September 11

		September 11
		New York by Andrea

		It was September 11th. It was 2:45 and my minder had picked me up from school. On the way home I turned on the radio. I was flicking through the stations when my minder heard something interesting and asked me to leave it on. The radio station was talking about the Twin Towers in America. All of a sudden everyone was listening - my minder, my brother and my sister. The station was saying that a plane with hundreds of people on it has just crashed into one of the towers. Lots of people were saying it was an accident but a few were saying it was planned. It was 3:00 by the time we got home and we all ran inside and turned on the television. There were 4 or 5 stations talking about the incident. A half an hour later another plane crashed into the second tower and people were now beginning to realise it was not an accident but an act of terrorism. A half an hour later the first building fell and a while after that the second tower fell. The Pentagon [the American army base] was also attacked and a bit of it came off. Thousands and thousands of people were killed and millions injured or in shock and effected. These acts of terrorism caused many deaths and the effects were fatal. Some effects on my family were that my uncle was visiting my aunt who lives in Pennsylvania. My Nana and Grandad were also over visiting my aunt. They were all planning a trip to the Towers, but luckily they were not there when the planes crashed. I was effected in a small way because when I was in America last year I was very close to the Towers and I saw them many times. I didn't get to go inside, although I really wanted to. Now I can never go in. This is what I remember of that terrible day.
		Andrea

		I remember walking in from school. My mam was sitting at the kitchen table watching the news. I also remember her saying a plane has crashed into the Twin Towers in New York. It effected my family because my uncle lives in Boston and, although the Twin Towers are in New York, one of the planes took off from Boston and we were afraid they would attack there and he would be in danger of some sort. I understand some of why they did it because · They thought America was threatening the Islamic religion and their holy book the Koran. · Bin Laden is supposed to have drugged the soldiers heavily making them willing to give up their lives. · And finally I think Bin Laden did not like America having so much power and wealth that he does not have at all. In my point of view he is a power mad person, a murderer and selfish.
		Michelle

		One day I was at my friend's house. He was doing his homework and, after he had finished, we were going to my house. My friend, James Malloy, ran out and said the Twin Towers have been destroyed. We started to run. When we got to my house we turned on the tv. It was on every channel. All I saw were people running, shouting and screaming. When the second plane hit I realized that it was not an accident. It was done on purpose by the anti-American group called the Taliban. Bin Laden, the leader of the Taliban, was all over the news. The next day there was a £500,000 reward to find a member of the Taliban.
		Niall

		I was walking home from school and James Molloy ran out and said an aeroplane had just crashed into one of the Twin Towers. We said "James are you telling the truth?" and he brought us into his house and it was on tv. We all ran home and in about 20 minutes a second plane hit the other tower. On the news they said the first plane could have been a mistake but then they were saying it was a terrorist attack. Then the news went live in a foreign country and they were celebrating this. Think what effect that would have on the families. I felt sick that people out there that do this are called heroes for killing all those people. They are not real heroes, they are sick minded people. The real heroes are the firemen, army and police. They are the real heroes. We had ten minutes silence to remember all that died in this terrible upset.
		Daniel

		It was September 11. I walked into my house and started to do my homework. Suddenly bang bang on the door. I ran over and opened it. It was my friend Brian. He walked into the house and started talking really fast. I could not catch a word he was saying and I asked him to slow down but that did no good. I told him to start over again and talk slower. He said that an aeroplane had hit one of the Twin Towers and then an aeroplane had hit the other tower. I ran over to the tv and turned on to CNN news. It showed us the first aeroplane hitting the tower and then the aeroplane hitting the next tower. People thought when the first plane hit it was an accident but when the second plane hit they knew it was a terrorist attack. Then they went on talking about a plane hitting the Pentagon. It was also hit. Thousands of people were killed and thousands effected. Then I remembered that my sister and her husband had gone on a business trip from Canada to New York and into the Twin Towers. I ran over to my mam and told her everything and asked her is Miriam still in New York. "She was back in Canada two days ago," my mother said. I was relieved. That Friday we had a national day of mourning. The schools were shut and people were off work. I do not know why it happened but I know it should not have happened. September 11 will always be in our thoughts forever.
		John

