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sodascouts
09-11-2007, 10:49 PM
Before the day is out, I'd like to post a little remembrance of that day that changed so many lives. I'm sending out a prayer for those who lost someone that day.

DonFan
09-11-2007, 11:36 PM
I had been retrospective and melancholy all day today, remembering that awful morning six years ago.

That day has become one of the touchstones of our generation--people will always remember where they were and what they were doing when those planes hit the Towers. Our daughters had just gone off to school and I was home getting ready to go to a part-time class that morning. I was watching the TODAY show, as I did every morning, when the first footage was aired. Confused, shaken, and scared, I went on to class, only to have it dismissed an hour later when the attacks continued.

My thoughts & prayers continue to go out to the families who lost loved ones in those attacks. None of our lives will ever be quite the same again.

SweetHolly
09-11-2007, 11:51 PM
I've been feeling pretty sad today. My hearts and prayers still go out to the families who lost loved ones.

I was getting ready to go to my college classes and my part-time job on campus which was in the student services building. My mom was the one who told me what happened and then I turned on the tv to see what happened. One of the classes I had that day was an intro to mass communications. Our professor let us watch the news and listen to the radio to follow the coverage and then we discussed it. The student services building was so jam packed with people that day who were watching the tv coverage and listening to the radios in the different offices.

sodascouts
09-12-2007, 12:24 AM
I was teaching at Kingwood College at the time. My class didn't start until 11:00 am, so I had time to play on the computer before leaving for work. I opened up AOL around 9:15 am (central time) and saw the photo of the burning towers on their news page with the heading "Planes Crash into World Trade Center," but I thought it was simply a tragic accident and went on checking my e-mail without reading the story. Then, when I got in the car to go to work an hour later, I turned on the radio and there was no music... only news about the attacks. The first thing I heard was "There is no way this was an accident." I finally realized what had happened and my heart was in my throat. When I got to campus, a female security officer was in the parking lot telling us all to turn around and go back home, that school was closed for the day. And this was in Houston!

You're right, we'll never forget.

SweetHolly
09-12-2007, 12:53 AM
I still remember listening to the local sports station in my journalism class that morning. I used to listen to the station quite a bit and they're known for joking around and stuff and I was so proud of them that day for their coverage. I had even emailed the PD telling him that we listened in my class and that I was proud of the way they covered the story.

Mrs Frey
09-12-2007, 09:31 AM
My thoughts also go out to the families of the victims of those horrendous attacks. It affected me for a long time after the day of the tragedy - it brought home the fact that life is short, and that anything can happen at any time. We need to cherish our loved ones while we have each other, and savour every moment.

I was coming home from work when an acquaintance who I met up with when we disembarked from the train told me the devastating news (Cape Town is about 6 hours ahead of New York City). When I arrived home, my parents were watching events unfold on CNN News, which went on until late. I couldn't really function that evening - I just watched television continuously, trying to make sense of it all. It was just unreal. I couldn't really comprehend.

rcknalwys
09-12-2007, 10:51 AM
My heart also goes out to all those affected by 9/11, the families and friends and the world.

My son's father was on the highway near the towers and actually saw the plane hit. He immediately called me so I was glued to the TV very early on. This made the 3rd disaster he witnessed 1st hand. He was there in New Orleans, delivering supplies (he's a truck driver) and spent almost 2 weeks in the midst of the devastation waiting for fuel, watching the horrors unfold around him. My daughter was in the hospital just a couple of blocks from the Murrah building when Timothy McVeigh blew it up and we were there at the site about 12 hours afterwards, along with so many others coming to try to understand what had happened and help in any way. I can't even begin to tell you how horrible it was. I will never forget the sight of all the debris and bodies and the sense of unreality and horror and shock we were all feeling after being attacked from within, in the heartland of America. But the grief from the bombing pales in comparison to what happened at the twin towers. So many lives were lost and others changed forever. As devastating as that was, over and above the horror felt by all is the sense of our vulnerability as a nation. Our country has been shaken to its very foundation. We have been changed forever. Our own mortality as a country and a people has been attacked as surely as the towers were, but our spirit still lives. I marvel at the tenacity and resilience of our hearts. May we never forget what happened and choing Mrs Frey, cherish your loved ones, and savor every moment we are given.

DonFan
09-12-2007, 11:17 AM
That was beautifully written, rcknalwys, and I agree completely.

Brooke
09-12-2007, 02:45 PM
My heart and prayers go out to everyone affected by this horrible tragedy too.

I have the Today show on at home every morning while getting ready for work and it hadn't happened yet when I left home at about 7:50. When my boss came in to work a few minutes after 8 he said "turn on the tv, something terrible has happened in NYC." So we did and watched it all unfold. Horrible.

Glennsallnighter
09-12-2007, 05:06 PM
It was lunchtime in Dublin when it happened. My daughter was only a few months old and we were having some lunch in a place which functions as a training centre for people with disabilities. It trains them in a catering job and then prepares them to integrate successfully into the general workforce. Anyway the manager came out to us and told us that a plane had crashed into the twin towers. At the time we assumed it was an accident, but then when the second plane hit, and we heard the news from the pentagon we realised that this was no accident. We spent the rest of the day, like many other people following events on the TV and trying to come to terms with the tragedy.
A few years later I saw a programme where a fire fighter with a daughter the same age as ours (3 and a half months when it happened) was killed that day, and it really brought it home to me how unfair it was that she had to grow up without her daddy. Life is fragile and precious and we should do all we can to protect and preserve it.

As with the rest of you my thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who lost their lives, or who otherwise had their lives ruined on that fateful day.

Interestingly, yesterday morning my daughter asked me to put on 'Hole in the World'. How appropriate!

rcknalwys
09-12-2007, 05:26 PM
Thank you DonFan.

The terrible feelings of despair that gripped us all in the wake of the twin towers has been shared by people around the world. One of the saddest aspects to me is that there are millions of people living with the threat of attacks every day. My son-in-law is from Pakistan and although he is here, his family is still in Pakistan and they live in fear. Attacks similar to the the twin towers and Murrah building happen on a daily basis for so many, and I can't imagine the sheer terror they live with. ''Hole In The World" couldn't be more apt.

Freypower
09-12-2007, 06:04 PM
In Australia it was September 12. It was about 5.30 am when my husband called to me 'you'd better come and look at the TV'. I went downstairs and saw the carnage. My heart started pounding in a way it had not since 1987 when I knew my father had just died (I knew it even though it wasn't confirmed until a couple of hours later). At first I was confused when I saw one of the Twin Towers still standing. 'Well at least this one hasn't fallen' and then - wham - down it went.

My daughter was only three at the time and I took her round to my mother's place (I was on leave from work) and we watched the coverage all day. Rosalind didn't seem to mind that we weren't watching children's programs - it was like she sensed this was big. I had tears running down my face.

sodascouts
09-12-2007, 09:09 PM
It really is moving reading everyone's thoughts. Thanks for contributing.

Ive always been a dreamer
09-13-2007, 12:29 PM
The impacts of that day are still far reaching and intense. It really did change us forever. I know this as evidenced by the fact that I couldn't even bring myself to read this thread when I first saw it on Tuesday. And as I sit here this morning reading through everyone's experiences and emotions, I literally have tears running down my face. On my drive to work on Tuesday, which was just about the same time of the first attack six years ago, I put Hole In the World in the CD player as well. I guess that's a common reaction for diehard Eagles fans like us. ;) I must be a creature of habit because I was also driving to work six years ago when the first attack occurred. Like everyone else, when I arrived at work, everyone was glued to CNN. We did very little work that day. The company I worked for at the time was headquartered on Long Island so we were confirming the safety of employees throughout the day. Almost as soon as I got home that evening and turned on the television, Building 5 that was attached to the towers collapsed - the last building to fall on a horrible day. When we arrived at work on Wednesday morning our entire computer system in our office in Virginia was dead. After several phone calls, it was ascertained that the computer server for our office had been located in Building 5 of the WTC. Since, of course, there was no way our computer system would be recovered, we spent the next several weeks reconstructing our computers. Of course, this pales in comparison to what others went through. Like everyone else, my thoughts and prayers continuously remain with all those impacted by the events of that tragic day.

