, probably influenced by the news. But I awake unaware of the first tragic crash into the North Tower. As I start to become aware of what I see on the TV, I am saddened by what initially appears to be a horrible airline accident. My wife and children are still asleep.

9:03 a.m. - United Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The plane hit floors 78 to 84. U.S. Federal Aviation Administration shuts down all New York area airports. I was sitting on the bed watching the news and witnessed the second plane crash into the South Tower. My sadness for the tragedy suddenly became alarm as I realized I was watching what had to be a deliberate terrorist attack. I immediately woke my wife, saying, "Oh my God, Katie, wake up. You have to see this. Two planes just crashed into the Twin Towers in NY." As my wife and I watched in horror, we held hands and cried. I then ran out of my bedroom, not yet dressed for the work day, and went to see who else was awake. Lynn, my mother-in-law was awake and was also in a state of shock. The children were asleep, so I woke them up for the day. I didn't know what to tell them just yet so I waited on any explanations.

9:21 a.m. - Bridges and tunnels leading into New York City are closed. No one can get into Manhattan.

9:25 a.m. - All domestic flights are grounded by the F.A.A. and incoming transatlantic flights are being diverted or grounded.

9:30 a.m. - President Bush, his Florida school visit interrupted, said the country had been the victim of an "apparent terrorist attack." At this point, my wife, mother-in-law and I are quite stunned, but the day must go on. Lynn and I made our way to the truck for the hour commute to Phoenix that lay ahead of us. We listened to the radio in awed silence as we heard the reports from astounded reporters and astonished local disc-jockeys. Bill Gardner of KOOL-FM was our calm friend letting us know what reports came in. But there was no music to be played. Instead we heard reports from their sister station, NewsRadio KFYI.

9:45 a.m. - American Flight 77 crashed into The Pentagon. Panic crossed my mind as I heard that our Dept. of Defense, the core of our military command, had also been attacked. If there was any doubt in our minds before this, we were now sure this was an act of war. WAR! Who would attack us on our own soil, using civilian transports as suicide bombs?! We listen helplessly, horrified for an hour what followed.

10:05 a.m. - The South Tower at the World Trade Center has collapsed. As it fell, it crushed the buildings of Three and Four World Trade Center. The White House is evacuated at this point as well.

10:10 a.m. - A large section of one side of The Pentagon collapsed, but the good news is that evacuation shows very few casualties and little destruction to the valuable military headquarters. A brief moment of good news is shattered when we hear that United Flight 93 crashed in a wooded area in Pennsylvania, after passengers confronted their hijackers. Where would this plane have crashed had the passengers not performed their heroic act, sacrificing themselves?

10:13 a.m. - The United Nations building is evacuated, including the headquarters building and those at the UNICEF and U.N. development programs.

10:22 a.m. - In D.C., the State and Justice departments are evacuated, along with the World Bank.

10:28 a.m. - The North Tower at the World Trade Center has collapsed. As it fell, it severely damaged the buildings of Five and Six World Trade Center.

10:45 a.m. - (7:45 a.m. AZ time) All federal office buildings in Washington are evacuated. Lynn is dropped of at work, and she knows she will not get much work done today. She works for the mortgage company of a national bank. All attention will be on New York City.

11:00 a.m. - (8:00 a.m. AZ time) I finally get to my work, where I write software for the largest provider of central reservation database solutions to the hotel industry. I know I will not get much work done today, as all of my attention will be glued to the radio in my office. I try to access various internet news sources on the web, but apparently, so is every other web user in the country. All sites like CNN, MSN, MSNBC, are unavailable. Local newspaper site, azcentral.com, the web presence of The Arizona Republic, has precious little details, and virtually no pictures. I tried the sites for our local TV stations, and they too were either busy or could not get any AP feeds themselves. Photos I do find are snapshots of the towers still standing but with fire and smoke coming from their sides. There is nothing yet showing the massive cloud of dust and smoke that took over the skyline 30 minutes prior.

11:15 a.m. - (8:15 a.m. AZ time) Giving up on the web, I began going from office to office to see who had arrived yet. The people who were there also had radios; some were crying. I talked to a few of them and we shared stories of how we found out that morning. Working in this company, hell, in this building, I have come to meet many people from around the world. Many with family or friends in N.Y. I was lucky in this respect; I don't know a soul in in N.Y., but I still felt horrible and my heart wept for everyone with loved ones there. One of my friends at work hadn't heard yet -- I was shocked that someone couldn't know. His car radio doesn't work and he didn't watch TV in the morning. I gave him a quick run-down of the events and told him if he didn't have a radio, he could listen in my office.

11:30 a.m. - (8:30 a.m. AZ time) After my friend left my office because we were not hearing anything we hadn't already heard, I turned off the radio. But my heart and soul could not stop thinking about the events that unfolded that morning. It was at this time that I let poetry speak for me, and I wrote "TUESDAY MOURNING".

I finished the rest of the day, trying to keep updated on what was happening, hearing about the brave men and women of New York, D.C., and around the country, who did anything and everything they could to help. We mourned. We united. The terrorists failed and only strengthened our resolve. New patriots were born that day and others died to became martyrs.

The official death toll of the destruction of the world trade center is set at 2,823 dead. The remains of 1,731 victims were never recovered.
American Airlines Flight 11: 81 passengers, 9 flight attendants, 2 pilots
United Airlines Flight 175: 56 passengers, 7 flight attendants, 2 pilots
American Airlines Flight 77: 58 passengers, 4 flight attendants, 2 pilots
United Airlines Flight 93: 37 passengers, 5 flight attendants, 2 pilots
Pentagon (DOD) Building: 125 confirmed casualties

My heart still mourns their absence. Today we celebrate the new patriots. We see the massive collection of American flags along the roads. Flagpoles respectfully lower Old Glory to half-mast, even though this is a day of rememberance and not of new wounds. Year-old bumper stickers are holding strong just like our conviction. Religious and constitutional banter erupts and fades but never quiets our anger. Our alert status is High, as expected rumors mill of potential anniversary terrorism attacks. But the news is still full of solemn rememberance and memorials, not new visions of destruction.

As I finish, it is now 6:00 PM in New York. President Bush has laid a wreath down at Ground Zero in Manhattan, and is making other visits with the First Lady, before making his address to the nation in three more hours. The airwaves will be full of commentary of what happened a year ago and what comes next for our great nation. Life goes on, but it will never be the same.