Remembering 9/11 – Our Memories & a Timeline of that September Day

Where was I on 9-11-2001? I was with my wife, who was giving birth to our son Mitchell. My wife was in Denver and I was in Laramie waiting for the call. I was woken by my wife’s voice saying “it’s time!” I woke up and 3 seconds later the phone rang. So I got in the car and drove to Denver at 3:00 AM, not much traffic to compete with at that time of the morning. Our son was born about 15 minutes after the first plane hit the World Trade Center. It was a weird experience knowing your son was just born into this crazy world that was coming down around us. After watching the TV instead of our new son, the nurse just turned off the TV and we realized we were parents for the first time. That day made us realize the huge responsibility we had to raise our son and protect him in this world after 9-11. Now 10 years later, he asks why everyone talks about his birthday so much. We had him watch a children’s version of that day and tell him, he is the good thing that happened that day.

I remember the day like it was yesterday. I can't believe it's already been 10 years. I remember getting up and going through my normal morning routine. When I got to work, the first plane had already crashed into one of the towers. Those of us at the station that morning we're in disbelief. We had kept our normal morning programming going until after my 7:15 AM sportscast on KOWB. I jumped over to the FM for my sports headlines their. Then, I came back into the sports booth where our TV is; I saw the second plane crash into one of the towers and it was at that point we decided to ditch all regular programming. We started taking straight news feeds on both KOWB and KCGY. I recall being glued to that TV in the sports booth for most of the morning and into the afternoon. I sat there in total disbelief as to what had happened. My heart went out to all of those who lost loved ones in this terrible tragedy. We cancelled all programs that day and stayed with the news feeds on both stations through the night. For the first time in my career I felt like not having any sports on a "sports" station was the best decision we ever made. It was important to be informative, as one of the worst events in our nations history unfolded in front of us all. It felt like nothing else mattered on that day. 9/11 will be forever etched in my memory. My thoughts and prayers go out to anyone who lost someone that day.

The morning of September 11, 2001 I was a senior in high school. When I turned on 'The Today Show' at 7 AM, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer were reporting breaking news: a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center Towers. I watched the second plane hit live, and then ran to wake up my mom and sister. When I got to school everyone was saying another plane had crashed into the Pentagon. Later, I saw both towers fall on the TV in the school library. The thing I remember most is how that day seemed too normal. I still had to go to school, sell yearbook ads and attend volleyball practice. I couldn’t understand how we were expected to just keep going on with our lives.

One of the most amazing things that sticks out in my mind about 9/11 is how vividly I still remember most of that day. I was still in middle school back in 2001 and I don't think I could really quite grasp exactly what was happening, but what I do remember is how tense it made everyone and how for one day nothing else seemed to matter. I had just gotten to school when American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower at 8:46 AM. Most of the morning I really had no clue quite what was going on except for a bunch of rumors coming from the classrooms where teachers were letting their students watch the news. School actually ended early for us that day as parents sporadically came in and grabbed their kids. When I got home and saw the footage from around the country I remember being glued to the TV. Every channel seemed to be covering the terror attacks and nothing else.

One of the big things that has put the date into perspective for me has been seeing 9/11 in history books throughout the end of high school and my time in college. Along with all of the other defining moments in history 9/11 sits as the most major event in my lifetime. Hopefully there are not many more like this one to follow. I still to this day can't comprehend how someone could have so much hatred for their fellow man and at some point not realize what they are about to do is wrong.

The morning of September 11th in my house started out completely normal… the man went off to work and I sat down with a cup of coffee to watch cartoons with my kids and that is when my cell phone rang. On the other end of the call was my friend and co-worker; she asked me do you believe this? I asked her believe what, what is going on? She said, turn on your TV and I said, it is on; she then said, turn the channel I knew something huge was going on when I asked her what channel and she said any other then the children’s channel I was on. I turned the channel to see the second plane hit the tower, as so many thoughts raced through my mind… should I send the kids out of the room or should they watch this part of our history? would they remember it later or would it frighten them in the nights to come? Who did this and how could it have been allowed to happen? It was very surreal to see all of the panic and devastation, at times the news and response from the people reminded me of when I watched the space shuttle challenger disintegrate with my first grade class. We all watched the reaction of my teachers and all of the school, perhaps it is not an exact type of comparison, but they are the only two instances of this magnitude I have had to endure in my years. I watched the rest of the morning and some of the afternoon as the tragedy unfolded completely before me miles and miles away.

I would always start my mornings with a nice long walk on Garfield street. When I was done, I would then stop into Albertsons and grab a quick cup of coffee. I was at the check out when the little cashier said "A plane just hit the World Trade Center." I told her it must have been a terrible accident and that I couldn't imagine anything else. By the time I had arrived at the radio station that morning, the second plane had hit in New York and the Pentagon was on fire. It was then that I realized our country was directly under attack, and I remember saying to myself, "this is war." I didn't realize then just how much the world would change after the events of 9/11. We lost our innocence that day, along with thousands of civilians and since then, thousands of troops. I will never forget September 11, 2001.

I will always remember September 11th and the images that streamed across the tv and computer screens. The horrific images of the second plane smashing and exploding into the second tower. My morning started early that day as i had a chiropractic appointment before the start of school. As I walked out of the room, feeling fresh and renewed my mom came up to me with tears in her eyes. She was sobbing. I asked her what the problem was and she said a horrible accident happened in New York. The news was breaking and details were still coming out; she told me a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. At that time i was a Freshman in high school and didn't really understand the severity of the issue at hand. We got into the car, turned on the radio and listened to the latest news. Before we reached school, the second plane had devastated the second tower and America was in a state of panic and horror. That morning my eyes were opened to how horrible the world can be. I tried to brush off what I had heard as I walked into school with minutes to spare before classes were supposed to begin. It was not a day for learning as I came to find out. The entire day, teachers and students alike were glued to the television watching in awe as the story unfolded in front of our eyes.