Perfect Little Sister
09-13-2007, 12:43 PM
Reading this has brought back into focus that terrible time. I was not directly affected by the tragedy as some were. My son and daughter in law were married two months after it happened and she was an EMT at the time, which kinda freaked me out. I hadn't thought before of her job being dangerous. What was hardest for me personally was two weeks later when my best friend's husband was called up to active duty. The day before he left, the school our kids attended was having its annual fall festival and the priest was acting as auctioneer. We went to the side of the tent to ask the priest to take a moment to ask a blessing for him and his family. Instead of doing this outside the tent as we thought, he brought the family into the tent and asked everyone present to extend a hand and join him as he prayed. I stood at the back of the gathering with tears pouring down. A few minutes later when we were saying goodbye in the parking lot, I hugged him and I couldn't let go. As long as he was in my arms, I knew he was safe. I knew once I let go I might never see him again. His daughter was 8 years old...she woke up screaming at night for months, afraid her dad had been killed. I think it was the longest year of their lives.

glenneaglesfan
09-14-2007, 09:42 AM
I'm sorry it's taken me a couple of days to get to this thread. It has been very moving reading all of your contributions. It was lunchtime when my son called down to me to say a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers, and for the rest of the day we watched with increasing shock and horror as the tragedy developed. Some time later, there was a memorial service on the radio, culminating with Samuel Barber's Adagio. D and I sat with our arms around each other, tears streaming down our faces, and I've never been able to listen to that piece since without being reminded of the senseless loss and grief that so many people experienced.

Brooke
09-14-2007, 10:26 AM
My husband and I were supposed to fly to Florida for a vacation 4 days after 9/11. We canceled our trip. We just didn't feel like going somewhere for a good time when so many people were hurting. It was a very sad and bewildering time for our country as a whole.

Perfect Little Sister
09-14-2007, 01:02 PM
My aunt sent me this ice sculpture. Sorry it's so small, but that's the size I got it.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/eaglesaddict05/tn.jpg

glenneaglesfan
09-14-2007, 01:20 PM
That's beautiful, PLS.

I googled a few words and came up with this version.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c96/Glenneaglesfan/0223-2lg.jpg

http://www.firehouse.com/news/2002/2/23_Pice.html

Perfect Little Sister
09-14-2007, 01:38 PM
Oooo thank you GEF! I thought it was great when it was small. No doubt the angels were very busy that day cradling the departed in their wings.

Marco
09-21-2007, 03:18 PM
Well, It's too late for talking about six years after 9/11. My dad knew that from a friend that worked in one of the Twin Towers, and that he escaped in time from the Tower and from death.

sodascouts
09-11-2009, 05:50 PM
I'm reviving this old thread because today, again, it's the anniversary of 9/11. While we'll never forget that day, it's amazing to me to think that it's been eight years. Wow.

MikeA
09-11-2009, 05:56 PM
Believe me, I thought about it ALL DAY today. We boarded a plane in Las Vegas this morning and flew home to Wichita. Actually, it was one of the easiest adventures we've had at McCarren Airport in Vegas. They had more security lines opened up and it went really was "fast" getting through even though they had announced "Elevated Security" because of the anniversary.

There was one moment as we were backed away from the gate. We sat for 20 minutes on the tarmac while other planes went around us. I guess there was just a backup in late flights and they wanted to get the really late ones off by making a few who were ready on time or early wait and let the other "heavies" get in front. There was no problem.

glenneaglesfan
09-11-2009, 05:58 PM
I was thinking about this today. My thoughts go out to everyone affected by this atrocity.

cynd1231
09-11-2009, 07:37 PM
I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing -- and I'll never forget it as long as I live. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who was impacted, my gratitude and appreciation to the police, firemen and volunteers who came to serve, and to our entire nation that we were ever subjected to such an unspeakable event.

lynnzop
09-11-2009, 11:07 PM
Funny. It seems like yesterday, yet seems like it happened 20 years ago.

I was facilitating a meeting for about 250 folks, and people started getting cell phone calls and texts...we had to tell the group what was happening and it was impossible. How do you make that announcement to your work collegues without breaking down in tears???

I was most worried about my (then) 7 year old and college student. I never felt so separated from them as that day.

The world has changed, and I don't ever forget what happened. My thoughts go out to those we lost, those who were heroes that day, and those who have fought and continue to fight for us.

Ive always been a dreamer
09-11-2009, 11:55 PM
It really has been a day of reflection. This is another one of those days in American history that will live in infamy, for sure.

Koala
09-12-2009, 02:48 AM
I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing --

The same here! I will never forget this day!

Brooke
09-12-2009, 09:58 AM
I'll never forget it either. My prayers go out to everyone who lost someone in that terrible tragedy. And to our service men and women who are still fighting and working to keep our country safe.

DonFan
09-12-2009, 10:07 AM
I know Hole in the World is the Eagles song that most of us immediately associate with the 9/11 tragedy, but for me, the song that I choose to play in memory of the lives that were lost that day is Don's haunting and beautiful New York Minute. That song is so evocative--so expressive--in the way he writes about love and loss, and his gorgeous, world-weary vocals are perfect.

Prettymaid
09-12-2009, 10:28 AM
Hubby and I were on vacation at Disney World on 9/11. Specifically, we were at Epcot waiting for the league of nations or whatever it's called to open. We overheard people getting calls and when we asked what was going on were told that a plane had crashed into the WTC. Initially thinking it was a tragic accident, we stopped for some lunch, still in Epcot. When we came out of the restaurant everyone was being herded to the front gates. The park was closed for the rest of the day and reopened the next day. We continued our vacation (what else do you do?) and drove home a couple of days later. I specifically remember on the ride home, even so soon after, many of the vehicles were waving the flag. Shortly after, of course, flags were manufactured specifically for vehicles. May we all join together to strive for an end to this kind of hatred throughout the world.

Troubadour
09-13-2009, 08:29 AM
It gives me tingles just reading these posts. I can't believe it was eight years ago either. Amen to your last sentence, PM. The victims of 9/11 will never be forgotten.

sodascouts
09-11-2010, 03:34 PM
Once again reviving this thread in memory of that day.

Warning: This includes 911 calls that are hard to listen to. I cried.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl4dum6fzNc

MikeA
09-11-2010, 05:39 PM
Appreciate your SIG Soda. I will not Forget!

Glennsallnighter
09-11-2010, 06:25 PM
I don't think anybody who lived through the events of this day 9 years ago ever will.

GlennLover
09-11-2010, 09:52 PM
Today, when we were in Detroit airport getting ready to board our plane, there were a few soldiers among the passengers, one in combat uniform. The airline agent announced that the soldiers would board first. She then asked that we give a round of applause for those in the military. It was quite moving.

Ive always been a dreamer
09-12-2010, 11:41 AM
Well - I'm a day late in posting this, but not a day late in remembering this day and how it changed our lives. Soda, that video that you posted is hard to watch, but still, I watched it anyway. You can't help but get all choked up.

And GL, they did almost the same thing in the airport last weekend when we had some service men and woman on one of my flights out to Colorado. Then, once airborne, we gave them another round of applause.

Koala
09-12-2010, 12:41 PM
I can not believe that's the tragedy was 9 years ago!
At that time I came from the work and turned on the tv, I could not believe and understand what I saw there.

Prettymaid
09-12-2010, 05:23 PM
I watched a lot of the memorials and documentaries yesterday. Last year I worked all day on 9/11 and didn't get the chance to think about it too much. At least yesterday I felt like it was front and center in my mind most of the day.

EagleLady
09-10-2011, 02:59 PM
Thought I'd bring this thread back up to remember all the victims and heroes of that awful day. As we remember the 10th Anniversary.

