Where were you on September 11th, 2001?

Even though it was nearly 40 years ago and our class was only in the 4th grade at the time, I remember exactly where I was on November 22, 1963, when they announced over the Hillcrest Elementary School's P.A. system that President John F. Kennedy had just been assassinated.  My class (I think my teacher's name was Miss DiVittorio) was visiting the 4th grade class next door, who were holding some kind of food fair.  I recall something about them making us orange milk (?).  Do you remember that?  Some of you were undoubtedly there, too.

When we were all much older, in August of 1973, I remember being in Guy's and Doll's Pool Hall in Bridgeville, with a couple of my best friends and fellow classmates, and probably listening to the Beach Boys' "409" on the jukebox as usual, when Richard Nixon came on television and announced his resignation from the presidency, following the long Watergate scandal.

It's funny how our minds seem to take a permanent snapshot at times like these.  Undoubtedly, we'll all remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when we first found out about the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the heroic passengers of Flight 93 who were determined that if they were going to die because of some terrorists, at least they weren't going to take out other innocent people on the ground.

Since September 11th, I've read a number of first hand accounts of people who were in or near "ground zero", and I've heard other tales on TV.  I've learned that some people that I know were there and lived to tell their stories.  One common theme among their stories is that in spite of all we've seen on television, nothing we've seen compares to what it was (and still is) really like when you're there.  Most of us can only imagine.

So far, the BPHS Class of 1972 appears to have all survived that horrendous day, although the Class of 1973 wasn't so lucky  (for more information on a Memorial Fund set up for Ken Waldie, Click Here.)  Even so, our lives will probably never quite be the same.  And we'll never forget.   Our hearts go out to the families and friends of the victims, and to all of the rescue workers who perished while doing their jobs.

Do you remember where you were on September 11, 2001? 

If any of our classmates want to share their September 11th stories, I'll be happy to include them on this part of the website.  Just email the webmaster - include a subject line of "September 11".