I'm a journalist and the day of the terrorist attack I was in the newsroom. So many emotions flooded my mind but I had little time to think. Like many parents, I wanted to rush to our son's school and pick him up but I couldn't. Journalists cover stories and the public relies on the information. You didn't see (or hear) what we did. We didn't air the very worst. My most vivid memory is watching person after person jump from the towers and the sound created when these poor souls hit the ground. It was horrific. Hours later I finally left the station stunned and exhausted. When I picked up our sweet boy I wouldn't let go. God bless the people who died, their families and the first responders.

P.S. - Never forget and pass the truth to future generations.

9/11 was a stunningly beautiful day. The temperature was warm but not hot, no humidty, fall colors and not a cloud in the sky. I was home at my house with my young daughter when my mom called to say, "Did you see? A plane hit the world trade center?" I turned on the news but at that point assumed a small plane had just made an error. Then the next plane came and I remember thinking OH MY GOD. The day spiraled out of control with another plane hitting the pentagon. Glued to the TV, unable to talk to anyone because cell phones did not work, I just sat and felt so vunerable. So ignorant. I had seen terrorist attacks on the news, really not giving them much thought. Justifying it almost, oh that was in a country that is not as advanced at the US. See ignorant. I didn't think about the loss of lives or much about it at all. I spent 9/11 trying to understand how we became one of those foreign countries. Wait?? We are the US? Powerhouse? Land of opportunity.... how could this happen? All of the superiority I felt, the untouchableness I felt as an Amercian, gone. It was quite an eye opening time. I think that is when my belief in Government started to change. Realizing that the story we are told may not always be the truth. I was scared.

The air was quiet. No commercial planes for days. Living on the flight path for Newark airport made this quietness seem so eeriy. It was like the world stopped. Fighter jets were circling and patrolling the skies, creating that feeling of safety again. Perhaps trying to restore some of that vunerability we all felt. Trying to hide that fact that despite being a military superpower, we too can be hurt.

I was trying desperately to reach my cousin Amy who commuted into the city via train into the station in the world trade center. Phones did not work so it was impossible. I did get a text from her saying she was ok. That she got off the train in the basement of the world trade center and was ok. Then the buildings fell. We could not contact her for hours. Finally late in the aftenoon she made contact with her mom who shared the good news. She was still stuck in the city but was trying to get on a ferry to get over to hoboken or jersey city so she could come home. I recall her telling me the dust was overwhelming and she just jumped into a lobby of a building to be able to breathe. Thankfully she was safe. Every 9/11, she is in my thoughts all day and I am so thankful I still have her as a cousin.

I will never forget the realization that day of how vunerable I felt. How humbled I felt to be on the same level with other countries that experienced car bombings and other events. I remember feeling upset I had dismissed those events so easily as a superior American.

One thing I do recall is the unity that followed that horrific event. The pride in the American Flag, the pride in the USA as we all came together as one unified country. People waved to each other, people were kind. I miss that time....

-Rebecca Newman