VAisForEagleLovers
09-10-2011, 09:19 PM
I was on my way to work in Reston, VA when it came on the radio about the first plane. The DJs on the radio were wondering if it was a traffic plane. I went in, late for a 9am meeting and told my officemate, his uncle worked in the WTC. We went to our meeting and the folks from Israel hadn't called in and we learned the phones were down. We left the conference room to hear about the second WTC plane and the Pentagon. Rumors were flying about building in Roslyn, VA. The internet didn't work, phones and cell phones not working. We went to our cars to listen to WTOP, a news radio station in DC. The DJs were frantic and near tears. Absolute traffic gridlock, their reporters couldn't get anywhere and once they did get somewhere, they couldn't call in their stories.

Through illegal use of AIM at the office, I heard a plane went down in Pittsburgh and my sister sometimes went to the corporate building for Alcoa there. So I tried to contact her. Through email I found out that the plane went down in Somerset, PA. Where the entire rest of my family lives. No one knew where my brother was, his job had him driving all over the county. They were frantic to hear where I was in DC since I sometimes went to the Pentagon area for work.

Around 10:30 we were told to leave, along with everyone else in the entire area. Traffic was horrendous and it took me 30 minutes just to get out of the parking lot. There were rumors of a rogue airplane (turns out it was the one that had already gone down in PA) and that it was headed for DC. Everyone that worked in my building walked out, looking at the sky in fear. It was freaky, like watching War of the Worlds or something. The country music station I listened to had gone off the air and were broadcasting a local TV station. The 6pm/11pm anchors had been called in and were on the air. Familiar voices that made me feel less alone sitting in my truck and trying to get home.

They said the plane in Somerset went down in a field (hello...the whole county is rural) By the time I got home, it was established at the plane in PA went down in a field, and around 2pm my brother's cell phone finally worked and he could call family and let us know he was OK. Being near DC was scary enough, but knowing later that where the plane in PA went down was random freaked me out. My whole family was less than 20 miles from that field, mere seconds to an airplane.

It was easily the worst day of my life and all my family came through OK. I can't imagine how much worse it would have been otherwise. Although, my officemate's uncle was on the floor that the first plane hit dead center and of course, he didn't live through it. We weren't allowed to go to work the next day, we were contractors and suddenly no one trusted anyone.

sodascouts
09-10-2011, 10:25 PM
Thanks for sharing that. Thank goodness everyone in your family at least was OK, but how terrifying!

Koala
09-11-2011, 01:37 AM
Thanks for telling us your story, VAisForEagleLovers!

Can't believe it's been 10 years since this tragedy!

Glennsallnighter
09-11-2011, 05:29 AM
I could sense the awful tension and fear that you must have felt on that day VA4EL. I think we all felt it wherever we were. It was just after 2pm here in Ireland when these awful events started to unfold. Laura was just a babe in arms at the time. I think we all felt sick with revulsion at what happened that day.

I'm so glad youre family were all ok, but of course we all think of and pray for those who died and those whose lives were changed forever by this atrocity. :-(

AzEaglesFan
09-11-2011, 12:35 PM
On the front page of the Arizona Republic this morning.

"Can six words summarize 9/11? To mark the 10th anniversary, we asked readers to summarize--in exactly six words--their feelings about that day"
The headline for the article.

"There's a hole in the world."

Ive always been a dreamer
09-11-2011, 01:07 PM
Thanks for sharing your experiences, VAisFEL. And how appropriate is that headline, AEF!

This weekend, MSNBC is rebroading the live coverage of the Today show that was airing at the time this happened. I watched it last night, and it still was very hard to watch as the events of that day unfolded. Watching the footage as those towers collapsed brought tears to my eyes even 10 years later. This event was so much more than just two buildings collapsing and the loss of lives of the almost 3,000 souls that perished that day. Everyone of us in the free world are victims of those attacks to some extent. My heart goes out those families and friends who lost loved ones that day as they have to relive these events once again. But, IMO, as painful as it is, this is a day that we should never forget. There definitely is a hole in the world.

VAisForEagleLovers
09-11-2011, 02:30 PM
You said it very well, Dreamer.

Brooke
09-11-2011, 02:33 PM
VA, thanks for sharing your story with us. What a terrible day that was and it's hard to believe it's been 10 years.

My heart goes out to all those that lost loved ones. I watched some of the memorial service on tv before we went to church and many times tears came to my eyes. Hubby and I listened to Neil Young's song Let's Roll last night and talked about how awesome those people on that plane were.

We will never forget.

Windeagle
09-11-2011, 04:08 PM
I'm finding myself today thinking a lot about the people on those planes. The two WTC planes took off from Boston's Logan Airport, which is the nearest major airport to me. There were dozens of people from around here who never suspected a thing when they boarded for business trips, family vacations or wherever they were headed.

I remember reading some of the specifics:

- An entire family off to visit relatives in California

- The Massachusetts sales team of a department store chain off to a West Coast sales convention

- The pilot of AA11 being from my home town.

And so many more. My thoughts are with all of them today.

GlennLover
09-11-2011, 08:43 PM
The events of that day have had far reaching effects. They changed the world forever. I watched 60 Minutes a little while ago. Various people who were at the scene that day were interviewed, including police men & women& medical personnel. Some had been trapped in the buildings. They were all very emotional as they told of their experiences. All have health problems, Many have lung diseases. They all suffered mentally & many have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Here in Canada the events hit us very hard, as well. I remember vividly being in the cafeteria at work during my break. There was a lounge with a television off the cafeteria. Someone came out of the lounge & announced that a plane had hit the WTC. I entered the lounge just in time to see the second plane hit. Horrifying! I pray for the families of those lost & for the survivors who are still experiencing their own personal hell.

sodascouts
09-11-2011, 09:35 PM
Here's something I've been working on all day - I'm still not completely happy with it, but I wanted to post it before the day is up. I took footage I found on YouTube of 9/11 and cobbled it together, underlaying it with "Hole in the World."

https://myspace.com/eaglesonlinecentral/video/911-hole-in-the-world/108181358

Topkat
09-11-2011, 09:51 PM
As a New Yorker, I watched this unfold from my rooftop. The smoke just covering the downtown area. I think of all those lost that day....
The song by Don Henley,New York Minute, though written well before this happened, is haunting me today. Words never so true.

Prettymaid
09-11-2011, 10:51 PM
Soda, I just watched your video and it brought tears to my eyes. You did a wonderful job compiling newscasts from that fateful morning. I especially love the end, showing the American people come together as we always do during difficult times. Never forget? I wish we would never forget that the American people - dare I say the whole world - could come together not just in times of sorrow, but always.

Koala
09-12-2011, 12:32 AM
Soda, loved your video!It is very much empathetically!

Henley Honey
09-12-2011, 08:08 AM
Beautifully done video, Soda. Haunting. Disturbing.
The ending says it all: "Never Forget".
Well Done.

TimothyBFan
09-12-2011, 09:11 AM
This weekend, MSNBC is rebroading the live coverage of the Today show that was airing at the time this happened.

That is exactly what I was watching the day it happened. Since I work from home, I had it on like I did every morning and remember that they were talking about it being such a beautiful sunny morning as it was here in Indiana also. I remember watching Matt Lauer & Katie Couric and the others and watching their reactions as it all unfolded on live TV. It all seemed so unbelievable.

The other thing I remember most of all about that day, I watched several kids after school and my own kids were only 10 & 8 also. I remember thinking how many questions I would have as they came home from school and had touched base several times during the day with all the parents on how they wanted me to handle it. The bus stop was only on the corner, 1/2 a block away and usually I stood out in front of the house as they got off but that day I walked to the corner to meet them as they got off. Those kids were all excited, scared and confused and talking a mile a minute. We all went home and talked about it till all their parents showed up to pick them up. I can honestly say, I've never had a talk with a child like I did that day before or since. In all the years of watching children, that had to be one of the hardest days I've ever had with them. I realized, as I listened to all of them, that this would change everything for them and their futures. It would define their lives unlike any other American tragedy has ever defined a child's life before. KWIM?

