Nine Eleven

Nine Eleven By Curtis Johnson I did not have any exposure to news on the morning of 911 until I entered my truck to go to work. The Radio 1530 am news station in Sacramento was my primary news source, and when I turned it on, at least one plane had already crashed the tower. I was a bit dazed by it all, not clear about what was really happening. I arrived at work to learn that “Yes”, we would work that day, but our normal end of the day runs to the airport would be curtailed. All the routes would have to come straight to the yard, because all the planes across the nation were being grounded. I was not afraid personally, because I was not affected directly in a violent way. But to realize the pain of all the families of the people that were killed was heart breaking. So I wept and prayed for those who wept. I will simply relate two observations relative to what I experienced on September 11, 2001. Our pastor and church immediately called for a prayer meeting the night of 911. I got off work and went to that prayer meeting after dinner with my family. It was not difficult to convince people that we needed God, not only for future protection of the unknown, but we needed him “now” to get through a major tragedy. A national calamity had drawn America to its knees, and we all pulled together and toward God. Our day had begun with our eyes and ears glued to radios and television sets. That same day was ending with our eyes and ears tuned toward God on bended knees. The military wall of the strongest nation on earth had been breached, and an enemy had done the unthinkable. Two of the tallest buildings in America had been brought down without a missile. A large section of the Pentagon had been destroyed without a single act of defense. Were it not for the brave maneuvers by passengers in a fourth plane, the White House would have been toppled. My second observation is one that can not be measured in the usual sense, because it relates to the moods that I encountered throughout that day. With or without words, there was something I felt whether it was the person I passed on the street or the motorist I saw on the freeway. There was a somber spirit and a sense of unity that said, “We are in this together”. Yes, it was a catastrophic event that made us kneel before God and feel brotherly love toward one another. Cj09112015 11:04 PM Sac., Ca