		September 11th is probably one of the worst things that has happened in my life. It has had a big effect on the economy. People have said that aeroplane tickets are cheaper but surely people don't think that cheaper aeroplane tickets is worth all the lives lost. Surely they must have known the second aeroplane was off course. People say their friends rang them and said they were going to crash into the Twin Towers. When they asked who did this their phone was cut off. Some people took the elevators when they heard they were working instead of continuing on the stairs. These were lives needlessly lost.
		Craig

		I remember coming home from school. I heard my Mam and my Auntie talk about something that had happened in New York. So I decided to go to my room to check it out. I turned on the T.V to find every channel was full of News. So I started watching Sky One News. I felt as if all my feelings were all mixed up. I was sad, I was angry, I was worried and a whole lot of other stuff. Most of all I was shocked just to see the two Twin Towers, those enormous buildings, just to see them collapse in like two seconds. It was awful. The effects it had were innocent people firemen and loads of others, and loads were killed for no apparent reason. I heard loads of reasons why it happened but I would say it was because in their bible America is the most powerful country and they wanted it to fall apart.
		Jacqui

		It was September the 11th. I was coming back from school. I was eating chips and watching Nick. As soon as my mam came in she said "Turn on Sky news. A plane has crashed into the World Trade Centres." I couldn't believe it. I was thinking about the people in it. I couldn't think of a person who would do this. It was on every channel. It was a nightmare. I think it happened because they wanted America to be poor like Afghanistan. I think war is the answer.
		Derek

		September 11 in New York was terrible. I was walking home from school when my friend James ran out to us and said "A plane crashed into the Twin Towers". I thought he was playing a joke but when I went home I turned on the television and saw what had happened. I thought it was an accident at first but another plane came and crashed into the second building. I would say the people in the towers were very scared. About 10 minutes later the first building fell down and then the second. It was a disaster.
		Ian C

		When the aeroplanes crashed into the Twin Towers on September the 11th my dad rang our house and told us to switch on the news. My mam went into the sitting room and turned on the telly. I did not normally watch the news but I went in anyway because I knew it was very important. We were both very surprised. My dad got home as quickly as he could. He was watching the news day and night non stop after that. The same thing was on the news for many months after that. But it was important enough. Thousands of innocent people just doing their jobs were killed. After the crashing, the police received an anonymous call saying Asama Bin Laden hired men to hijack the planes. For the people who had died there were special masses put on. George Bush and former presidents Bush and Clinton attended these. At one point there was three minutes silence all around the world. It nearly turned into World War 3, but we still don't know whether it won't be war.
		Ian Mc

		When the planes hit the Twin Towers and the Pentagon I was in school. When I came home my mam and my neighbour were looking at Sky News where there was live coverage coming in. I felt sorry for the people in the planes and the people in the Towers. People were taking their own lives by jumping off the top. New York will never be the same without the Twin Towers.
		James

		What I remember about September 11th is coming in from school and seeing it on the news which was practically on every channel. The news is probably how most people heard about it. At first sight I thought it was just a normal plane crash but my mam filled me in on what had happened to the Twin Towers and how it was not an accident but a terrorist attack. It didn't really effect me in any way. I had always wanted to go to America but after seeing this, my trip could wait. There were reporters all over the streets trying to get interviews with people who saw the tragedy in action but most people just wanted to get as far away as possible in case they hit again. I remember one man getting interviewed on the street. He worked in the Twin Towers and had just gone on his 15 minute lunch break when it happened. He said he thanks God every day he got out safe.
		Janine

		I was walking up to my friend's house after school. And then James ran out and said "Did you hear what happened in New York? A plane has crashed into the Twin Towers." Then when I got to my friend's house I saw it all on Sky news. At first they thought it was an accident. But when the second one crashed half an hour later, they knew it was for real. It was the scariest thing I have seen in my life.
		Shane

		I came home from school one day and my grandmother said to me "A plane just crashed into the Twin Towers." "What?" I shouted. By the time I got home another plane had crashed into the other tower. Reporters were all over New York city saying that the Twin Towers was going to give way. A few minutes later another plane crashed into the Pentagon. George W Bush said that it was a terrorist attack and the reason they did it was because we are a much stronger country and we would not trade with them. Those who got killed in the U.S.A. today don't worry. We will get our vengeance, World War 3 is about to begin.
		Stephen