Soda-- what a stirring video.

sodascouts
09-12-2011, 10:57 AM
Thanks for the feedback, guys. HH, since you are New Yorker, your approval is especially meaningful.

TBF - I can't imagine having to explain that to all those kids. How could they understand?

TimothyBFan
09-12-2011, 01:08 PM
TBF - I can't imagine having to explain that to all those kids. How could they understand?

That was actually the problem, Soda. They really couldn't (as most of adults couldn't either). They had been watching coverage on TV at school of planes flying into buildings, etc. and knew something was definitely not right and scary but didn't comprehend exactly what was going on or why everyone seemed so "on edge", teachers, sitters, parents, everyone. I answered questions the best I could with answers that would not scare them more and let the parents take it from there. I think I listened more than anything else too. Definitely not something I would want to ever have to do again.

Annabel
09-12-2011, 01:49 PM
10 years ago on September 11th 2001, my eldest daughter started school. Aged 4 years and 4 months. A parent had to go in with the kids first week on their day, (Hannah had just 2 days that first week), and I was that parent in our case. Andy stayed home to look after Rachel, who was 2 years and 4 months. Hannah and I had a good morning and came home at the end of her first day at lunch time 12 o'clock.

About an hour later my Mum rang to see a) how Hannah had got on and b) to ask us if we were watching the news. We weren't but I put it on and once we saw what was unfolding, we sat glued to the TV and couldn't believe our eyes. The poor girls played for nicely quite a while then when they got bored and wanted the TV, we put the TV on in our bedroom to the kids programmes for them. It was an effort to remember to cook any dinner that day and I'm sure that if it hadn't been for the girls we might well have gone without.

My first trip to NY was in 1991 and a friend and I stayed in the Vista International hotel, the hotel in between the twin towers. We had made the trip up to the observation deck on floor 107 to see out over NY early one morning during our stay in NY. The height scared the living daylights out of both of us, but I went round all four sides ...... twice. Once taking photos for both of us as my friend Sally couldn't move. I came back round to her and the second time I went round with my video camera. I wasn't brave enough to go up to the roof though.

Watching that video brings that day back so well. Such a dreadful thing to happen. :-(

Henley Honey
09-12-2011, 02:09 PM
I didn't think I would post anything here, cause it's still too raw -- even after 10 years, but in the spirit of "Never Forget" it's important to share.

I was home on 9/11/01 enjoying a beautiful Indian-summer morning when all hell broke loose. I immediately called my brother-in-law who was a Captain in the FDNY. I told him they'd announced an "All Hands" (All Fire Fighters go) and wished him luck. He made it home safely -- eventually, but 343 of his "brothers" did not.

Within a half-hour of the second tower being hit all transit into & out of NYC was shut down -- everthing. The only aircraft left in the sky were fighter jets. That was surreal but somehow comforting. Then began the waiting. Who made it out? Who didn't? Has anyone heard from Florence? How about Eddie, Bernie, Kevin, and on and on and on. Some made it out. Some didn't. Everytime the phone rang you'd get a burst of hope. Sometimes the news was good. Most times not.

In the midst of all the sorrow, though, there was a growing sense of community that I later learned extended all over the globe. So in that sense, "they" didn't win.

In watching yesterday's memorials on television and attending several as well, I was struck again at the ages of of the victims. One was 3-years old and one was 89-years old, but it seems most were in their 20's and 30's with so much of life still ahead of them. Sad. Very sad.

Even though it's hard to do, I think it's important to watch the rebroadcasts and documentaries and to remember.

Never Forget.

Brooke
09-12-2011, 04:10 PM
I watched the rebroadcasts on MSNBC yesterday evening. Unbelievable it's been 10 years. I can't imagine how it would have been to have been living in NYC then. Thanks for your story HH.

After watching the part about the FAA and how they handled it all, it looks like they really dropped the ball and might have been able to have prevented at least part of it. Hopefully, they've gotten their act together by now.

ETA: Soda, your video was awesome.

Topkat
09-12-2011, 06:23 PM
HH: I too was alarmed at how young most of those who died that day were. The company Cantor Fitzgerald, where the entire company perished, was a group of very young traders, most in their 20's & early 30's, and the firefighters were also mostly such young guys, with small children & some had pregnant wives. It really struck a nerve, that these people were in the prime of their lives, with so much ahead of them, all taken away so quickly. I was so heart broken for their families. We will never forget that day. Even 10 years later, the pain doesn't go away.

SteveJoburg
04-14-2012, 05:32 AM
I hope you folks don't mind me posting in this thread... Its amazing to me how people from all over the world, literally, remember that day as though it was yesterday. It was late afternoon here and my father had phoned me to tell me to find a TV and switch it on. I went home early and put on CNN...

A big part of going to NY for my wife and I is the fact that we have wanted to go to the memorial and pay our respects ever since that day. We never knew anyone who passed away. But it is going to be an incredibly emotional experience for both of us, as bizarre as that might sound.

On the tenth anniversary, a forum member on another US site posted a link to the letters his then eighteen year old daughter had written home to him. She had just arrived in NY to attend college. Instead of rushing back home, she spent the rest of September volunteering, getting food to the firefighters, helping at a hospital... Her daily accounts (The letters ran for quite a few weeks after) made it all so much more real and immediate. It was quite something to read.

I asked my amazing wife who she would love to see in NY and jokingly, who's autograph she would love to get... Without hesitation, she said "every New York firefighter and policeman I see..."

I fell just a little bit more in love with her for that.

VAisForEagleLovers
04-14-2012, 10:27 AM
I hope you folks don't mind me posting in this thread... Its amazing to me how people from all over the world, literally, remember that day as though it was yesterday. It was late afternoon here and my father had phoned me to tell me to find a TV and switch it on. I went home early and put on CNN...

A big part of going to NY for my wife and I is the fact that we have wanted to go to the memorial and pay our respects ever since that day. We never knew anyone who passed away. But it is going to be an incredibly emotional experience for both of us, as bizarre as that might sound.

On the tenth anniversary, a forum member on another US site posted a link to the letters his then eighteen year old daughter had written home to him. She had just arrived in NY to attend college. Instead of rushing back home, she spent the rest of September volunteering, getting food to the firefighters, helping at a hospital... Her daily accounts (The letters ran for quite a few weeks after) made it all so much more real and immediate. It was quite something to read.

I asked my amazing wife who she would love to see in NY and jokingly, who's autograph she would love to get... Without hesitation, she said "every New York firefighter and policeman I see..."

I fell just a little bit more in love with her for that.

Ah, Steve, that is so sweet what your wife said! And of course we don't mind you bringing this thread forward.

My family lives in Somerset County, PA and I grew up there, I still haven't seen that memorial. I now live in DC and haven't gone to the Pentagon, either. My memories are still so fresh, I don't need to see any memorials for me to remember. I'll never forget.

zeldabjr
04-14-2012, 01:41 PM
I don't think a day goes by without me thinking of 9/11 (my sister thinks I'm morbid about it). I live in NYState but have never been to NYC... I hope to go there one day...and I know the highlight of a trip there will definitely be going to the memorial... We all changed that day... I remember I could feel the love coming from all over the world that day...still gives me the chills.

Zelda

Ive always been a dreamer
04-14-2012, 02:43 PM
Loved reading your post, Steve. That's the thing about 9/11 - it seems it didn't just change us here in America - it change the entire free world. It truly is a day we'll never forget. I try not to dwell on the negatives though; I try to focus more on the good stuff that came out of it instead.

Prettymaid
04-14-2012, 03:57 PM
Thanks for the touching post Steve. If only humankind could keep that initial feeling of love, compassion and support always. We could move mountains.

