Afraid for My Son

Date Submitted: 05/13/2002
Author Info: Erin (Fort Campbell, KY - USA) 
Occupation: Other
Lived in NY on 9.11.01?: No
Knew someone who perished?: No

I am 22 years old and I have a 2 year old little boy. I never thought that I would live to see anything like the Vietnam, WW2, the Holocaust…..or any type of mass destruction.

Where was I the morning of September 11, 2001?

I was at my home, in Fort Campbell, KY. Where my husband and I are stationed. He is on active duty in the US Army. He called me around 8:30ish I think… well right before the 2nd plane hit. He told me that he was going to war. Just very blunt, at this point I was sleeping and no knowledge of the severe loss that we were suffering at that very moment. He told me to turn on the TV and I will never forget what I felt at the very moment that I turned the news on. What I saw was what I now know was the 2nd plane slamming into the 2nd tower. I immediatly wanted to throw up because I knew that people had just lost their lives, their loved ones, children were now motherless and fatherless…it made me sick. At that very moment, I thanked god that my son was sleeping and did not have to witness such terror. It will be forever imprinted in my memory……

Luckily my husband was never sent to war! But my friends’ husbands were and I tried as hard as I could to be there for them. He was unable to come home for several days….. our base was in LOCKDOWN! I felt like a prisoner! I felt like I was being punished. We could not leave and they discouraged us from even leaving our houses or being outside. How was I going to explain to my son why he could not play outside and ride is his bike in his own front yard? After a few days things calmed down around here, but they still do ID checks and car inspections to ensure our safety. I know now that that is all they were trying to do, protect us. But how do you explain that to a little boy? I kept magazines and newspapers so that I can do my best to explain to my son later on when he is old enough to understand just how much our country lost on Spetember 11, 2001.

But I am afraid for him. Afraid that he will see what I saw and feel what I felt on September 11, 2001. Innocence was stolen and lives were lost. I just pray to God everyday that he will never have to see such tragedy.

Thank you for listening,
Erin

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