WYOMING
"Where were you on 9/11?" as remembered by those in Wyoming that day.
Wyoming resident Sam remembers how his thoughts turned to his father, a New York fireman, on 9/11.
1. "My 9/11 story begins when the WTC was bombed in 1993. My family was living in a small, island city called Oceanside about 20 miles away from NYC and I didn’t find out about the bombing until I got home. Dad was a New York City fireman and, even though they were already divorced at that point, Mom spent hours sitting by the phone, calling my dad every 20 minutes. It wasn’t until after I went to bed that we found out he was safe.
Eight years later in 2001, I was a 17 year old sophomore living in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It was a rough time in my life. We had just moved to Wyoming about a year before and this was the third school I had gone to. I was not handing the move well and on top of that, my stepdad (Pa) had been diagnosed with the lung cancer. Both Mom and Pa were working at the local tv station. He was cameraman for the morning and noon shows, and my mother a receptionist. This, coincidently, was the last week he worked before the cancer progressed to much for him to do so.
On that morning, I was running late for school. Mom made a daily habit of turning on the news so she could see a few minutes of Pa's work. I was tying my shoes when I heard her say,
'Oh, it must be the anniversary of the bombing.'
That's when I looked at the TV and saw the smoke coming out of the tower. I hadn’t actually seen any of the footage from the bombing, but that smoke looked like it was coming from high in the building and not from the basement where the bomb exploded.
When I got to school, I was already late for my math class. I hurried in and the TV was off. The teacher just taught class like nothing was happening. I heard from someone about the plane hitting, and didn’t believe it.
'It was just the bombing, right?'
My next class was English, and it always began with some quiet reading time. After the reading, the teacher turned on the TV:
- I saw a repeat of the tower falling.
- I heard about the second plane hitting.
- I was in shock.
Eight years later in 2001, I was a 17 year old sophomore living in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It was a rough time in my life. We had just moved to Wyoming about a year before and this was the third school I had gone to. I was not handing the move well and on top of that, my stepdad (Pa) had been diagnosed with the lung cancer. Both Mom and Pa were working at the local tv station. He was cameraman for the morning and noon shows, and my mother a receptionist. This, coincidently, was the last week he worked before the cancer progressed to much for him to do so.
On that morning, I was running late for school. Mom made a daily habit of turning on the news so she could see a few minutes of Pa's work. I was tying my shoes when I heard her say,
'Oh, it must be the anniversary of the bombing.'
That's when I looked at the TV and saw the smoke coming out of the tower. I hadn’t actually seen any of the footage from the bombing, but that smoke looked like it was coming from high in the building and not from the basement where the bomb exploded.
When I got to school, I was already late for my math class. I hurried in and the TV was off. The teacher just taught class like nothing was happening. I heard from someone about the plane hitting, and didn’t believe it.
'It was just the bombing, right?'
My next class was English, and it always began with some quiet reading time. After the reading, the teacher turned on the TV:
- I saw a repeat of the tower falling.
- I heard about the second plane hitting.
- I was in shock.
The principal suddenly came on over the loud speaker and told the teachers to turn off the TVs. There was a blast of smoke and some movement in the top of the tower and then the TV went off. I had no idea what happened. By chance, the teacher had turned off the TV just as the second tower began to fall. Did it fall like the other one? My dad, his fire station was half an hour away from Manhattan in Lynbrook. He could have been in there!
When I got home, my mom was exhausted from fielding calls and reaching out to other stations and emails and all the chaos front that day.
We watched Bush’s response that evening. The last thing I remember from that night was mom saying,
'I've seen those eyes before on your father. That's not fear, that's tightly controlled anger.'
My Pa, he had served in Vietnam and been a POW for three years. He had withstood years of the most barbaric torture for our country, and then he re-upped for Desert Storm, he was a third degree black belt.
Now that our nation was under attack, he couldn’t help.
He was laying in his chair, looking sunken with a blanket over him despite the heat. He was talking about how this was like Pearl Harbor, and I said that this was worse because this target civilians. I really think that was the last day he went to work, though it could have been that Friday. Either way, the cancer claimed him two months later.
It was about a week later I finally got a hold of my father. His company hadn’t been sent in that day, but they had gone in every day since. He would go back every day for over a month. Thankfully he didn’t get any sickness, but I know a few from his company did. "
- Sam A.
When I got home, my mom was exhausted from fielding calls and reaching out to other stations and emails and all the chaos front that day.
We watched Bush’s response that evening. The last thing I remember from that night was mom saying,
'I've seen those eyes before on your father. That's not fear, that's tightly controlled anger.'
