Remembering 9/11

[Tman5293]

I don't think any words are really necessary. I don't remember it too well either as I was only 7 years old when it happened. But it means a lot to me to remember the 2,977 people who died on September 11, 2001.

 

Found this amazing video that I hope you will take the time to watch and remember:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxRF_D6zQ74

 

Where were you when you heard the news? Are you related to or do you know any of those who lost their lives that day?

 

I was sitting in class at school. When the teachers heard the news, they didn't know what to think of it. They sent us home that day and I believe we had the following day off school as well.

[damian]

I was with my girlfriend at the time.....I watched as the second plane hit the second tower.......

 

I knew my wife would have been upset, so, I went home to calm her down.....buzzkill..............

 

And yes, I knew someone who worked in the first tower...........

[Steven Tari]

Was at work. I had received a call from the ships that the TV system was acting up.So I was working with the TV tech that worked for me at the time. About the time we brought up the system the first plane had hit and we watched the second plane hit. The marines aboard ship was sent out at that point to help bring up security in the yard. Production stopped and security was worked for a couple days as barriers and posts along the fence line was maintained by the Marines we had in the yard at the time. Some people I knew lost love ones and a couple were headed there for the day but God was with them and they never made it.

[Rocky4]

I saw the second tower hit also. The thing I remember most about that day was a shot of Palistinian children jumping around and laughing. Throwing candy, and just being elated that the US had been attacked. I remember thinking "WTF do they teach those kids?" At that young age they would have so much hate for us.

[damian]

I saw the second tower hit also. The thing I remember most about that day was a shot of Palistinian children jumping around and laughing. Throwing candy, and just being elated that the US had been attacked. I remember thinking "WTF do they teach those kids?" At that young age they would have so much hate for us.

 

That's what is still taught over there...................It's the way it is............................... [thumbdn] .........

[Searcy]

I was working at the day job. *****ing about a contractor I was supposed to be working with that was an hour late. When he got there I said "Where the hell have you been?" He said "Have you seen the news?"

[Larsson]

i must have been at school during the incident...

 

one of the people my father worked with was on the plane...

 

it must be the greatest tragedy of my lifetime and the 21st century

[stein]

I came to the shop where we all met in the morning. I was told about a plane hitting one of the towers in NY. I did not know what the big deal was. It happens right?

 

What was coincidence, I had my first day off in a long, long time. A rarity for me back then. So, I went home to enjoy myself. I was not used to a day of nothing. It was great.

 

I got home, and got curious so I turned on the TV. The first plane had hit and it still was not known why or how. The newscasters were speculating on how the accident could have occurred, or if it even was. I was watching it live as the second plane hit. THAT was a true shock. Even then, having seen it, it was still inconceivable that more planes could be involved, that the towers would fall, etc. But, it did.

 

Naturally, after I got used to the shock, and seen the damage live, seeing live or film of damage being done, people being killed, it FELT like war. I did not expect it to last long at all. I knew someone was going down, and if not, a country or countries were going down.

 

When that happened, back then it was a very different time, and a different country. The economy was GREAT. The national deficit was actually balanced, and there was actually argument and debate on whether or not to continue to go out of debt or allow a deficit again. The last war was desert storm-a war which was fast and decisive. It was believed we had learned our lesson from Vietnam and we were just too good to have a war that would last long and be costly.

[Searcy]

Late in the day, after all the planes had been grounded, I remember being out side for a smoke. We are close to BNA and I couldn't help but notice that there was not a vapor trail in the sky... not one. Just one of those odd little things that stays with you.

[daveinspain]

I was out and about here in Spain doing whatever... Came home and the TV was on showing the first tower to be hit. I couldn't believe it and was glued to the TV, then I saw the second plan hit. At the point I knew the world, as we know it, had changed for ever. I feel so lucky to have grown up in the 70's and 80's...

[G McBride]

Even today I am still in wonder as to how anyone could have come up with the idea to fly planes, loaded with people, into something like they were flying a bomb.

 

I shudder to think of the things that have been foiled and kept a secret from us.

[bluzhammer]

Unashamedly, I will admit that i was in rehab facility battling cocaine addiction and alcoholism. We were on a session break and all of the smokers were outside and I was in the day room watching the news as the second plane hit. It was a shockingly surreal moment for me as I finally realized that as screwed up as I was , there was something more important than just me. I have now been sober 10 years, it was that day that made a huge difference in my thinking and perception.

[Bender 4 Life]

it was the day that my employer had their 1st profit-share meeting/luncheon....i'm a vampire, so I was going to sleep til' 10:30 and get up for the noon meeting.

my wife woke me early, telling me "you need to see this honey, the World Trade Center has collapsed, it was terrorists".

it was of course the somberest luncheon i've ever been to at work.

