Looking back on Sept. 11, 2001

By Staff
From China to Minnesota, readers share their experiences of that day
There are certain events that make a deep mark on history. The bombing of Pearl Harbor. The assassination of John F. Kennedy. The Space Shuttle disasters.
Five years ago, America added another mark to the sad list. The attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 changed all our lives. In one morning, our feelings of security and hope for the future were altered.
We’ve lived with these changes for the last five years and, ways big and small, dealt with their impact.
We asked our readers to share their experiences of that day and how it has changed their lives. Below are three such experiences, each with a different perspective but united by strong feelings about that tragic day.
– The Editor
George Carden
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Native of Hartselle
That morning, I had an interview scheduled with Cliff Barrows, the music director for Billy Graham. He was to talk about the history of some of our best-known hymns. When I called him, I asked him if he would just say a prayer for America and we’ll reschedule the original interview. I’ll never forget it…Cliff prayed such an amazing, touching prayer for about 15 minutes that we aired on our program that afternoon.
Eddie and Sue Turrentine, Danville native
From Qingdao, People’s Republic of China
My driver met me at 6:30 a.m. China time to travel across town for work. He had tears in his eyes and told of the sorrow he had for the events of the evening to our beloved country. It was a somber 20 minute drive across town as my mind continued to wonder just why anyone would have so much hate to attack and kill innocent people along with themselves. At 8 a.m., the local police arrived at our office and asked me permission to meet with all the Americans currently at the facility. If memory serves me correctly, there were five of us there including Matt Nail from Quail Creek Golf Resort. Matt had been gracious enough to come over and conduct some training courses for our staff. This was his first trip to China and his family, too, seemed very far away at on that day. The police chief expressed the sympathy from the local government and wanted to make sure we felt safe. They had added security around our facility as well as around our homes. They knew President Bush would soon hold a news conference and had arranged a special room at a local hotel for us to go and view the conference. They did a great job of making us feel secure during a very difficult time.
Today, we live in Qingdao, China and travel frequently. Some of the travel is within Asia but we still manage to get back home at least two times per year. It is safe to say we never get on a plane without thinking about the possibility of what could happen. Before this event, we just assumed everything would always be safe and enjoyable.
We pray such an event will never happen again but we as a country must be proactive to safely guard our future!
God Bless America!!
Jay Freeman
Hartselle
I was only in the second grade when 911 occurred. I first knew what had happened after school that day. My father was onboard a plane that morning, flying to Cincinnati for a meeting. I was afraid that something had happened to him. Later that evening, we found out that my father’s plane had arrived safely in Cincinnati, and then they told my dad what had happened, and moved along with their meeting.
His meeting was only scheduled for a day, and after the attacks, the airports shut down. They were going to be traveling by bus from Cincinnati to Atlanta, where they would supply rental cars. Luckily, two knights in shining armor, Brad
Cheatham and Joey Knight, volunteered to go and pick up my dad. It was a better way, because my parents didn’t have cell phones then, and it would be hard to contact one another otherwise. The next morning, we were reunited with my dad. (He had gotten home the night before, but I was told to go to bed.)