Remembering 9/11

(Photo Information)

It's always surreal when September 11th rolls around, because it feels like yesterday when we were honoring the 10th anniversary.  So many specials were on television last year, each showing the attacks (the Twin Towers/World Trade Center, Pentagon, and possible White House) from a different perspective.  There was a program that aired last year, two hours long, that took personal videos from those who experienced the event first hand and pieced it all together.  The result was a real time experience feeling a lot like the television series 24.  The show was eerie and brought back a lot of memories.

9/11 will go down in history in the same way the JFK assassination, Moon landing, and Pearl Harbor did.  For years people will be talking about "where they were" or "what they were doing" when they saw on television the towers get hit and then fall.  It's a unifying moment that everyone has a response to, and its still fresh on everyone's mind.  I was just on Facebook, and already many of my friends have posted "Never Forget" pictures and status updates of what they were doing that day.  11 years later we still remember and honor the fallen.

I will never forget.  I'll never forget getting ready for my three hour block of Institute of Religion classes at Utah Valley State College (now Utah Valley University), back when I was waiting for Utah residency status so I can attend college classes again.  It was about 7:45 am mountain time, and my Mom had just dropped my brothers off at school.  She came in screaming "Turn on the TV!  Turn on the TV!  We're under attack!"  Emotions poured through me, a mixture of disbelief and fear.       

The TV went on, and the two towers were on the screen, smoking and still standing.  Replays of the planes flying into the buildings on repeat.  And then, suddenly, the South Tower fell, and my Mom, Dad and I just stood there in disbelief, tears streaming down my face.  In between all this were reports that the Pentagon was hit earlier, and that a plane went down in Pennsylvania.  It was later discovered that the 4th plane, United 93, was filled with brave men and women who found out about the Twin Towers and Pentagon by family members, and they united to fight against the hijackers.  The target of 93 is assumed to have been either the US Capital Building or White House.  Around 8:30 my time the North Tower fell.  

Shortly after I was in the Institute building, and it was a surreal three hours.  Passing from class to class I saw that all the Instructors TV's were turned to the attack. And before each class the TV was focusing on the tragedy.  I remember walking around, feeling the moment as I watched each TV as I passed.  It was quiet and somber.  

But still, being that I was attending three religion classes, each class began first with a reading of the scriptures: Last day stuff, passages of hope and peace, what those in the Book of Mormon experienced, etc. I wish I could remember the scriptures, somewhere I have them written down, but what I do remember is the peace I felt, and that peace stayed with me throughout day.  

I will never forget 9/11 nor the brave men and women who became heroes.  

Sarah