SteveJoburg
04-14-2012, 06:38 PM
Thanks for the touching post Steve. If only humankind could keep that initial feeling of love, compassion and support always. We could move mountains.

Amen... Don't know if you've ever seen the movie Invictus with Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman, which was about the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which was in SA. That movie was about something huge to us here that really happened. In a country known for it's issues, especially back then, and with a fledgling year old democracy, us winning that world cup here in Johannesburg was just as significant a day for every South African, but in an incredibly good way. People of every colour, culture, background, social standing, were literally dancing in the streets. I lived in a little flat in the city back then and when the final whistle blew, the cars in the street literally all came to a standstill while strangers partied and danced together... That feeling of euphoria lasted a long time, but I've never felt it again... We as a nation just then could have done anything, or so it felt. The power of positivity, I guess.

sodascouts
09-11-2012, 01:13 AM
It's that time of year again to remember the victims of 9/11. Here's the video I posted last year:

https://myspace.com/eaglesonlinecentral/video/911-hole-in-the-world/108181358

11 years and counting. I just hope humanity can learn.

zeldabjr
09-11-2012, 01:37 AM
It's that time of year again to remember the victims of 9/11. Here's the video I posted last year:

https://myspace.com/eaglesonlinecentral/video/911-hole-in-the-world/108181358

11 years and counting. I just hope humanity can learn.

I wish I was a fly on the wall when our guys got together that night and started writing that beautiful song...did any other major music acts write a song about that day?...God bless the USA...can't believe it's eleven years...I would love to visit the memorials in all three places someday.

Tiffanny Twisted
09-11-2012, 06:45 AM
"tHERE ARE NO WORDS".......

09-11-2001....NEVER FORGET......:angel:

VAisForEagleLovers
09-11-2012, 08:07 AM
I wish I was a fly on the wall when our guys got together that night and started writing that beautiful song...did any other major music acts write a song about that day?...God bless the USA...can't believe it's eleven years...I would love to visit the memorials in all three places someday.

Zelda, I shared Alan Jackson's song on Facebook, check it out. You don't need to like country music to enjoy it!

Topkat
09-11-2012, 08:28 AM
I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was a beautiful & sunny day here. When the first plane struck the tower, Katie Couric broke in with the news story & at first it was reported as a possible accident, but when the second plane hit, we all knew it was a terrorist attack. I had worked across the street from the WTC a few months before it happened & would go there every day for coffee or at lunch time to shop in the beautiful shops on the lobby floor. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I was crying. My friends husband was in the lobby when the plane hit. He said all the glass shattered, the building shook violently & they were told to leave immediately. One of his coworkers was in an elevator on the way up to a meeting.....The rest of the people from his company were killed on a very high floor above the hit.

Later many of us went up to our roof where we have a view of the city & we could see the smoke & even smell the fire. Many people who lived in my building had to walk from Manhattan to Queens because the city was in total emergency lock down...Everyone was sent home from work. I think I was in shock for several days after. It was the saddest day in NYC history.....RIP to all that passed that day & bless those heroes that saved many lives. 911 will never be forgotten.

Prettymaid
09-11-2012, 09:42 AM
It's good to hear from New York Borderers who saw this tragedy first hand. For many of us it seemed surreal. We were hearing the news but couldn't believe what we were hearing. As I've mentioned here before, Hubby and I were vacationing at Disneyworld Florida and were on our second day there visiting Epcot when we heard the news. The park was immediately closed, and we went to our hotel room and turned on the TV.

This is how the picture of Hubby turned out, taken just minutes before we found out that the Towers had been hit.

http://i510.photobucket.com/albums/s348/chilca0001/Miscellanious/09-11-2012083507AM.jpg

zeldabjr
09-11-2012, 09:43 AM
thanks TK for your recollection...It is special to hear from someone who was actually near one of the three sites that day...

Topkat
09-11-2012, 10:49 AM
My friends husband, who was in the lobby had stopped to get Dunkin' Doughnuts coffee before his meeting. That single act saved his life. They were having a breakfast at 8:30 & a meeting at 9:00, but he wanted DD coffee instead of the coffee they were having at the breakfast. All the others were already upstairs except that one guy who was in the elevator, who also survived. When you think about how fate stepped in here to save him, it's really a miracle. He had 2 young daughters at the time.

A few days after the attack, my fiance & I went down to a Memorial service that was held in Union Square Park, not that far from downtown Manhattan. There were hundreds of flowers & candles laid out. I remember people were singing "Give Peace a Chance" & "Imagine" by John Lennon. There were signs everywhere with photos of people who were missing; their relatives praying that they would be found. Sadly most of them were among the dead. It was a sobering moment, to realize that most of these photos were of very young people who had so much to live for. Life is fragile; enjoy it while you can because you just never know what is around the corner. Very sad today as I look back on it. The sun is shining & it is clear as can be out there, exactly the same as it was 11 years ago.

sodascouts
09-11-2012, 11:29 AM
I can only imagine what that must have been like, TK. Thanks for sharing.

As I've said before, over in Houston where I was teaching at the time, they locked us down just in case there were attacks on NASA. People were panicking all over the country, even thousands of miles away. Thank God something like this hasn't happened in this country again in the interim 11 years, and I pray it never will.

That's why I never complain about security at airports. At least they're trying.

Henley Honey
09-11-2012, 11:56 AM
I've been a blood donor since 1987 -- I've got the "good stuff" O negative, CMV negative -- so that morning I immediately went to donate. Within an hour there were hundreds of people lined up and waiting to give blood. It was sobering and heartening. I'd never seen anything like it.

I remember the streets were chaotic because the highways and mass transit were shut down and the thousands of cars that would normally travel on the expressway and parkways were forced to use secondary roads, but unlike a "normal" day in NY traffic, people were actually civil to one another. I didn't hear one horn honking.

I live near one of the flight paths for JFK Airport so I'd normally see and hear planes on approach for landing all day. I remember it being eerily quiet, except for the fighter jets that patrolled the skies for days afterward. To look up and see low-flying, high-speed aircraft was surreal.

I remember feeling horrified and helpless watching the rescue effort turn to a recovery mission -- realizing that with each passing hour the likelihood of seeing missing friends and family alive again was greatly diminished.


Now I try and remember to celebrate every day I'm given and to remember that every day is a gift.

sodascouts
09-11-2012, 12:13 PM
Because I have epilepsy and have had a grand mal seizure within the past 12 months, and also because I am on anti-convulsant medication, they won't let me donate blood. (I have not gone an entire year without at least one grand mal seizure in a long time.) I applaud those who do, however! It's moving to think of so many people willing to help.

TimothyBFan
09-11-2012, 12:41 PM
I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was a beautiful & sunny day here. When the first plane struck the tower, Katie Couric broke in with the news story & at first it was reported as a possible accident, but when the second plane hit, we all knew it was a terrorist attack.



One of my first thoughts this morning was of you TK--- I guess because I knew you live in NY and I often wonder what all of you must go through every year on that anniversary. Here in the Midwest, the fright was bad enough, I can't even fathom how scared everyone in that city must of been that day and for several months afterwards and probably to this day on occasion.

I also remember what kind of a beautiful day it was and I was watching the Today Show also. I remember vividly watching it unfold and the looks on Katie and Matt's faces. I remember that Matt was on the phone with an eyewitness to the first plane and remember her stating she had just heard another plane fly in very low and within seconds, we watched the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower. Everyone in this country was in shock and we instantly knew we were under attack.

How many of you remember hearing the sound of a plane overhead for the first time after the no fly had been lifted? It was something that could easily send a chill down your spine, that's for sure.

It's a day and a time in all of our lives that none of will ever forget.

Topkat
09-11-2012, 12:50 PM
HH, I'm sure the many injured people appreciated all the blood donations that came in. Thank you for doing that. I know that I felt totally helpless in this mass chaos going on & I also remember seeing the fighter jets in the air & that the sky was so eerily calm. I live not far from both NY airports. I don't remember how long it was, but all flights were grounded for I think 2 days.

