10 years ago; like it was yesterday

By Doug Mager

Everyone I have spoken with has a story, complete with vivid details of what they were doing or what their thoughts were when they first heard about the 9/11 attacks:

"I just finished milking cows, and it was all over the radio. My family was freaking out."

"Just got to work. I didn't know a thing about it until I walked in the door and everybody was glued to a TV. I left and went home."

"Got a call from a friend. I thought it was a joke. After all, it had to be a joke, right? these things don't happen to us!"

"Heard it was an accident. Then it kept happening. My first thoughts were that it was another Pearl Harbor. I really though it was gonna be all over for us."

On person  was actually on a flight from Kansas City to Minneapolis. "Out of the blue, the captain told us to buckle up and be prepared to land at any given moment" he said "We circled for a long, long time, around and around, we never straightened out. This went on for probably 15 minutes. Then he came on and told the flight attendants to prepare for landing. Nose down, really fast, we were on the ground before we knew it. In Chicago, by the way."

That person was stuck in the Windy City until the next day.

Yours truly was driving in Southern Johnson County Ks. when I first heard the news. I was listening to the morning show chatter on the radio when it was announced that an airplane had hit one of the towers at the World Trade Center. For the next few minutes the newsperson chatted with her morning cohorts as they pondered the 'accident'. Although the news sounded tragic, I assumed it to be an accident as well and figured I'd get the full scoop on the nightly news.

The date was September 11, 2001. Like you, I clearly remember all details of the day- watching live video on the internet (no TV's in the office) and calling all my family members to find out where they were and what their plans might be. Things got worse as the minutes wore on. Instinctively, I put myself in survival mode and felt ready to do whatever was necessary to protect my family. Period. 

In short, it appeared my life had changed completely, as I was not at all sure what the future held. Little did I know that the lives of many others would be changed to a far greater degree than mine.

Just after the first tower fell to the ground, live on the BBC video stream I was watching, I stepped outside my workplace which was located on the southwest corner of the Johnson County Airport. Being the second busiest airport in Kansas, there is usually a steady march of planes in and out. Not now.

It was a beautiful day but there was a 'still' creepiness that overcome me. I don't even recall birds singing or any of the other usual outdoor sounds. Oddly enough, I compared the moment to a scene from Stephen King's Langoliers. I pondered going home but figured it wouldn't make any difference, at least not right now.

Looking up, I saw a huge jet-trail donut. Apparently air traffic control told the pilots to circle until they were told otherwise. I never had seen anything like it. It was the last airliner I would see in the skies until tomorrow.

While I watched the circular vapor cloud, people were dying. Some slowly, trapped somewhere, without any hope of being found alive. I added a guess of the number killed in my head. 5,000, 10,000? more?

Back inside, the news got worse. Then the Pentagon. The other World Trade Center tower. A crash in a field in Pennsylvania. My mind wandered- the passengers on those flights were simply traveling  as I have done many times before, without a clue of what disaster was looming. In a heartbeat, the last few minutes of their lives were filled with shear panic and chaos that we cannot comprehend.

By the end of the day, approximately 2,819 souls were lost at the hands of those determined to destroy our great country. Add to that 3,051 children who lost a parent; 343 firefighters and paramedics killed; and 1,717 families who never got the remains of their loved ones.

I was lucky enough to go home that night, as were you. We all should take a moment, pray and remember those and the families of those less fortunate on September 11, 2001. 

WTC photo royalty free courtesy morguefile.com