I was sitting in second block Geometry class the second week of my Freshman year at Kellam High School.  We were copying notes off the over-head when another teacher walked into the room and whispered something to our teacher and then quickly walked right back out of the room.  My teacher looked at us and then turned on the T.V.  I remember just seeing mass chaos all over the news.  (Between classes I had heard something about a plane crash but brushed it off as nothing that big or as a senior prank.)  The news was covering a huge story about a plane that had crashed into one of the World Trade Towers.  Most of us stopped copying the notes and just watch the news.  We were watching as the second plane hit the other tower.  All I can really remember is the chaos that ensued on the News, the people running and screaming, the debris falling from the sky, people crying,  and the silence that blanketed our classroom no one knew what to say or do.  We just sat there and watched.

                The timelines that are out now say that forty minutes later the Pentagon was hit, but it felt like an eternity.  I can’t imagine what the people in New York were feeling at the time.  A few minutes after the news began talking about the attack on the Pentagon the Principal came over the loud speaker.  “Teachers and students Kellam is now in lockdown; all classes in portables please report to the library immediately.  Students may not leave classrooms during the bell unless accompanied by a teacher.  Between bells students may not leave the building.  Teachers please close all windows and blinds.”

                Most of what went on that day remains in my memory as a jumbled mess of news footage and a strange feeling of paranoia.  I live in Virginia Beach, and we have the largest military installation in the country, there are 18 military bases within 30 miles of my house.  Everyone figured we were the next target.  Every 15 minutes an announcement was made calling 20 or so students to office to go home.  I knew I wasn’t going anywhere.  My mom is a teacher and my step dad is a federal government employee, I was stuck at school. 

                I don’t know what time it was but I just remember hearing a large number of planes flying over.  I could tell by the sound of the engines that they were F-14’s and F-18’s.  I kept thinking, “Why are they leaving?”  Even though I realized that it was in an effort to keep the planes safe, on the ground they are sitting ducks in the air they are a force to be reckoned with.  It took about half an hour of noise before there was silence and all the planes were gone.  That silence was terrifying.

                I was told that around 1:45 5 warships and 2 aircraft carriers left Norfolk; the USS George Washington and the USS JFK were sent to guard the New York Coast.  The other ships were sent to different locations on the coast they were guided missile destroyers capable of shooting down any aircraft.

                For those in New York and Washington D.C. 9-11 was a terrifying experience.   For me though it was the night and days following the attacks that were the scariest.  The silence that ensued, the blue skies above that acted like nothing had happened; everything seemed fine even though it wasn’t.  I remember that for three days not a single plane flew over, there was no jet noise.  It seemed as though we were all straining our ears in an effort to hear one just one.  Or maybe we were waiting for something else.  When the planes did come back and the skies were filled with the familiar noise it seemed as though there was a weight lifted off of our shoulders.  Having the planes back meant that life could move on for Virginia Beach.  Having the planes back meant that we were safe.