I too wanted to do something, so when we headed downtown that day, we wanted to volunteer in some small way, like give out food & water to the workers down there, but access to the area was extremely limited. There were police everywhere & people were not allowed anywhere past a certain point without credentials. The security was very tight. I did feel helpless & I glued myself to watching the news coverage for several days almost in shock. I could not believe this happened & how enormous the loss was.

Brooke
09-11-2012, 03:11 PM
Tk and HH, thanks for sharing your memories of this tragic day. I also wondered what it would have been like to have lived in NYC at that time. I'm sure it was horrifying.

I remember I was at work and we have a tv in the lunch room. My boss came in a little after 8 and said to turn on the tv, something terrible has happened in NYC. We watched Matt and Katie on the Today Show all day trying to comprehend what was going on. Then later all the little country churches in the area had prayer meetings for everyone affected and for our country. It just immobilized you at the time, even here in Missouri. You couldn't do or think of much else. My hubby and I were also planning to leave on a vaca to Florida a few days later and canceled it because we just couldn't think of trying to have fun when so many people were dealing with such tragedy.

I can't listen to Alan Jackson's song to this day without tearing up.

sodascouts
09-11-2012, 03:15 PM
did any other major music acts write a song about that day?

I found a list of songs inspired by 9/11 on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_about_the_September_11_attacks

Since Wikipedia is user-edited, there may be inaccuracies on there, but I think it's a good place to start.

Fleetwood Mac's "Illume" was inspired by 9/11. The video below incorporates some quotes from Stevie about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gP7YxtJVys

Prettymaid
09-11-2012, 03:57 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7YLOLVFRVA

Topkat
09-11-2012, 05:28 PM
That concert was given about 2 weeks after the tragedy. Paul McCartney organized it. It was aired on tv a little bit after the show. I recorded it & it was the most amazing show. Some of the star power that showed up & played for FREE were the WHO, STONES, CLAPTON, BILLY JOEL, ELTON JOHN, BON JOVI, JAMES TAYLOR, DAVID BOWIE, & several others. The support for the NY heroes was incredible, emotional & heartfelt. I was very touched watching these big firefighters going slightly mental playing air guitar during the Who performance. Paul is such a genuine, humble and sweet guy. I am always so impressed by his human compassion. His father was a firefighter, & he put this show together in record time to entertain the 911 heroes & their families.

Loved Stevie's song too. I had never heard it before!

Tiffanny Twisted
09-11-2012, 06:52 PM
Its amazing, everyone can remember where they were and what they were doing on that day. We tried to talk about it at work and I think alot was lost on the "kids" I work with.
At the time, I worked at the Mercedes Dealership , so even though the tvs were on, I couldnt see them from my desk. Customers were telling us that something had happend. I tried to call JAhh on a cell and a land phone but it was difficult..finally he got throught but the call was cut off just as he said" I have to go to NY"(work was sending him). I was in a panic...not knowing if he was really going and or what was going on.At the same time, my son was a few block away at school paniced that his dad would get sent there without him saying goodby or I love you. The headmaster tryed to calm his fears and helped him try and reach his dad to no avail.

eventually, he didnt have to go (thank god) but I never forget the helpless feeling of being cut off mid conversation so I can only imagin ten fold for the people who were in the tower or on the planes trying to use their cell phones and desk phones and the samething happening to them.

Yes, today was a day much like the day it was weather wise 11 years ago.
Its hard not to think of all that.
I dont think anyone who was old enought to live it will forget it.
"There are no words"
rest in peace all who are gone and all who are lost.

soda...thanks for the steve fleetwood mac song..I love it. Is it on a?cd

Henley Honey
09-11-2012, 07:04 PM
That concert was so important to the psyche of New Yorkers, I can't even begin to tell you. To have that group of musicians come together so quickly to raise money and awareness was staggering to me. I still get choked up when I consider the monumental but apparently not insurmountable task of rearranging schedules, logistics, etc. Shows were cancelled, shows were rescheduled and no one blinked an eye.

They had first responders and their families as their audience and you could not have had a more grateful or receptive audience on the planet.

I cried through most of it. I still do when I think about it.

zeldabjr
09-11-2012, 07:11 PM
I do remember the eerie quietness of the day...I was working at the Visiting Nursing Assoc. then and the office is right near the Buffalo airport...usually hear the roaring of planes all day long...that day you could hear a pin drop near the airport...very strange...and I do remember how nice everyone was to each other for quite a while after it happened...too bad it didn't last forever...
on my home from work for days after I'd see volunteer firemen out in the streets collecting money to donate to the Red Cross...It really did bring out the best in people.

Ive always been a dreamer
09-11-2012, 09:19 PM
Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences here. I don't think there are any of us Americans that weren't affected forever by that horrific day. We will never forget that day nor should we. My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones. It must be very difficult, yet also very heartening, when the anniversary comes along each year.

sodascouts
09-11-2012, 09:29 PM
Yes, I think it's important to note the date each time it passes. When you say "December 7th" to a lot of younger people nowadays, they have no idea what you're talking about. I hope there will never come a time when that is the case for September 11th.


soda...thanks for the steve fleetwood mac song..I love it. Is it on a?cd

The song is on the 2003 album Say You Will. I highly recommend you buy it!

Grey Sadler
09-11-2012, 10:31 PM
I know it's late, but I've been reading all the other remembrances...:worried:

Eleven years ago, I was working at my old school (independent study/alternative/diploma options for the county). We had just given students their first morning break (they got one every 2 hours and most were allowed to drive out & get some fast food/etc). Our director walked in our room and told us that a plane had just hit the WTC. I tried to get on one of the two computers that had internet at the time; there was virtually nothing about it. Before I knew it, the second plane had hit, and as many staff as possible crowded around the little tv in the director's office to watch the live footage. I remember spending the rest of the day explaining what was going on to the students that knew what was going on (especially two girls that were petrified their boyfriends were going to be drafted)...

This morning during our (regular/first) moment of silence, I put up the picture of the firemen raising the flag at Ground Zero on our SmartBoard and told the kids "Don't think of this as a sad day. Do something NICE for someone else. Pick up someone's books off the floor, tell them they look nice...SOMETHING nice!!"

zeldabjr
09-11-2012, 11:14 PM
I remember my Buffalo Sabres were in NYC to play the Rangers as the first sporting event after 9/11...our team wore jerseys that said "New York"...it was a very emotional game...the jerseys were then auctioned and over $200,000 was raised for 9/11 charities...On the radio today, they were saying that many of the first responders that attended the game still come in and visit the Sabres whenever they're in NYC...

Tiffanny Twisted
09-12-2012, 06:37 AM
thanks soda for the info

TimothyBFan
09-12-2012, 08:02 AM
I know it's late, but I've been reading all the other remembrances...:worried:

Eleven years ago, I was working at my old school (independent study/alternative/diploma options for the county). We had just given students their first morning break (they got one every 2 hours and most were allowed to drive out & get some fast food/etc).


How hard it was for kids to understand. I don't know how old the kids were you were working with at the time.

I was doing daycare (as I still do) and I remember thinking all day, how do I handle this when they come home from school. I touched base with each parent that day, many of them calling me and asking for updates because they weren't able to get to tvs, and asking them how they wished for me to handle this. Also, both of my children were still in grammar school so I worried about them. At that time, the school bus left off at the corner and the kids walked the half a block to my house where I always stood out front watching. That day I walked to the corner to meet them, each and every kid came off that school bus with their mouths going a thousand miles a minute with questions and commentary on what they had heard and watched at school about it. We all came home and sat down and I did my best to answer their questions without scaring them. But even at those young ages, I think they all knew that this was BIG and that things would never be quite the same again.

Troubadour
09-12-2012, 12:31 PM
It's a day and a time in all of our lives that none of will ever forget.

