Thursday, September 11, 2008

Seven years ago today...

Seven years ago today I was sitting in the student lounge at the University of Maryland skipping Fluid Dynamics class like i ususally did. My friend Elizabeth comes in trying to find a TV that worked, evidently a plane had just hit the World Trade Center in NYC. Like everyone else i think to myself oh it must be one of those small one engine jobbers and its an accident. Then as soon as we get the TV working we see the first images of the tower, then the anchor comes on as a second plane slams into the tower. Now we know its not an accident. Students in class know nothing yet, why would they. People start filtering out of dorms to congregate at the union, on the mall, anywhere there were other people or TV's. Just as everyone is finding out about the twin towers, the campus police start coming around campus telling us that there is something going on in DC that we should return to our dorms and they will make an announcement abotu what is going on.

As we're returning to our dorms we see the column of smoke rising from DC. We have no clue just yet that the Pentagon has just been struck. The campus is only 8.5 Miles as the crow flies from the pentagon grounds.

I lost a couple friends that day, all either marines or army, and one who was a contractor working at the pentagon for just that day making a presentation. The room he was in was in the outer ring on the side where the plane struck.

That day was one of the reasons i joined the fire service, seeing the heroism and knowing that i can make a difference, a small one but one none the less.

NEVER FORGET!

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