Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado, click
here to update your pages on AuthorsDen.
I Still Cry When I Think About That Day...Johnny Writes On Sept. 11, 2001.. by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Rated "PG" by the Author.
Johnny reminiesces about September 11, 2001, and why he still has such strong feelings about that day today...
I still cry whenever I think of that day, September 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked our country out of hate and jealousy...I still see the horrific images of the World Trade Center towers burning and then collapsing into a heap of rubble and steel, the planes running into the side of the towers, first one, then the other, the awful sight of people leaping or jumping out of the buildings to their deaths (what choice did they have, really? Stay in, only to burn up, or leap out, as a way to escape the flames??), the people looking up at the towers, looks of horror, fear, and disbelief etched on their faces, and then the mass exodus of people leaving the city, not knowing whether there was to be another attack...I also see the damaged Pentagon, and also the sight of a crashed plane in a Pennsylvania field, and later, the sad face of our President, trying to calm an alarmed nation. I also see the sight of the Congress and Senate people holding hands and praying later that day, and also the sight of people crying over our nation and the fact that we were so senselessly attacked...
I will never forget the helplessness I felt about that day, especially since I have a brother who lives in New York City. I thought for sure that he had been killed in the attacks: he lived just a few blocks from the World Trade Center, and I am sure that he had a good view of the attack, and then the towers falling. I was so scared because I didn't hear from him for several days, and all I could do was wait, hope, and pray that he got out safely. When he finally called me several days later, I was so relieved all I could do was cry! I also felt helpless because I don't know what we did to deserve being attacked by Al Quaeda (spelling?) in such an awful, heinous way, and I didn't understand their message of hatred and violence as a way to get their (twisted) message across--and four years later, I STILL don't understand the reasoning behind it.
I have really never liked watching the news, but ever since seeing the events of September 11, 2001, I really hate the news now..and now we are having to watch the suffering of people in the southland due to a killer hurricane that battered the Gulf Coast region of our nation, and once again, our country is in deep mourning, and people are crying out for aid to help the victims of the hurricane. They said over 200 people died in Louisiana, most around New Orleans--and the death toll could very easily go much higher as bodies are found--, and there may be as much as 10,000 OR more who died in the hurricane's killer winds. It is so upsetting to see all these displaced people in shelters--most are elderly, have kids, or are disabled--, and some of these people have lost EVERYTHING they owned.
I wish I could forget the horror of September 11, 2001, and I wish I could forget about seeing suffering people in Louisiana and Mississippi, but that is all that is on the news nowadays, and it is like I am reliving the nightmare all over again. For school, we had to do a report on September 11, 2001, and now we have to do a report on Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it caused. All I have been doing the last two days was watch the stupid news and take notes, and then try to work on the report, which is due Friday, and also note the comparisons between Hurricane Katrina and September 11, 2001, and how our nation has been coping with the tragedy--and the memories.
I know mom has been having a hard time because she lost friends in the terror attacks, and I also know that M'Kaya Jefferson is plagued with bad memories of that day as well because she was IN New York City the DAY America got attacked; and she saw the planes hit the towers, and the only reason SHE didn't get killed was because at the time it happened, she happened to be at a park, getting something to eat for her break. She worked at the World Trade Centers, and if she had been in the building at the time it was hit, she would have been killed--or very badly injured. (She did get hurt, but that is another story. She got hurt from flying debris.) I also know that M'Buti Moore-Sormiento, another one of mom's friends, probably had a hard time because she has such a deep love for America, and she only became a citizen just three months prior to the attacks, so it hit her especially hard.
I wish I could just forget all this stuff about Hurricane Katrina AND September 11, 2001, but I had to write and share my feelings about it; so here I am. Now our nation is never to be as it once was before the attacks, and we are vulnerable to further attacks if something desperate isn't done to protect our borders--or our people or our buildings. We must do everything humanly possible to try to protect our nation, and we must NEVER forget what happened, and we must try to remember, no matter HOW painful--or hard--it may be. I am just glad that people are watching out for our country, and I am glad that men and women are fighting to keep us free. I just wish so many of them weren't dying; but they chose to go to war, so that is the chance they have to take. If I were able, and if I were older, I would join the military and fight for our nation myself. I would make sure that the bad guys like Osama bin Laden were found, caught, and punished to the severest form of the law, and I would make sure that he and his followers (or any other terror groups, for that matter) would never do their evil work ever again! I pray for them, and I pray that God shows them what they are doing is wrong, and I pray that they learn to turn around and realize that God doesn't like what they are doing to innocent people around the world.
God bless America again, and may we NEVER forget September 11, 2001 and remember why we are now at war! And may we unite together and help each other in our time of great need and realize that even though we may look/act/think/talk differently from one another, we are STILL Americans, and we must do all we can to support our leaders and our beliefs!
I still cry whenever I think of that day, September 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked our country out of hate and jealousy...I still see the horrific images of the World Trade Center towers burning and then collapsing into a heap of rubble and steel, the planes running into the side of the towers, first one, then the other, the awful sight of people leaping or jumping out of the buildings to their deaths (what choice did they have, really? Stay in, only to burn up, or leap out, as a way to escape the flames??), the people looking up at the towers, looks of horror, fear, and disbelief etched on their faces, and then the mass exodus of people leaving the city, not knowing whether there was to be another attack...I also see the damaged Pentagon, and also the sight of a crashed plane in a Pennsylvania field, and later, the sad face of our President, trying to calm an alarmed nation. I also see the sight of the Congress and Senate people holding hands and praying later that day, and also the sight of people crying over our nation and the fact that we were so senselessly attacked...