Exactly. Even those of us across the Atlantic, who were only teenagers at the time. I still vividly remember watching it on the news and being stunned into silence. I watched the second plane hit the tower and it was so surreal... like a slow-motion movie. Just horrible. The reality of it didn't sink in until much later.

Tiffanny Twisted
09-12-2012, 06:56 PM
Amy

I love how you handled yesterday with your kids...Try not to think of it as a sad day but a day to do something nice for someone else.

Wish I had had you as a teacher in my much much younger days:):):) tt

Glennsallnighter
09-13-2012, 05:08 AM
Laura wasn't even 5 months old at the time, and I was still on maternity leave. Of course it was lunchtime over here when it all happened and I remember we were having lunch in a coffee shop which we used to go to at the time. It provided sheltered employment for special needs peiople. Anyway their co ordinator came rumming out onto the ;lobby saying that the first plane had crashed into the towers. Obviously a myriad of theories about=nded until the second plane crashed in. Then we all felt that sickening thud as realisation dawned that this was no accident.

My husband is a fire fighter, and I remember thinking how it would have been if he had been in NYFD that day instead of Dublin FB. I also remember thinking of mothers like myself who's husbands and partners sacrificed their own lives to save the people of New York that day. I would have hated Laura never to have known her father, and yet I'm sure there are quite a proportion of children that that happened to on that terrible day. All these men and women are true heroes.

SallyGee
09-13-2012, 12:06 PM
I was teaching preschool at the time. It was the first day for the three year olds, so I had asked my friend to come in to help. Her husband called. I could tell he was upset. He worked in Jersey City and saw the plane hit the building where his sister and nephew worked. Neither of them were ever found. A few days later, on the way home from school, my two younger kids and some of their friends and I stopped at the beach. We have a perfect view of the city. Now, instead of the twin towers, all we saw was smoke. 37 people from our township died that day. We knew people were missing from bus stop shelters that we passed every morning. There were flyers there with pictures of the missing. I went to the memorial service for my friend's sister-in-law. She was a single mother of a teenage son. He spoke about the last time he talked to his mom and it was so sad. Then her sister sang the Don Henley song Taking You Home. There wasn't a dry eye in that church. I try to catch their names being read every year, and this year, even though I was at work, they had a TV on and I was able to see it. What a terrible day.

Prettymaid
09-13-2012, 01:03 PM
What a poignant memory SG.

sodascouts
09-13-2012, 01:08 PM
Yes - thanks for telling us about it. Once again, I can only imagine what that must have been like.

SG, was the Henley song you heard perhaps "Taking You Home"?

SallyGee
09-13-2012, 02:32 PM
Yes Soda. Sorry about that.

sodascouts
09-13-2012, 02:47 PM
Nothing to apologize for - I was just making sure I knew which song you were talking about. It must have been beautiful.

Topkat
09-13-2012, 03:30 PM
My friends husband, who was in the lobby when the plane hit,& was told to leave the building, waited in the front of the building for his coworkers to come down....Not one of them came down & he soon realized that he was the only one who survived. The guy stuck in the elevator was rescued later.

The weeks after the attack were just as shocking. My fiance owned a custom framing shop in Middle Village, an area where a lot of cops & firemen lived. Many never came home. I was working there with him at the time..There was a church down the block that had a funeral almost every day, with a huge police & firefighter turnout that went on for blocks. We heard the bagpipes playing & we came out to show our support & respect.

Many people came into the shop to have pictures framed for the services, because they had no bodies...Only a photograph. It was heartbreaking. We framed many large pictures for funerals, folded flags, medals, everything they had to remember their loved ones was carefully preserved. This was what they had left of their loved ones. We met a lot of the family members of the young firefighters who told us stories of these brave young men. Many of them were walking up those stairs, as the people were coming down. It was so sad.

Glennsallnighter
09-13-2012, 05:43 PM
I tgink this tragedy was one of the defining moments of the 21st Century. All over the world people will remember where they were and what they were doing when the terrible news started to filter through. Even as a non American I still feel every bit as much for the people who passed away on that awful day as if I was there at the time. I think a part of the free world disappeared that day that will take a long time to return. Possibly it never will.

thelongrun
09-25-2012, 03:14 PM
With all respect, I canīt remember 9-11 victims may they all rest in peace, without remembering my Dad who took his final journey just a couple of Days before that very sad Year, on a 8-11 evening... Love and miss you Daddy!

sodascouts
09-25-2012, 09:30 PM
Aw, sorry for your loss, JP!

Glennsallnighter
09-26-2012, 06:14 AM
Yeah. Me too JP. May he rest in peace

Tiffanny Twisted
09-26-2012, 11:51 AM
May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace.:angel:

sad-cafe
09-11-2013, 12:03 AM
https://soundcloud.com/digitalscribe25/don-henley-in-a-new-york

Tiffanny Twisted
09-11-2013, 10:03 AM
sad anniversay to remember.

rest in peace and we should never ever forget

Houston Baby
09-11-2013, 10:11 AM
Indeed a sad anniversary to remember.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends who were affected by this incomprehensible tragedy and with the entire New York City area. The healing continues......

NYC Fan
09-11-2013, 10:39 AM
It's always such a sad day here. I am working from home today, as I somehow feel wrong going to work right there with all the families around. I feel as if I'm intruding on their grief. But I'm watching them read the names on TV and it's such a heartbreak. Their pain is still so fresh, even after 12 years. You would be hard pressed to find someone who lives or works here who didn't know someone who died that day, so it's always a very difficult time.

I left work yesterday and looked up at the gleaming new tower and felt really happy that even though it has taken such a very long time, there is now something there. The memorial is beautiful and will forever be a reminder of all those lives lost. But it feels right that there will be something going forward as a functioning reminder that every one of those lives lost was because they were living their lives. Going to work, keeping the City safe, just doing their jobs. I really liked what Don said when he was in Long Island in April where he said the new tower was almost defiant. I think it's everything that New York is. Big, strong and resilient. A living reminder that we may never get over it, but we will move on. My thoughts and prayers are with all the families today.

sodascouts
09-11-2013, 12:49 PM
Reviving this thread, as I do every year, to memorialize those devastating attacks.

Victim of Love
09-11-2013, 01:25 PM
I think this is always a difficult anniversary for people all over the world but particularly for those of us in the USA. My late uncle was the 1st first responder to arrive on scene in Shanksville, PA where he found nothing but a giant crater in a field. Flight 54 went down just a few short miles from the elementary school where his 9-year-old daughter was in class and it took Mom many traumatic hours to reach my aunt and confirm that everyone in the family was okay.

Americans are a resilient people and we prove that day in and day out. But I doubt any of us will ever forget where we were or what we were doing at the exact moment we heard the news. It is etched into every fiber of our being.

The innocent victims, the survivors of those lost, and the thousands of first responders, medical personal and common citizens who put their own safety on the line that day and every day since are all heros in my mind and heart.

My thoughts and prayers are with each and everyone one of them. God bless them and God Bless America.

WalshFan88
09-11-2013, 01:59 PM
I was in Chicago at RUSH University Medical Center for a pre-op appointment before I had facial reconstruction surgery. We were in the waiting room when it came on the TV. I had surgery on the 24th. Very scary to be in Chicago.

RIP to all of those that died.

Tiffanny Twisted
09-11-2013, 04:39 PM
I was in work and in the middle of a conversation w jahh....we were cut off very scarey

Glennsallnighter
09-11-2013, 06:33 PM
Every year I remember this awful attack and tragedy, and one which I'm sure has touched the minds and hearts of not just Americans but people over the world.

But this year I feel an even greater affinity with the people of New York, due of course to the fact that I visited the Memorial earlier this year. Also the Hotel where we were staying was right beside the Memorial site where the construction is going on, so we were in the midst of it. On the Friday evening while we were there the remains of four more people who were killed in the tragedy were found and taken away to be identified. It really brought home to me that people are still living with the consequences of 9/11, and that for some there will never be closure.
We spent our first morning on the site where the two pools have been made where the Towers once stood. The names of every single person who died are engraved around the edges of the pools, and there is a bronze mural dedicated to the 343 firefighters who died on the wall outside their firehouse.

