Remembering 9-11

“Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day?”
-Alan Jackson

I’m sure this song will play several times in the days to come and I am sure several folks will be asking themselves this question, too.
Like every other American, September 11, 2001 is a day I will never forget. The events of the day are etched into my memory and replay like a horrible movie at just a mention of the 9/11.
I was a freshman at Culleoka High School, in my first period class that September day. It was Ag class and the biggest concern I had that morning was if we would get done with all the boring class work so I could actually get in the shop and finally weld on something. (That was before I realized me with a welder was not only a personal hazard, but a hazard to everyone around me.)
Byron Peery, a second generation Culleoka Ag teacher, was late to the podium that morning, so the guys were all cutting up and the girls were reading over their textbooks. It seemed like any typical Culleoka morning, waiting on the teacher to come in.
When Mr. Peery finally walked through the door, it was easy to see he wasn’t his usual self. As he made his way to the podium, he said, as much to himself as to the class, “someone kamikazed.”
Of course, the class was confused. It wasn’t until we saw the images on TV that we understood what he meant.
Kids that were laughing just seconds earlier were suddenly silent, some red with anger, others with tears, fists clenched, a few had their hands over their gaping mouths. When we finally started class, it was just to go through the motions, because everyone’s eyes and minds were with the TV, not with Ag. The class seemed to drag on and on.
When the bell finally rang, we emerged from the Ag Building like zombies and made the short walk to the high school building where the rest of our classmates were. Everyone, including the teachers, looked and acted like we did, all of us just trying to figure out what was going on.
You know, kids are remarkable creatures. By lunchtime, most of them were able to laugh and cutup, able to put what had happened this morning in the back of their minds. The teachers, though, they kept their taut, grim faces all day. Although the students and teachers watched the same thing on TV, the teachers understood the gravity of the situation. The kids did not.
But, what this freshman kid witnessed in the days after 9/11 was something remarkable. Students stood and faced the flag during the Pledge of Allegiance and actually felt the words for the first time. People, usually unpatriotic, were exuberantly proud to be Americans and enthusiastically proud of the United States.
It is a day I will never forget. A day I hope we all remember.
God bless America.