Just a Thought: Remembrances of 9-11
Steve Walker
I remember it as if it
were yesterday, although it occurred nearly 12 years ago in 2001. That series
of coordinated suicide attacks upon the World
Trade Center
in New York
and in Washington D. C. shocked the world. For many older Americans who lived
through the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941
that started World War II, it was like a flashback.
President Franklin Roosevelt referenced the attack on Pearl
Harbor in 1941 as a “Day that will live in Infamy!” That day in
2001 will also live in infamy to the younger generation.
.I was a Special Education teacher in a 7th
Grade English class at Kingsborough
Middle School in
Harlandale ISD with the mainstream teacher presenting the lesson at the time.
I was sitting in the back
of the class monitoring the special needs students and looking up some test material
on the computer when I noticed on the computer screen the photos of the two
towers after they were hit by the planes.
Before I could say a word,
another teacher opened the door and rushed in and informed the class that it
was reported that there was a tragic accident in New York. Initially we were not aware it was
a terrorist attack.
Throughout the day reports
filtered in as everyone reacted in shock and dismay. One of my fellow teachers
was visibly shaking because she informed us during our conference period that
her dad was scheduled to visit the Pentagon that day as part of his work.
By the end of the day she
learned that her father had gone to the Pentagon and the area he was to visit
was the area that took a direct hit from an incoming plane hijacked by the
terrorists.
By the grace of God, my
fellow teacher’s father had miraculously left the area less than five minutes
earlier to meet someone for coffee. He was OK!
Army Lt. Colonel Karen
Wagner, a Judson ISD graduate whose office was in that same area did not
survive. Wagner High School is named after her.
Another faculty member’s
aunt was at the World
Trade Center
when a huge slab of concrete fell from the side of the building and landed some
feet away from where she was standing. The impact was so great that the back
blast threw her nearly one hundred feet away, dislocating her shoulder and
breaking her arm. She was unconscious for 24 hours but woke up wondering what
had happened to her.
My own younger brother, Kelly,
I learned the next day, was scheduled for one of those flights from Boston but inexplicitly cancelled
at the last moment and rebooked another flight for later that day. He too is
alive to tell the tale by the grace of God! The terrorist attack that day still
affects us, and our lived ones, be it a friend, family member or humanity in
general.
We must never forget and honor
those who lost their lives. We salute those who perished and those who survived
to tell their story.
As always, what I write is
“Just a Thought.”
Steve Walker is a Vietnam
Veteran, former Journalist and Justice of the Peace. His former La Prensa
column, “Ask the Judge,” ran for two years.
