I will never forget September 11, 2001. I was 50 years old, and an English teacher at Vacaville High School. I used to get up early, and it was no different that morning. I got dressed, hopped in my Miata, and headed for "Hava Java," a local coffee house, run by a couple who were "Jordanian Christians" (by their own description), and was on the way to the campus. I'd come to know these people over a two year period, most times, I never had to order, my coffee was ready when I walked up. We chatted, from time to time, and I knew them to be people of dignity, and integrity, who loved having a family business in America, and were proud to be making progress towards US citizenship.
It was, I think, The Mark and Brian Radio Show, that was on my car radio. The show was a morning comedic look at life and the news, often bringing obscure items from areas outside of metropolitan influence. I'd listen to the show to get ideas for warm-up writing for my classes. I'd put a question, or topic from current affairs, and my students would come in, and write a paragraph based on the question/topic. That gave me five minutes to do the daily, administrative duties of being a high school teacher, and a time for them to open their minds, a little, to the things going on in the world outside of high school, outside of Vacaville, out in the world.
On September 11, I went into the "Hava Java," to get my cup of "Joe," and the husband was standing in the middle of the lobby, gesturing towards the TV, which had a picture of the smoking husk of the first tower to be hit. He kept saying, "They've ruined everything!" His wife gave me my coffee, and shooed me out the door. When I got back to my car, I turned to a news station, and heard the news that we'd been attacked, and that innocent Americans were dying. I normally sat in a parking lot, reading the newspaper, drinking my coffee, and listening to Mark and Brian. I decided, instead, to go directly to the school that morning, and turn put the news on in my classroom. I was so early, I tripped the alarm, causing a police response, but before they could get there, half-a-dozen, or so, students had come in, and were watching the news with me.
The morning bells rang, but no one moved out of my classroom. By the time the actual school day began, I had somewhere between 40 and 50 students in my classroom, about half of which were members of my 1st Period class. I had a TA, and sent him to the office to get guidance on what to do. In my room, you could hear a pin drop. We watched when the second tower was hit, and were stunned watching the first tower fall, then the other.
The TA came back with instructions to just keep everyone where they were, until we could get some kind of morning attendance put together, and that further instructions would come on the school-wide PA system. As the actual news slowed down, and the respective news channels digressed into speculation about who, or why this had happened, so did the students in my classroom. A young lady in the group raised her hand and asked, "What do we do now?"
We spent 30 minutes, or so, talking about what the assembled group was feeling, seeing the things they'd just seen. Most were afraid, some were concerned about our school's proximity to a major military air hub, and some had just seen everything they'd come to know and love about their country viciously attacked. I've never seen teenagers ever agree on much of anything, but they were agreed that such an attack should never occur on our shores again. A couple of my students, who knew I was retired Navy, asked me if there was any chance I'd be called up again. I told them that my 30 year commitment to the government had been met seven months earlier, and I was "officially retired," no longer subject to recall. They were pleased by that.
Finally, the school's PA came on, and our Principal announced that the bell would ring, in a couple of minutes, and everyone was to go to their 3rd Period class, and that the day would proceed as normal from there.
Third Period was my lively bunch. They were usually full of "[spit] and vinegar," as the saying goes. Third Period had some of my best thinkers, kids who could work things out, in their minds, and draw conclusions. They looked like robots, or worse, zombies, coming into the classroom. It was obvious, to me, that they didn't know what to make of the attacks, they'd either been shielded from it, or worse, got the news from MSNBC. We talked about their feelings, just as we did before, and they didn't let me down. Before long, I had a list of young men who were ready to join the military, as soon as they graduated, we talked about what the response should be, and started to joke about how to treat the people who were behind the attacks, and we released a lot of tensions.
Fourth Period was my "prep period," which was followed by lunch, so I usually took off for "lunch" (another cup of coffee and chain-smoking cigarettes) during 4th, coming back sometime before 5th Period. Usually I'd listen to CD's, or The Eagle (KSEG 96.9FM), or, if I was especially bored, the daytime talk-radio shows, like Rush Limbaugh, or someone like that. It's the time I used to bulk up on nicotine, gulp down some coffee, and relax. I didn't do any of that on 9/11/01.
Instead, I stayed on campus, wandering around, listening to our students. Answering questions when asked for an opinion, and then visited with the Navy recruiters who were on campus that day. Fifth and 6th Periods were much of the same, although the number of students who didn't show up to class was growing. Not so much in my classes, a few, maybe, but my students knew I'd give them the freedom to vent their frustrations, and wouldn't judge them on what came out. We did more talking than I can remember on any other single day.
A few days later, a suspension of school athletics was lifted, and we took our Girl's Golf Team to Chardonnay Country Club for a match with Napa High. As we were standing on the first tee, watching the groups begin, it struck me that there was no air traffic. We were a few miles away from a major Air Force Base, traffic from local airports, SFO, OAK, SMF, and SAC were always in the air, except for that day. Nothing was in the air, not even a helium balloon.
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