 

a school friend was in the front room of the Pentagon when it was hit, they only found part of his pallet with 2 teeth still attached...i'm going to his memorial this afternoon.

[bluzhammer]

Even today I am still in wonder as to how anyone could have come up with the idea to fly planes, loaded with people, into something like they were flying a bomb.

 

I shudder to think of the things that have been foiled and kept a secret from us.

 

These type of people can only see one point of view in life, theirs. There is no margin of reason or variance for them, they are raised to hate all that disagree or challenge their narrow views of the world.

[bluesguitar65]

It was my senior year in College and I was awaken by my roommates that the towers were burning. When the first tower was burning we all thought that it was an airplane accident, then right before our eyes on live TV, the second plane hit the second tower........we were being attacked. My emotions were of fear, sadness and anger. The events of 911 have really changed us all. It had certainly changed my outlook in life and helped me prioritize what is important. Ten years later, now married to a loving, caring and beautiful wife, a splendid home, a great career that pays well, and living the American Dream. God Bless United States of America!!

[DAS44]

That day, is my first really vivid memory (where I can remember it like a movie, and I can remember how it made me feel). I was in class, and an announcement went to the teachers. Soon after we were released from school with no explanation. On my way home my parents explained what had occurred to me, and for a while I didn't understand, almost as if I refused the idea. It really sunk in when I got home, I remember watching TV coverage of the crashes. I recall worrying that I could be next. I was confused, terrified, and sickened, they were saying this was blatant! That didn't make sense to my youthful mind (though it still doesn't make sense). I was young enough to be naive and ignorant of such things, but the experience struck me hard.

 

A family friend (who is like another grandmother to me), lost several friends that day.

 

It was every synonym of horrifying.

 

Years later I went to ground zero, at that point it was just a hole in the ground, but the thought that something so terrible happened, gave the scene a solemnity that I have rarely seen.

 

My father was working on the 35th floor of the John Hancock Tower, and may very well have seen the planes take off, he remembers going to the cafeteria, and seeing all was normal, save for one woman whose face was cradled in her hands, wearing truthfully, a horrified expression. She understood what had happened.

 

What was lost can never be found, but our time with those who were lost will be remembered, and their time with us cherished. And to the rescue workers, I would call those brave souls the embodiment of human perseverance, and selflessness. Thank you, if any are reading.

[BobB]

I am proud of our Country. May we never lose our identity as the land of the brave and home of the free.

 

[dbreslauer]

i was working in Teaneck NJ at the time, just a few miles away. Driving home on Route 80 that night was eerie: no cars going in to NY at all, the occasional rescue vehicle or fire truck but nothing else. My wife was working in Penn Plaza at the time and was in the financial district pretty much daily, but fortunately was away on business at the time.

 

i also want to ackowledge everyone that volunteered in any way to help those in need at that time.

 

"Out of life's school of war: what does not destroy me, makes me stronger."

 

Don

[MrNylon]

I was at work at a parts distributor warehouse. The office clerk told us about the first hit. We all thought, just like when the Empire State Building got hit years ago. The he came out and told us about the second hit. Things got very quiet, and there was an ominous feeling about.

[daveinspain]

That day, is my first really vivid memory (where I can remember it like a movie, and I can remember how it made me feel). I was in class, and an announcement went to the teachers. Soon after we were released from school with no explanation. On my way home my parents explained what had occurred to me, and for a while I didn't understand, almost as if I refused the idea. It really sunk in when I got home, I remember watching TV coverage of the crashes. I recall worrying that I could be next. I was confused, terrified, and sickened, they were saying this was blatant! That didn't make sense to my youthful mind (though it still doesn't make sense). I was young enough to be naive and ignorant of such things, but the experience struck me hard.

 

A family friend (who is like another grandmother to me), lost several friends that day.

 

It was every synonym of horrifying.

 

Years later I went to ground zero, at that point it was just a hole in the ground, but the thought that something so terrible happened, gave the scene a solemnity that I have rarely seen.

 

My father was working on the 35th floor of the John Hancock Tower, and may very well have seen the planes take off, he remembers going to the cafeteria, and seeing all was normal, save for one woman whose face was cradled in her hands, wearing truthfully, a horrified expression. She understood what had happened.

 

what was lost can never be found, but our time with those who were lost will be remembered, and their time with us cherished. And to the rescue workers, I would call those brave souls the embodiment of human perseverance, and selflessness. Thank you, if any are reading.

 

Very well written, thanks for sharing...

