ARKANSAS
"Where were you on 9/11?" as remembered by those in Arkansas that day.
An Arkansas student remembers how no one in his school took news of the attacks seriously, in contrast with Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" broadcast from the 1930s.
1. "I was a sophomore in Little Rock, Arkansas in US history which my first period. The teacher sometimes put on the radio as we came into class so that's how we heard about the attacks. The entire class was talking about how weird it was B98 FM was trying to do a War of the Worlds type scare. Back in the '30s, Orson Welles did this show where he made it seem like aliens were attacking the Earth and some people didn't get the memo that it wasn't real. That's what we thought, everybody thought it was fake and... then we turned the TVs on...
Looking back it was a state of pure shock after moments before laughing about how silly and unbelievable the story was. It was the opposite experience of War of the Worlds. They thought this fake attack was real and we thought this real attack was fake."
- J. T.
Looking back it was a state of pure shock after moments before laughing about how silly and unbelievable the story was. It was the opposite experience of War of the Worlds. They thought this fake attack was real and we thought this real attack was fake."
- J. T.
Written Stories:
2. "I called my mom to ask her if she was watching TV and she asked,
'Which channel?'
I said,
'All the channels.'"
- O. F.
'Which channel?'
I said,
'All the channels.'"
- O. F.
3. "I was in first period, AP American Lit. It was picture day so our teacher was busy with all of scheduling and setup for that.
We were all mostly working and she had turned on Good Morning America, she liked to kind of half listen while grading papers. Most of us were half listening as well, chatting quietly and working on the homework from other classes that we hadn't gotten done yet.
The newscasters were doing a report of a fire and an unconfirmed report of a plane hitting the towers...
Then a confirmation of the plane...
Then the second plane hit.
All of us were silent, all of us were watching. We were enthralled. This was huge and impossible and so far removed from this tiny little Arkansas town that we lived in.
We were touched by fear, but not by loss, not directly, and it wasn't until years later that many of us truly understood how things changed."
- R. N.
We were all mostly working and she had turned on Good Morning America, she liked to kind of half listen while grading papers. Most of us were half listening as well, chatting quietly and working on the homework from other classes that we hadn't gotten done yet.
The newscasters were doing a report of a fire and an unconfirmed report of a plane hitting the towers...
Then a confirmation of the plane...
Then the second plane hit.
All of us were silent, all of us were watching. We were enthralled. This was huge and impossible and so far removed from this tiny little Arkansas town that we lived in.
We were touched by fear, but not by loss, not directly, and it wasn't until years later that many of us truly understood how things changed."
- R. N.
4. "I was driving to work when I heard about the first plane on a radio program. The initial report was something that the talking heads decided must be some small plane hitting the building. An accident.
The reports got worse as I got closer to the office. I walked in and my co-workers were getting the TV going. It was minutes before we started reading the wire reports. The rest of the day was spent with a cold chill and a raging anger. Mostly, I remember walking to my car that day after work and noticing how quiet the sky was. No contrails, no local planes and the look of grim determination on the faces of everyone I passed."
- S. C.
The reports got worse as I got closer to the office. I walked in and my co-workers were getting the TV going. It was minutes before we started reading the wire reports. The rest of the day was spent with a cold chill and a raging anger. Mostly, I remember walking to my car that day after work and noticing how quiet the sky was. No contrails, no local planes and the look of grim determination on the faces of everyone I passed."
- S. C.
5. "Around 8 am, I was at my desk on the 2nd floor of the DGTC ( Walmart Corporate Information Systems Dept). I was on EDI Support at the time as a Tech 2 taking calls when the calls just started drying up. We couldn't figure it out.
Then another person from our team had a call from someone across the river from NYC. His window was facing the city.
There were only two other TV's on the entire floor of the building, one in the break room and one in the interior smoking room. Within minutes, everyone on the floor crowded around them to figure out what was happening.
Some of the associates that could left the building to work from home. The hourly agents stayed and worked, but we didn't get much work done on that day.
Most of the calls turned into conversations about the events unfolding."
- N. W.
Then another person from our team had a call from someone across the river from NYC. His window was facing the city.
There were only two other TV's on the entire floor of the building, one in the break room and one in the interior smoking room. Within minutes, everyone on the floor crowded around them to figure out what was happening.
Some of the associates that could left the building to work from home. The hourly agents stayed and worked, but we didn't get much work done on that day.
Most of the calls turned into conversations about the events unfolding."
- N. W.
6. "I was around 8 years old attending school in Little Rock. I was delivering something to the office for my teacher, when I saw the office staff watching TV. At the time I thought it was an old movie.
My mom checked me out of school shortly afterwards, I quickly learned that it was all too real."
- H. K.
My mom checked me out of school shortly afterwards, I quickly learned that it was all too real."
- H. K.
7. "I was 11 years old, a 6th grader in Newark, AR and I was out of school that morning for a doctor's appointment. My mom was listening to the radio on the way to the appointment and I wasn't paying much attention. I was very confused at first, having heard the broadcaster mention something about the attack and then move on to France. I thought that France had attacked us!
I started listening closer after that and learned what was actually happening. We went to my appointment and after, mom took me back to school around lunchtime.
None of my friends believed me when I told them what was happening. They didn't believe me until we started watching the news in our homeroom. We didn't get much else accomplished that day.
As soon as I got home with my younger sister, I turned the news back on to find out what was happening. My sister wanted to watch cartoons and I was scared to tell her and made her wait until our parents got home to explain.
9/11 is what caused me to actually start paying attention to current events in the world, at the age of 11."
- Tara Sneed
I started listening closer after that and learned what was actually happening. We went to my appointment and after, mom took me back to school around lunchtime.
None of my friends believed me when I told them what was happening. They didn't believe me until we started watching the news in our homeroom. We didn't get much else accomplished that day.
As soon as I got home with my younger sister, I turned the news back on to find out what was happening. My sister wanted to watch cartoons and I was scared to tell her and made her wait until our parents got home to explain.
9/11 is what caused me to actually start paying attention to current events in the world, at the age of 11."
- Tara Sneed