		When the September 11th incident happened I was calling for my friend Ian and as soon as he opened the door he shouted "A plane just crashed into the tallest building in the world." I thought "Yea sure it did and what building would that be?" I asked. "One of the Twin Towers." "How do you know?" "It's all over the news on every channel," he replied. "Let's see." "Come on my dad's watching it." After I saw it I was shocked. I still thought it was an accident. Ian and I went out to play. We didn't know that a second plane had crashed into the second tower. At 5:15 mam came to pick me up from my minders and told me a second plane had crashed into the second tower and into the Pentagon and that the whole thing was a terrorist attack and they didn't know how many people were killed. The effect September 11th had on me was small compared to the affect it had on the Americans but it still had some effect on me, like my mam and dad were going to go to New York in September but they decided to go at the end of November instead. But I was still worried about them and I was relieved the first time they rang from New York because I knew they were safe. When they came back I was delighted. They took lots of pictures of the ruins and it brought me a little bit closer to how it must have felt to be there.
		Alan

		On September 11th at 2:50pm I rang my doorbell to find my Mam in a state of shock. She brought me into the sitting room and showed me what had happened on the television. I also got a great shock because somebody had hi-jacked a Jumbo jet and flew it into one of the Twin Towers in New York. After that all you could see was smoke and more smoke as another huge Jumbo jet had been hi-jacked and flown into the other tower. After that my Mam told me about what had happened in Washington D.C. They also flew into the U.S army base at the Pentagon. I felt very sad but also very, very mad at the people who had done this terrible thing because of all the poor people who died from this and how their families felt about all of this. And plus at this time nobody knew who had done it. As I watched the television half of one of the towers fell to the ground. It was total chaos because people were jumping out of the windows and smoke was everywhere. September 11th was a terrible day, so on Friday 14th Ireland had a National Day of Mourning for the poor people who died.
		Eoin

		I was on my way home from school on the 11th of September 2001, not knowing about the tragic accident that had happened. When I reached my mam's chemist, I heard a customer and one of the members of staff talking. "It's very tragic what happened," I heard the customer say. When the customer left I asked the girl who had been talking to the customer what had happened. She said that two hijacked planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York. I was devastated, I started thinking about all the poor injured people and worse the people who died. I also thought about the relatives of all those people who were in the Twin Towers. The effects it has had on my family was that my mam and dad weren't sure about going on a plane again. I think it happened because America is big. And I think Afghanistan wanted to show, even though it is small, it can do great damage.
		Fathimah

		September 11th made me feel sorry for all the people and their families that were injured or killed. It happened just four days after my birthday. How I first found out was a little boy came up to me and said "Did you hear about the Twin Towers?" Of course I had no clue what he was talking about. So I rushed in and looked at the news. I thought it was horrible how they kept showing it over and over again. The first thing I thought was they should lock him up and throw away the key. But there are two sides to every story, maybe even more in this case.
		Charmaine

		I had just come home from school on a dull September the 11th and my Mam was watching something on TV. "Something terrible has happened in America," she said. The reason why she was so upset was because my cousin was in Boston going to New York that day. We were very upset and worried. Later that day my cousin Barry rang to say he was okay. It had turned out he decided to cancel his flight. Two weeks later he arrived in Ireland and we were all glad he was okay but he was lucky, some people didn't get away safe and I feel that Bin Laden is the worst person since Hitler and if you know anyone who was effected by September the 11th, I am very sorry.
		Conor

		The day in New York started the same as every other day, with people rushing to work. Hundreds of people had started working in the Twin Towers. Then the most terrible thing happened. A plane crashed into one of the Twin Towers. At first everyone thought it was a terrible accident. Hundreds of people poured onto the street from the building with many more people trapped above the crash scene. Hundreds of policeman and fire fighters rushed to the scene. A second plane crashed into the other tower. No one could believe what was happening. There was terrible panic everywhere and then news broke that a third plane had crashed into the Pentagon. Everyone in America felt under attack. A fourth plane crashed, missing its target. All the people on the planes died instantly. Then the most horrific thing happened: the Twin Towers collapsed, killing hundreds of people, including hundreds of policemen and fire fighers trying to rescue the people trapped. What happened on the 11th of September has affected people worldwide. I will never forget seeing the Twin Towers collapse on television as long as I live. A lot of people have decided not to visit America. Many Americans do not go on holidays abroad. The tourist trade in many countries has suffered. No one really knows why this terrible thing happened. There are a lot of terrorists who will stop at nothing to make their point and do not care how many innocent people die, as long as they achieve their goal. Thousands of innocent people died on September 11th 2001.
		Brian