[saturn]

I was a supervisor for US Airways at that time. I was also what was called a Ground Security Coordinator, so I had been to many classes and training in airport security procedures. All that previous summer, we had been recieving emails and Information Circulars from the FAA warning of possible attempts and hidden type items (artfully concealed weapons) to be on the lookout for at security checkpoints. They knew something was brewing, but just never figured out what it was until it was too late.

 

I was working the late shift and didn't get in until late the night before and was still in bed when my wife told me a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Then she went out to the store our youngest and her mom. I thought she meant it was a little propeller plane so I stayed in bed. Then I started to realize it was eerily quiet outside because I can usually hear the planes coming and going from BWI Airport. Then I heard the sound of military jets going right over my house and looked out the window in time to see two A10's flying side by side. That's when I got up to turn on TV and see what was going on. I knew right away, from all the seminars and classes I attended that Al Quada and UBL had to be behind this horrble act.

 

Although no one I knew was directly affected, myself and many of my good friends and co-workers lost their jobs as a direct result. Even though my supervisor position at BWI was eventually eliminated by cuts, I wound up working intil 2006 in Corporate Security, dealing with TSA Regulations and procedures.

 

Even though no US Airways planes were involved, we were hit especially hard financially. Our entire European fleet was enrout to the east coast and was diverted to Halifax along with many other flights. By some quirk, all the USAA flights were first to land, and so they got blocked in by all the other carriers who diverted behind them. When the skys started to open again, it took about another week before all the other planes were out, so our planes could finally start taking off. Plus, one of our most profitable airports, DCA was closed for weeks and maybe even months after all the other airports were open for business.

[DJScott]

I was active duty Air Force, B-52 ground mechanic at the time. Ironically, we were on the down-side of an exercise where every B-52, B-1, B-2, ICBM and Sub were fully up and ready to party with "special weapons" onboard.

When the first plane hit, we were awaiting the klaxon for the air crews to come running to the aircraft. Everyone thought, how could a plane hit such a large building? Guess some Air Traffic Controler is gonna lose his job. Then we got to SEE the second plane hit.

The base went into full lock-down 10 minutes later. NOTHING moved except flightline maintenance vehicles. The B-52s stayed loaded and on alert for three weeks.

Every one of us were wondering why we didn't just launch and fix the problem right then. Thank GOD for wiser heads.

 

[milod]

I was working on a book that never was completed at the time... and was checking emails when a friend from Canada emailed that the WTC had been hit by an airplane. Soon the second plane hit the second tower. Then a cascade of events all here know about and may now be watching again on television.

 

It's an understatement, I think, to say the world changed.

 

A PBS special noted that in an interview shortly after, Vladimir Putin who was Russian president at the time of the attack, made a comment the correspondent said had never before been quoted: "We are as dust to them."

 

When I was a kid, many of the adults around me were convinced we would go to war with the Soviet Union; then even more were convinced it would be China. A very few later on in the 1960s recognized that the true conflicts would be with the then "third world." Almost nobody imagined then that it would be a cultural-religious struggle dating back a thousand years.

 

I hate to say this, but I believe the struggle has not ended, and almost certainly will not within my own lifetime and probably not within the lifetime of the youngest of our Gibson forumites' lifetimes. The days of freedom of travel are gone, at least in the sense I remember as a young man. The days when one might feel truly safe are gone.

 

This afternoon I will be at 9-11 ceremonies at the geographical center of the U.S., and yes, we will have survivors there; our area has 160 men and women preparing to go to Afghanistan in Army uniforms. Continents away our forum's readers know Australians and Europeans, nor anyone, are safe from this new mentality of striking out against the world in the name of deity.

 

It's a day to remember, a world in which we had best never forget because the challenges will remain for generations.

 

m

[Silenced Fred]

I was 9 and we were outside playing soccer. The principal came outside screaming that everyone had to get inside right away, so we went inside, and it was dead silent. Nobody would tell us what was going on, half of the teachers were crying, and still no one would tell the students what was going on. Later on in the afternoon, my teacher finally told us that there was an attack in New York, and that we should talk to our parents when we got home. I was enraged at the age of 9 because we were lied to by the faculty, and my teacher almost lost her job because of that. For telling us the truth.

 

Its a day that has changed the world as I know it. Weird that the Wilco album "yankee hotel foxtrot" came out before 9/11, but I was reading the Denver Post, and they had an article about 9/11 and Wilco. From the song Jesus Etc, the chorus is "tall buildings shake, voices escape singing sad sad songs"

[S t e v e]

i was at my nans and was watching sky news as it happened live.

 

i watched the memorial service today with a lump in my throat.