My Pa, he had served in Vietnam and been a POW for three years. He had withstood years of the most barbaric torture for our country, and then he re-upped for Desert Storm, he was a third degree black belt.
Now that our nation was under attack, he couldn’t help.
He was laying in his chair, looking sunken with a blanket over him despite the heat. He was talking about how this was like Pearl Harbor, and I said that this was worse because this target civilians. I really think that was the last day he went to work, though it could have been that Friday. Either way, the cancer claimed him two months later.
It was about a week later I finally got a hold of my father. His company hadn’t been sent in that day, but they had gone in every day since. He would go back every day for over a month. Thankfully he didn’t get any sickness, but I know a few from his company did. "
- Sam A.
Written Stories
2. "I was in the town of Dubois and it was my day-off, I wasn't supposed to be back in cow-camp (Bear-Pass Cabin) until WAY later that afternoon, so I'd planned on sleeping-in, but something jerked me awake...
I went right out into the bunkhouse living-room, and turned on the TV where I saw the tower smoking and watched in shock as the 2nd plane struck. I phoned my Mom, who lived roughly 60 miles south of NYC, to see if she was aware of what was going-on. She was and of all the things that were weighing on her mind, her most 'immediate' concern was,
'What if they hit the Liberty-Bell ?'
As I was in the midst of processing that question they hit the Pentagon. Mom had to go because Dad commuted between Princeton University & The Pentagon.
That afternoon my boss knocks on the door and asks,
'Had enough of the news ? I need you back in camp...life goes-on, we've got work to do and cows can't take care of themselves y'know...'
4:30 pm, I've got my 5th-wheel hooked-up, horses saddled & loaded-up, Chevy fueled-up, packed with 2-weeks worth of food and I'm headed through town. Every single bar and restaurant is jammed full of vehicles! There are throngs of people (locals and tourists alike) on their feet, watching the TV-news reports, for hopeful 'signs of life' in the aftermath.
It was too late to head out and fix-fence, so I was plugged into my AM/FM-Walkman for the rest of that night...
I was more 'numb' than angry."
- Anonymous
I went right out into the bunkhouse living-room, and turned on the TV where I saw the tower smoking and watched in shock as the 2nd plane struck. I phoned my Mom, who lived roughly 60 miles south of NYC, to see if she was aware of what was going-on. She was and of all the things that were weighing on her mind, her most 'immediate' concern was,
'What if they hit the Liberty-Bell ?'
As I was in the midst of processing that question they hit the Pentagon. Mom had to go because Dad commuted between Princeton University & The Pentagon.
That afternoon my boss knocks on the door and asks,
'Had enough of the news ? I need you back in camp...life goes-on, we've got work to do and cows can't take care of themselves y'know...'
4:30 pm, I've got my 5th-wheel hooked-up, horses saddled & loaded-up, Chevy fueled-up, packed with 2-weeks worth of food and I'm headed through town. Every single bar and restaurant is jammed full of vehicles! There are throngs of people (locals and tourists alike) on their feet, watching the TV-news reports, for hopeful 'signs of life' in the aftermath.
It was too late to head out and fix-fence, so I was plugged into my AM/FM-Walkman for the rest of that night...
I was more 'numb' than angry."
- Anonymous
3. "I was 28, halfway across the country from the attacks. When I watched the second plane fly in, I lost hope that this was an accident and I knew that the country was being attacked.
As a full grown man I have never been so fearful as I was that morning. It felt like the whole world could end at any moment. By that afternoon I remember being so angry, so very unreasonably angry.
Nothing more to say really."
- B. D.
As a full grown man I have never been so fearful as I was that morning. It felt like the whole world could end at any moment. By that afternoon I remember being so angry, so very unreasonably angry.
Nothing more to say really."
- B. D.
4. "I was four, living in Wyoming with my mother and grandparents. I remember the image of the smoking towers and my grandmother, who was going through chemo at the time, in her head scarf staring at the TV in shock. What I remember most vividly was being more concerned with the irritation of a torn hangnail while playing with a painted horse.
Gen Z doesn't really have strong memories of 9/11, we were so young when it happened. Throughout middle school and high school, it was a running cruel joke to laugh when the clock hit 9:11. I'm ashamed to say it wasn't until I was in my late teens that I truly understood the horror of that day, and that shame of laughing at such an abhorrent event is something that still keeps me up at night."
- Michael Eldred
Gen Z doesn't really have strong memories of 9/11, we were so young when it happened. Throughout middle school and high school, it was a running cruel joke to laugh when the clock hit 9:11. I'm ashamed to say it wasn't until I was in my late teens that I truly understood the horror of that day, and that shame of laughing at such an abhorrent event is something that still keeps me up at night."
- Michael Eldred