If you don’t remember what you were doing that morning when you heard the news, you were probably still developing eyelids or were just a gleam in your daddy’s eye.
2001 was our first year of homeschooling. It was 7:30 a.m., and our neighbor was grading his driveway. Somehow, he tipped his tractor over on its side. We all ran outside and watched as he screamed curses and kicked the roof of the cab.
That was our first field trip of the year.
After we got back inside, Mom turned on the local radio station, and we heard the news report about an airplane that had run into one of the towers.
Up until then, I had never heard anything of the World Trade Center. Upon hearing the term, I thought it was a large market where they sold and traded blacksmith’s wrought iron works and home-baked goods on a large scale from merchants around the world.
At first, the consensus amongst us was that a pilot had lost control of an airplane and had tragically but accidentally flown into a tall building.
But when the reports came in of another plane hitting the other tower, we knew it was not an accident. And we started praying.
Then, more reports came of planes crashing into the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. It wasn’t a coincidence. It was a strategic plan.
I can’t remember the specifics, but for some reason, Dad needed something for his mower, and the mechanic was in Mountain Home. Mom drove us down there, we picked up the part, and we stopped at a store to see the news footage before we headed home. On the way home, we noticed gas had soared from .99¢ to $1.80. So we got in line behind the thirty other cars to fill up.
There were reports of possible attacks on oil refineries, our water supply, and the electric grid.
It was the first time in my life that I remember thinking about plans of attack or escape if an enemy or terrorist were to come to our hometown. I went through the scenarios in my mind of loading, shooting, and reloading the firearms in our home. I thought of the possibility of shooting another human being before they shot me.
I thought about the possibility of war and the chance to defend people I loved, whether by enlisting or being drafted.
As an eleven-year-old boy, I knew that my world had changed.
On September 11, 2001, I didn’t know the toll those crashes had on many thousands of people. Mom bought all the Time magazines about the impact of that day. As I read those articles and looked at those pictures, I realized the tragedy.
I saw pictures of firemen running up the stairs as scores of office workers crowded to one side as they descended. I saw pictures of men and women covered in gray soot. People were taking shelter in delis and shops as ashy clouds filled the streets.
Parents were looking for their adult children, wives were looking for their husbands, and flyers with someone’s picture and a phone number to call were stapled to utility poles.
I also saw photo IDs of the men who had perpetrated the sinister deed.
As I looked at and read about the carnage, something inside me surged like a swelling tide.
My love and devotion to this nation and its inhabitants became like hardened, tempered steel forged in the fires of terroristic attacks on our soil.
I will always do whatever I can to ensure that we stay free and protected against those who would wish to harm us.
And one thing is for sure: I have never forgotten.
to those whose lives were forever changed,
– Caleb
caneymountainblog.com 