Anne Moore Of Kiss Country Remembers 9-11-01

As Kiss Country continues to reflect on one of the worst days in American History, we are reminded that an act of cowardice could never destroy the fiber that IS America.  Within hours of the attacks on the World Trade Center September 11, 2001, George Bush said, "The resolve of our great nation is being tested.  Make no mistake, we will show the world that we will pass this test!"  In my estimation we've passed most of this test but as "enemies of freedom" continue to challenge our way of life, we must pass a new chapter of this test every day.

Kiss Country's Anne Moore contributes today's 9-11 Memory:

I was working in the office at Summer Grove Elementary. My husband called me and said a plane hit one of the towers in New York City. I asked him how that could happen? We turned on a small television that we had in the school office. There was so much confusion at first thinking it was an accident and then watching in horror as the second plane hit the 2nd tower. The entire administration of the school was huddled around the TV that we had in the office. We watched together as the towers fell and the realization hit that this was intentional. Tears were streaming down our faces knowing that firemen and policemen had rushed into the buildings trying to help those trapped on the upper floors. I distinctly remember being comforted by an older teacher who said to me, "I know this is very painful for you because this is the first time in your lifetime that something so terrible has happened to our nation." She later shared with me that she had lived through Pearl Harbor as a child. Reports where coming in that Barksdale Air Force Base could be a possible target and that airplanes had been hi-jacked and were still missing. The pentagon was hit and we had to put the school on lock down. In the days that followed the kids were scared and we learned the name Osama Bin Laden. The children drew pictures of airplanes and buildings on fire from seeing the images on the family's TV's at home.
We felt helpless and just wanted to do something. I coached a team of young cheerleaders so we made USA buttons and pins to give out for donations. We sang patriotic songs in front of stores and collected hundreds of dollars to give to the Red Cross.