Your 911 memories? And mine...

[Former Member]

It's now been 17 years since the tragedy of the Twin Towers and it's still pretty fresh in my mind. Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when it happened? I have asked my mom the same thing about Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and she still remembers it.

On September 11, 2001, my daughter and I watched from a distance as the second Tower fell. It was there, and then it was gone. All we saw was a billow of smoke of where it once was. Every weekend through my youth, my dad and I used those buildings a guide as to whether we could go flying that day. If we could see the top of the towers from his shop, we had 10+ miles visibility and we were good to go fly the Cub or the Cherokee.

I've said enough. I honor those who lost their lives and loved ones that day.

Rob

 

[Kilrah]

Was on the train coming back from school, listening to this like every other day:



Except that for an unknown reason, unlike every other day this time I happened to be listening to the radio instead of a tape, had basically never done it before... go figure.

Then spent a few hours in front of the TV.

 

[PortCanaveralFlorida]

Working in the NASA Headquarters producing graphics/video for the Shuttle Missions. We had a TV in the back break room, the 4 of us watched with disbaliefe as the fist plane hit the tower, as we were watching live, the others hit too. I was numb. No words can describe the feeling. Gods Speed for all who perished, and grateful to those who served in the rescue efforts.

Then .... thunder came!

 

[Irish-apple]

Was on lunch break from work and watched it sadly develop into what it did ..

May the souls of all who lost there life that day rest in peace ..

This is not a discussion of who or what or how it happened its a memory of people ..

Please keep this discussion that way ..

 

[ssvdh66]

I was on a plane heading into Newark when we were grounded in Salt Lake City.We were originally told there was a fire in the towers affecting visibility.Watching the drama unfold in a waiting room I was horrified.I was a paramedic in Newark & a friend had taken my sifts for a few days so I could accompany my hubby to a conference in Jackson Hole.My friend was killed when the towers came down.It still haunts me.

 

[fiatdale]

Fresh out of high school and in Toronto at a trade school. Someone came running into the back shop saying the first tower had been hit by a plane. Ran into the classroom & they had CNN on the projector. Right as we entered the room we saw the 2nd plane hit. Cell towers were so jammed up that day I couldnt get a call out until late that evening to my folks. Scariest day and something we all should never forget.

I was at the trade school for 6 weeks, came back to NY second week in October. Crossing the border into NY, there was a HUGE American flag flying and that image still can bring a tear to my eye. So proud of our country.

 

[Top Hat]

Early morning and getting ready to go to work when wife alerted me about breaking news on tv.
RIP to all those people we lost that tragic day!

 

[beachcombing]

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing.

I was out on a site meeting with a customer about a request they had and a friend texted me that the plane had hit the World Trade Center Building. And I'm imagine a tiny plane. And then a little bit later I was back at the office and a TV was on tuned to CNN and the first tower was collapsing. And I turned to someone who was also watching the broadcast and I said "Our world just changed. It will never be the same." That person didn't really get what I was saying, but it was, of course, to be true.

A close friend of mine knew a whole bunch of people who live in NYC and was constantly trying to get in touch with people all day long. This was before the iPhone and so it all text messages on the flip phone and emails on a computer.

It's amazing that it's been 17 years and it still feels fresh. #neverforget

 

[davesdronevids]

I was at the Philly airport arguing with the gate people on why our transcon flight was first delayed and then canceled just because some nitwit crashed his plane in NY. Only later did I learn who the real nitwit was.

 

[Rocktopper]

I was then a Army Civilian, working as the Operations Analyst for the Army Space Command at the Defense Satellite Communications System Operations Center at Fort Detrick Maryland. I was activating a new communications circuit on the equipment floor when the guy on the other end said a plane had hit the tower. I dashed to the Operations Room to get the tv on. The troops were ahead of me. 18 to 22 year old kids, who would mock me behind my back when I was training them, transformed into professional soldiers in an instant when I informed them that this country was at war.

No confusion, hysteria, or shouting, just cool headed professional execution of their duties. Oh there were tears in their eyes, some in mine while I witnessed them in action.

One soldier came to me to ask my assistance in getting immediate leave so that he could go to NYC, his home, to dig in the rubble. I told him to go to his Commander first, and if denied then I would intervene. He was on the highway within the hour.

This was the first horror of the next months. Fort Detrick has the Bio Warfare labs, and when the Anthrax panic hit, we were in the middle of it.

Add to this the D.C. sniper random acts of violence. We had scheduled visitors who refused to travel to our facility. The sniper was captured 6 miles from my home.

Upon my retirement, I was awarded the Army Superior Civil Service Medal. I wear it with pride, but it really belongs to the young men and women who transformed from wise *** kids into the professional satellite controllers in the instant their country was attacked.

