Terrorist Attacks

I remember hearing someone say that no one would ever forget what they were doing on the day the country came under attack by terrorists. They were right, I can remember that day like it was yesterday. On the morning of September 11, 2001 I woke to my alarm clock saying that New York City was under attack. I lay in bed for a few moments listening to the commotion and chaos that was being broadcast and then quickly turned on the tv. Within moments my mother called telling me to get up that we were under attack. With the briefness of her comment and what I was seeing on TV, my mind thoughts quickly changed to Oh God, did she know something I didn’t know, was it happening here in Wichita too. It is after all the Air Capitol of the World. I told mom to slow down, that I was watching the news, and asked If something had happened her too. She calmed herself a little and reassured me that we were in no direct threat.
I had to work at 10 am that morning, and it felt like everything was in slow motion. Business was slower than I ever recall that day, and pretty much all that we did was watch the news, just to try and get some answers as to what the hell was happening and why was it happening here in the United States! You hear about terrorist attacks and mass killings from many other countries, but its not something Americans would ever expect to experience.
I look back 10 years later and recall how scared I was, but today I can say yes I was scared, but my fear is nothing compared to the fear of those who lost their lives, those who lost their loved ones, and the brave men and women who jeopardized, and many who lost their lives in a heroic effort to help their fellow Americans.
There have been several movies and documentaries of the attacks produced over the past decade. The actual footage of the attacks is so hard to watch, with people jumping to their death, and rescuers running in the burning buildings not knowing if they will ever make it out. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been as a victim or loved one of a victim.
The one movie that has stuck in my mind the most is the movie “Remember Me.” I downloaded the movie not knowing what it was about, and as I watched it I just thought it was just a love story, it wasn’t until the end that I realized what the movie was really about. The movie may be based on a true story, I couldn’t find anything saying it was, but even if it was not based on any one particular persons exact life, I’m some can relate. The movie is about a young couple who fall in love and regardless of coming from different backgrounds, they want to make it work. It made me smile, laugh, cry and at the end, when I realized that it was leading up to the attacks on the tower, and that the young man would die, I finally sobbed.
The movie “Remember Me” really opened my eyes up to what the Americans of New York City went through that day. None of them woke up expecting to die or lose a loved one. They went about their normal daily routines without knowing that they would experience hell on earth. Women kissed their husbands goodbye before work for the last time, children hugged their parents expecting to be picked up from daycare knowing only innocence and good in the world, and bosses barked hateful orders assuming they could make it up the next day over a cup of coffee. The lives of so many were changed in just a moment.