Where were you?

"Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September Day?"

I was a fourth year college student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on September 11, 2001.  My Tuesday mornings that semester were set-up to include a morning workout followed by a history class discussion group.  I had done a workout in the weight room and finished with some stretching and sweating in the sauna.  My brother swung the sauna door open and told me that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.  I shrugged it off because, in my mind, I had envisioned a small plane bouncing off the side of the building.  I didn't consider anything else.  Why would I?  Moments later, WIBA radio made the same announcement.  If it was on the radio, what Tony told me might have been a big deal, so I took a shower and went to the wrestling offices to watch CNN with a few others before my discussion group started.  By the time I had gotten to a TV, the second plane had hit the South Tower and it was clear that these weren't accidents.

My class was scheduled for 9:55 AM (CST), so I stood and intently watched the coverage for the next 40 minutes that would change all of our lives forever.  The footage focused on the Twin Towers and smoke bellowed out of them.  Soon a report of another plane at the Pentagon was being reported and then to our surprise, and everyone else's across the world, the South Tower collapsed in a horrific heap.  We were all shocked.  I remember our secretary screaming when the tower fell and as we watched for what only seemed like a few minutes, they were saying another high jacked plane went down in Pennsylvania.  It was at that time that we began to comprehended that our nation was under attack.  Roughly 20 minutes after the South Tower collapsed, the North Tower fell.  It was unbelievable.  We were all stunned.  In just over an hour, hysteria broke out and our country was forever changed.

I went to class as scheduled.  It was a discussion group for the History of the Crusades from the Islamic Perspective.  The T.A. who ran the discussion was from Long Island.  Everyone showed up to class because things were still so fresh.  We all knew what jihad meant.  Our T.A. said there would be no discussion and we all shared what we had seen and heard.  Everyone was unsure of how to respond, but I remember the T.A. being scared because he hadn't heard from any of his family members.  Another student from NY said his parents worked next to the World Trade Center and he didn't know if they were safe, either.  There are a lot of people from the East Coast at UW-Madison and we quickly learned that cell phone service wasn't working and many were left waiting to hear from loved ones.

The rest of the semester, the professor of the class was called to offer a non-Western point-of-view on many new topics that were fresh in the media, especially jihad.  He traveled to Washington, New York and other places to speak about the attack and answer questions.  We had several weekly lectures canceled because he was being interviewed on CNN, MSNBC, etc.

Growing up, I remember adults telling me they knew exactly where they were when they heard of the assassination of JFK.  For an entire generation, that was a defining moment in their lives.  September 11, 2001 became a significant defining moment for those who were old enough to gather the news.  They'll always remember exactly where they were when they heard.

It doesn't seem like 18 years have passed.  My memory of the events from that day are still very vivid.  We were all challenged to "Never Forget."  And I haven't.

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September Day?