Be proud America, your volunteer military are doing you proud.

 

[Grayford2012]

Was at work in my office when the boss came running in and said turn on the television a plane just hit the tower, I thought he was referring to the tower outside our office but then I turned on the news and there it was.

 

[Lon Denard]

I remember watching it on tv in the rec room and then touching down a few days later. I remember watching the videos of them cheering in the streets and my desire to kill as many of them as possible. I remember finally getting a chance to talk to my brother that was stationed in the area and getting the on the ground horror of it all. I remember being almost happy that I was there and not here to listen to so called Americans blame us for what happened or claim it was an inside job. I remember hating them all.

Then I remembered that it's not my place to judge.

I still have anger. My "little" brother still has nightmares after uncovering what used to be a child daycare center in the rubble. He treats my niece like she's made of tissue paper and glass. I still have a hard time interacting with Muslims and took a pay cut to move away from the Dearborn, MI area.

I'm trying to forgive but I'll never forget.

 

[Bob in Savannah]

Good question

I was at work in on a golf course in Savannah and I walked into the proshop and everyone was staring at the TV and said a plane had hit one of the trade towers... I looked at the TV and saw the tower smoking and right that second the second plane appeared and hit the second tower live on TV. My brain didn't register what I was seeing and I looked at someone next to me and asked if we were watching a repeat of the first tower. . EVEN THOUGH IT WAS CLEAR TWO TOWERS WERE NOW HIT RIGHT INFRONT OF ME.
It was so crazy... Unbelievable ... I do remember some hillbilly redneck down here cussing out the poor gas station guy that afternoon and he was trying to tell him that he's INDIAN and HINDU not even close in any way to the Islam rhetoric we were hearing...

The next day I was getting some gas and noticed the gas station guy had American flag stickers on all his pumps and a new flag flying out front... Lol. I still patronize the same store today.

I don't want to ever see something like that again but I DO remember that for about a week or so EVERYBODY was so GD nice to each other... People helping people in the grocery store.. Strangers waving and letting people out on the roads... Black white whatever it was amazing.. .

You kids don't have a clue. You have no idea what it was like to think a war was here at your doorstep...out of the blue. BANG! 4000 PEOPLE DEAD. snap of a finger... Down town New York.

 

[Former Member]

Good question

I was at work in on a golf course in Savannah and I walked into the proshop and everyone was staring at the TV and said a plane had hit one of the trade towers... I looked at the TV and saw the tower smoking and right that second the second plane appeared and hit the second tower live on TV. My brain didn't register what I was seeing and I looked at someone next to me and asked if we were watching a repeat of the first tower. . EVEN THOUGH IT WAS CLEAR TWO TOWERS WERE NOW HIT RIGHT INFRONT OF ME.
It was so crazy... Unbelievable ... I do remember some hillbilly redneck down here cussing out the poor gas station guy that afternoon and he was trying to tell him that he's INDIAN and HINDU not even close in any way to the Islam rhetoric we were hearing...

The next day I was getting some gas and noticed the gas station guy had American flag stickers on all his pumps and a new flag flying out front... Lol. I still patronize the same store today.

I don't want to ever see something like that again but I DO remember that for about a week or so EVERYBODY was so GD nice to each other... People helping people in the grocery store.. Strangers waving and letting people out on the roads... Black white whatever it was amazing.. .

You kids don't have a clue. You have no idea what it was like to think a war was here at your doorstep...out of the blue. BANG! 4000 PEOPLE DEAD. snap of a finger... Down town New York.

Yes, war, or so it felt. I was in NY, and they closed all the bridges and tunnels, I thought I would be seeing Chinese/Russian/Cuban infantry invading the beaches at any moment. I kept checking the shoreline to watch for landing craft.

 

[Bob in Savannah]

Yes, war, or so it felt. I was in NY, and they closed all the bridges and tunnels, I thought I would be seeing Chinese/Russian/Cuban infantry invading the beaches at any moment. I kept checking the shoreline to watch for landing craft.

No **** It was insane

 

[colinfowler]

I was visiting my terminally sick mother as I did daily.
we both sat and watched in silence, and both cried.

 

[Rocktopper]

Yes for a while we, the U.S. had focus of the world upon us. We held the power to effect real change on the world.

Instead the leadership of this country squandered the goodwill of the world. Yes I knew that when bin Laden was identified as the culprit, and that he was in Afghanistan that we had to go after him. We shocked and awed them, put the Taliban on the run.

But our president wanted Saddam and pulled vital support from Afghanistan to send to Iraq.

We should have left Iraq for a later time. If we had stayed the course in Afghanistan, we could have shown the world that democracy could work in the Islamic world. Great things could have happened. Instead our military died for nothing, our dollars were squandered and we are now in our longest war.

We could have done so much...