		The first time I heard about the September eleventh attacks was on my way home from school on the radio. I did not know if it was true. When I got home I realized that this was a very serious matter because when I turned on the television, all the channels were talking about a plane flying into the World Trade centre. Later that day another plane flew into the second tower. I was worried because my sister was flying home from her holidays the next day. A few hours later there were a lot of pictures of all the devasted people whose families had died in the wreckage. In the following weeks we got a day off school to remember the people who had died then. Plane tickets were very cheap. Some airlines had to shutdown. On the market the American dollar was very low.
		Elizabeth

		September 11th was 11 days from my birthday but other than that, it was one of the worst days in history. The way I found out was I came home from school and started my homework. My mam called me down to look at the tv and all I saw was a jumbo jet after flying into one of the Twin Towers in New York. At first I thought it was an accident but then, about 15 minutes later, the same thing happened again so that was a different story. I felt sad and really angry at those who hijaked the plane and sad for the people who were killed. When I saw the first tower fall I felt so sorry for all the people who were in the tower and for all their relations and hopefully they will get some of the debris out of the way.
		Andrew

		September 11 morning was a happy morning for me. It was my little brother's birthday. He was two. We planned to have a party that evening. My other brother and I went to school and were collected by my mam at a quarter to three. Then she told us the news. I was shocked. At that stage they thought it was only an accident. When I got home I turned on the t.v. to T.V.3 news. A few minutes later it was said that they think it was terrorists. I called in my mam. She said it was awful. A few hours later some of our guests came. When my nana came, she said that my cousin was over in New York doing a job. She was very worried. But it turned out she was o.k. and that's what I remember of September 11th.
		Jane

		I was in my nanny's when the phone rang. It was my Auntie. She told us to come over, that a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers. Everyone thought it was an accident. But when we got to my Aunties another plane had hit the other tower. This was no accident, it was highjackers. Four planes had been highjacked. Two hit the Twin Towers, one hit the Pentagon and the last one was heading for the White House but it was shot down and it landed in a field. I was shocked. Why would somebody do such a thing? I don't know. There were so many people hoping for news on their loved ones. That Friday we had 3 minutes of silence for the poor people of America. When I changed the channel there was a reporter in Afghanistan. They were celebrating. They were shouting "We got you this time". Ben Laden must have had a great reason to do such a thing. There were so many deaths that they lost count. They say that the hijackers told the people to ring home because they were going to die. Two of the wives said that their husbands said that they knew they were going to die, so they would try to do something, but it didn't work. The hijackers are heroes in the eyes of their people, but in our eyes they were terrible human beings. I am so sorry for the people of America and for their loss.
		Lisa

		It was September the 11th and it was around 3 o'clock on a Tuesday. I came home from school. When I got home my Mam and Dad were in the sitting room watching the T.V. So I went in and said "What are you watching?" My Mam explained what had happened. A plane crashed into one of the Twin Towers. They thought it was an accident. They showed on the T.V. all the firebrigades and ambulances going to help the people. Soon they discovered that it was a political attack. The Twin Towers both crumbled to the ground and thousands of lives were lost. Thank God I knew nobody there. But I will still remember the terrible stories about the bodies falling from the buildings. One reason that I'll remember that day is because it was the day before my sister's birthday.
		Ruth

		Many people think that September 11th was between Afghanistan and America. But they're wrong. It wasn't an attack on America it was an attack on democracy. Although America suffered the most, many other countries were effected. I myself think that Bin Laden chose to hit America because it's so big and powerful and he knew it would hurt millions of people around the world. When I think about how much the people of America suffered I can't imagine their pain. When I first heard about the Twin Towers I was in a car on the way home from school. I was disgusted to think that just one man could do so much damage and take so many lives away. My first reaction was to ask my mother about our relatives in America. Luckily they were safe. When I heard about all those people on the plane that flew into the towers I was devastated. This is an example of just a few people that had their lives taken away from them. I hope that anybody who reads this essay will say a prayer for all those who died on September 11th and thank God they were not one of them.
		Caoimhe

		copyright © 2002

		New York by Andrea