I moved from WV to Myrtle Beach, SC for the sunshine and blue skies. Twelve years later, in 1998, I left for Washington, D. C. to have a little excitement in my life. This is a bit more than what I had in mind.

     On 11 September 2001, I made my morning drive out of DC and past the Pentagon in Arlington at 8:30 a.m. on the way to work. "Work" is an alternative high school in Arlington, VA, about 2 or 3 miles by air from the Pentagon, where I am a library media specialist.

     We were on an assembly schedule, so our students were having a break, with many of them being outside at the time the plane flew over. It was flying real low and was right above the street in front of our school, which leads directly to the Pentagon. They saw the white plane and were puzzled that it was flying so low with no airport in that direction. Shortly after, news circulated in our building that the Pentagon had also been hit.  

     I learned later that children at a nearby elementary school had been outside on the playground and saw the smoke. 

     Our students and faculty started leaving for their nearby homes shortly after, but I knew the traffic would be awful trying to get back into DC. I also knew it was a real possibility that many sites in Washington would be hit, so I wanted to wait and see what was going to happen. I stayed put. At 11:00, I decided to try and make it home, but was informed that the bridges were closed. Parking my car nearby and taking the subway was out, since the Metro was not going to be running under the Potomac while terrorists were running rampant and creating havoc. I went to look for our school's police officer to find out what he knew about transportation, but found that he had been dispatched to the Pentagon. Upon calling "911," I learned that one bridge farther east had been left open, so, at 2:30, I set out with a map and a full tank of gas to find it. Police were directing traffic and I found the bridge with no problem. Even though it was some distance away, I could see the Pentagon and the smoke rising above it, and felt very threatened. This is our home and we should be safe here. This was a government building in the greatest nation ever on this planet, and some upstart little twerp got off his camel long enough and managed to violate our security and destroy so many innocent lives. 

     Once back into the city, I was faced with the streets between my apartment and me being blocked by 4 or 5 officers at every intersection where I needed to turn. They had the Capitol and surrounding government buildings roped off. There wasn't much traffic; I think most everyone had gotten out of town. I managed to find a different route to my apartment not far from the Capitol. It was such a beautiful day: weather in the 70s, blue sky...too beautiful for anyone to die. 

      My 15-minute trip home took 90 minutes, but I was aware of thousands of people who would never go home again. 

Vera Goodson Stover
Born and partly raised in WV
Graduate of Clear Fork High School in Raleigh County, Concord College, and
The University of South Carolina