Kristen Soltis Avatar

Posted 1 year ago

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In 2001 at about 9:30 I walked into Mr. Bilka’s 2nd period contemporary history class, where the TVs were on and all we could do was speculate about what happened. When the Pentagon got hit, he turned off the TV and improvised a lecture about terrorism and the symbolism of the targets. He turned the TVs back on just before the first tower collapsed, which was when the full magnitude of what was happening finally sunk in. Watching the replayed coverage on MSNBC years later, I always find the minutes before the second tower collapse to be the most moving and tragic. In those minutes, NBC reported Sam Dawson is standing some blocks north of the tower and is describing the people running away from the collapsed first tower and the firefighters going the opposite way, in toward the towers. The camera shows groups of firefighters walking straight into the area that you know is only a few minutes away from being filled with the second tower’s collapse.

In 2001 at about 9:30 I walked into Mr. Bilka’s 2nd period contemporary history class, where the TVs were on and all we could do was speculate about what happened. When the Pentagon got hit, he turned off the TV and improvised a lecture about terrorism and the symbolism of the targets. He turned the TVs back on just before the first tower collapsed, which was when the full magnitude of what was happening finally sunk in. Watching the replayed coverage on MSNBC years later, I always find the minutes before the second tower collapse to be the most moving and tragic. In those minutes, NBC reported Sam Dawson is standing some blocks north of the tower and is describing the people running away from the collapsed first tower and the firefighters going the opposite way, in toward the towers. The camera shows groups of firefighters walking straight into the area that you know is only a few minutes away from being filled with the second tower’s collapse.