Sept. 11, 2001.

Somehow, it’s hard to believe 15 years ago this Sunday two hijacked Boeing passenger jets slammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, causing the massive buildings to collapse, killing thousands of people and forever changing the aura of security from foreign attacks we all felt in this country.

In the past few days leading to the 15th anniversary of what we now call “9/11,” television networks like the History Channel, PBS and the National Geographic Channel are either showing special programs on the disaster or broadcasting promotional trailers on programs they will air Sunday, the disaster’s 15th anniversary.

Like Pearl Harbor, the assassination of John F. Kennedy and Hurricane Katrina, people will remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news of planes crashing into icons of American industry and one of the most recognizable landmarks in New York City, and a third plane hit the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

I was in my truck driving between Gautier and Pascagoula. I had just dropped my daughter off for classes at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and on my way home when I heard the radio report about the first plane hitting the Trade Center. My day would soon change.

I was working at the Mississippi Press in Pascagoula and was off that morning in order to cover a meeting that night.

I arrived home and turned on the TV just in time to see the second plane hit the second tower.

While I was watching the crash, my phone rang and my editor, Regina Hinds, was on the other end asking me who to call the Naval Station Pascagoula about security. After giving her the information, I asked, “Do you need me to come in?” The response, “No, we’re all right.”

After three more calls for information, I was told, “You’d better come on in.”

One of my beats on the Coast was covering the veterans groups. When I arrived at the paper, Regina told me, “Call your veterans and see if you can get any comments on this.”

As luck would have it, I managed to get the commander of the local VFW Post who was in Washington when the plan hit the Pentagon, and a former naval station commander who was in the building when it was hit.

Both provided excellent first-person stories highlighting the confusion and fears in Washington during that day.

I don’t know if I’ll watch all the documentaries this week on TV. It’s not that I don’t care, but I lived out my own version of the tragedy, watching it happen and talking with people who lived through it as it happened. What I’ll probably do is reach into my collection of Alan Jackson CDs and listen to his song on the tragedy, “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning,” which says more to me than any documentary will.

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John Surratt is a staff writer at The Vicksburg Post. You may reach him at john.surratt@vicksburgpost.com. Readers are invited to submit their opinions for publication.