I am a 9-year-old boy in Nashville, Tennessee, and I have to write about a memorable experience in my life. I have had plenty of those, but I think the one that has had a particularly profound affect on me is probably the event that occurred just 8 months ago, on September 11, 2001. I know I will never forget it as long as I live.
My name's Johnny, and I was at school when it happened--"it" being the terrible attack on our country. I was in computer class when Mrs. Burleson, my computer teacher, told us to turn off our terminals; she had something very important to tell us.
Mrs. Burleson looked sort of sad. And sick. And scared. But she managed to tell us about something that had happened just a few moments before--that was, a pair of airplanes had run into the World trade Center towers, and they were now burning. Another airplane had also crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Still another airplane had run into the pentagon building in Washington D. C. Many people were feared to be killed in these events.
The news people were saying it was because some bad people called "terrorists" hated America, and they wanted to see many of our people die. These bad people hated us because we were "free" and they were not. They also hated us because we were a rich nation, and they hated us because we were NOT LIKE THEM. In other words, they were jealous of America.
When I heard this awful news my stomach fell clear to my toes, and I felt like I had to throw up. I immediately thought of my big brother, Erick, who lives in New York City, not far from the World Trade Centers, and I thought he had been killed. I started to cry, and when my teacher asked me what was wrong I told her about Erick. She then had me go to the principal's office, and told me to tell him to cancel school because of these attacks that had happened. In other words, America was probably in danger of going to war.
Around 11 mommy and daddy both came to pick me up from school, and like everyone around me, they were both crying. To see them so upset scared me. We then went home, and they told us to stay in our rooms and play with our toys or do whatever we wanted to do, but they didn't want us to see the tv because all that was on was the news about the attacks on America.
We were all sad, and nobody wanted to eat. We ended up going to McDonald's for supper, but we hardly touched our meals. We then went to our church, Christ Community Assembly of God, where we spent the rest of the evening just praying and crying--and trying to make sense of what had happened. I was still upset about my big brother because I didn't know whether he was alive or dead. I was hoping he was okay.
Well, it turned out that Erick was okay--he called two days later--, but despite how happy I felt at his being okay, I felt sad because so many other people had died, and I felt sad because this was something that DIDN'T NEED TO HAPPEN. I felt mad at the terrorists because what they had done was something horrible, and I was going to have a bad time learning to forgive them. I also knew a lady who had worked at the World trade Center, and she had been one of those killed. I felt bad for her family, and I felt bad for M'buti, a friend of mommy's, as the lady who had died was a very good friend of hers. (She was the one who had gotten M'buti to come to America from Africa.)
Now it has been 8 months since September 11, 2001, and I still feel sad when I think of all the people that died, and I also feel sad because I had seen the Twin Towers JUST TWO MONTHS EARLIER, and now they WERE GONE--FOREVER.
It just doesn't make sense.
WHY do people hate America? WHY do they do terrible things like bombing buildings or killing innocent people? WHY DID SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, HAVE TO HAPPEN?? WHY DID THE WORLD TRADE CENTER TOWERS HAVE TO BURN AND THEN FALL LIKE THEY DID??????
WHAT CAN WE DO SO SOMETHING LIKE THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN EVER AGAIN IN AMERICA??????
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Reviewed by niklas stenlund
9/17/2005
I feel that when you said the terrorists were jealous of America, that wasn't entirely accurate. It's a matter of our government as I see it. Many countries dislike our government because they're always sending troops into foreign countries. Vietnam + Iraq are good examples. Some people even go as far as hating our political leaders who essentially represent us (thus, they every American). We had no business in Vietnam nor do we have any in Iraq. Since you are pretty young you may not have learned about the Vietnam war. Nevertheless, I hope you can understand that although the attack on America was horrible and unjust, the leaders of our country are far less than perfect.
Reviewed by Bibi B
5/24/2002
This is powerful writing!! In this life we will never find out all the answers to our questions. We just have to live good lives and do good for others.