We also heard so many accounts of the day from New Yorkers who were in the City and near the scene on that fateful day. Its evident that the feelings and the memories are still very much with everyone today, and in so many cases every day.

So when my kids or colleagues complain about enhanced security on planes, or having to take off their shoes in an airport line, or not being able to bring on a bottle of perfume it really bugs the hell out of me. We never want another 9/11 to happen ever ever again. And we all have a part to play to make sure it never does.

And to all those who gave their lives in helping in the rescue attempt, I salute you.

One of the large pools which occupies the space left by the South Tower.
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/Irisheaglesfan/New%20York%202013%20Family/NewYork2013Eos068.jpg

The mural along the side of the fire house

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/Irisheaglesfan/New%20York%202013%20Family/NewYork2013ps397.jpg

Husband and son looking at a tribute to the fallen
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t236/Irisheaglesfan/New%20York%202013%20Family/NewYork2013ps405.jpg

Topkat
09-11-2013, 06:59 PM
Thanks for the lovely photos GA. I'm glad you had the chance to visit the site.
Still a hard day for NYC...Every year I honor them in the moments of silence for the times the towers were hit & the times the towers fell. We will never forget!

Tiffanny Twisted
09-11-2013, 08:07 PM
thank you ga for sharing such lovely pictures and post

sad-cafe
09-11-2013, 08:24 PM
Thank you for moving this. I didn't realize there was already a thread. Such a sad day. Found out today that one of my students was in NYC when it happened. He was 3. He says he remembers taking shelter. Wow, that is something one never forgets.

sodascouts
09-11-2013, 08:47 PM
Here's a repost of a video I made a couple year ago set to "Hole in the World":

https://myspace.com/eaglesonlinecentral/video/911-hole-in-the-world/108181358

SallyGee
09-11-2013, 09:00 PM
We went to the beach tonight to see the beams of light for 9/11, but it was too cloudy. The same beach I took my kids to 12 years ago and watched all the smoke across the bay. I said a prayer then, and I said a prayer tonight. We will never forget.

Houston Baby
09-11-2013, 10:00 PM
Thank you everyone for sharing your stories.
Thank you GA for sharing your photos.
Thank you Soda for sharing your video.
I'm a firm believer that by sharing our stories we help our healing process & keep the memories alive & honor those lost. Always in our hearts...

Henley Honey
09-13-2013, 05:43 PM
Here's a recent picture of the Downtown NYC skyline showing the Freedom Tower which replaced the South and North Towers of the WTC.

The City has moved forward while remembering and honoring the past. If you travel to New York, a stop at the Memorial is not to be missed.

Never forget.

http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h439/joanie142/Some%20Favorites/NYCFerry_zps339ba12d.jpg (http://s1109.photobucket.com/user/joanie142/media/Some%20Favorites/NYCFerry_zps339ba12d.jpg.html)

Tiffanny Twisted
09-13-2013, 06:39 PM
beautifel picture

sodascouts
09-13-2013, 07:10 PM
Wow. Love that photo.

Glennsallnighter
09-13-2013, 07:47 PM
Beautiful photo HH. NY will not be beaten, not by 9/11, not by Sandy, not by anything, due to the resilience and spirit of its people.

They are poignant memories Springbo. I'm glad for you that your friend was not in the Tower that day. But so many people were, and then there were the brave people who with little regard for their own lives rushed in to help them as best they could. All those who perished must never be forgotten.

VAisForEagleLovers
09-10-2014, 11:01 PM
I just made the first one my cover photo on Facebook, and shared the second. They say it all...

http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb328/vernakrose/misc/neverforget6_zps632d5e80.jpg

http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb328/vernakrose/misc/Neverforgetsoldier_zps48f20914.jpg

Brooke
09-11-2014, 02:28 PM
VA, yes they do.

I know I'll never forget.

sodascouts
09-11-2014, 07:12 PM
Amen to that.

SoaringRockyMountainWay
09-11-2014, 07:59 PM
I'm too young to remember 9/11 but my prayers go out to everyone affected by the great tragedy. God bless America!

SallyGee
09-11-2014, 08:11 PM
13 years ago today, so many lives were changed forever. Still proud to be an American. We will never forget. So many heroes that day.

sodascouts
09-11-2015, 08:39 PM
Reviving this thread again in memory of 9/11.

AlreadyGone95
09-12-2015, 02:23 PM
I didn't know that this thread existed or I would've posted this yesterday.

I was pretty young when 9/11 happened, 3 days away from my 6th birthday in fact. I actually remember that day. I wasn't at school; I was having my weekly physical therapy done. The therapists had the radio going, and an announcer came on, and told us of the tragedy. By that time, tv news crews were covering the story. Someone went and got a tv with the "rabbit ears" and managed to get our local NBC station in. Naturally, I didn't really understand what was happening and the magnitude of it all. I just knew that bad guys had done something bad. I remember watching the north tower fall. That memory was etched into my brain forever.

9/11 is what made my brother (then aged 14) decide to enlist in the Air Force after high school. He served 9 years, 2005-2014, before deciding to not reenlist.

NBC Nightly News shared this Thursday evening. A rainbow on the eve on the anniversary. A beautiful sight.
http://rs1283.pbsrc.com/albums/a552/kim_dixon2/Mobile%20Uploads/12006229_10153677768263689_1934752683498151453_n_z psewd4el4f.png?w=480&h=480&fit=clip

Here's to the over 3,000 people who lost their lives. Never forget.

(If anyone wants another hauntingly beautiful song about 9/11, that's rarely talked about, listen to Message from the Lost by Simon Kirke. (Drummer for Free/Bad Company). He lived and Manhattan, and volunteered to be a red cross driver for 6 weeks after 9/11. The song is about what he felt seeing the first family members, friends etc coming down to the site)

Ive always been a dreamer
09-13-2015, 04:21 PM
That's such very moving picture. Thanks for posting it, AG95. I was going to post it if no one else beat me to it. I'm late in posting in this thread, but I did want to take the time to acknowledge the anniversary just because I feel it's important to do so. On Thursday morning, as I walked through the common gallery at work, I noticed that NBC was rebroadcasting the live coverage of the Today show that was airing at the time this happened. A number of co-workers were gathered around watching. Even though it is very painful to watch even 14 years later, I force myself to do it for a few minutes and on and off throughout the day whenever I passed through the gallery. I feel we need to be reminded of these kinds of events to maintain their relevance. Additionally, it provides a fresh perspective for the younger generation. Everyone of us in the free world are victims of those attacks to some extent. My heart goes out those families and friends who lost loved ones that day as they have to relive these events once again.

Brooke
09-14-2015, 09:52 AM
Beautiful photo, AG! Thanks for posting it! I saw it on tv too!

I watched a documentary on tv about the horrible event and it was very enlightening and heartwrenching. I'll never forget that day even though I didn't actually know anyone that was living in NYC, Washington DC or Shanksville at the time. A horrible day for our country. My heart goes out to all those lost and their families. :sad:

I got to tour the museum in the Freedom Tower last fall and it was a very humbling experience.

AlreadyGone95
09-14-2015, 11:22 AM
I felt compelled to share the photo. It's a good example of light after darkness, I think.

The documentaries really hit home and make you realize how horrible it was, especially the ones with the actual phone calls or transmissions from the planes. I felt sick the first time I watched onee. I couldn't imagine the horror. I couldn't imagine making the choice to jump to my death rather than burn alive. :fear:

sodascouts
09-11-2016, 01:14 PM
I can't believe it's been 15 years already.

travlnman2
09-11-2016, 03:04 PM
Something really struck me. Basically kids my age 17 and 18 our High School class is the last one to all be born before the attacks. It feels weird knowing that the Freshman-Juniors were all born after 9/11 or were just born.

Ive always been a dreamer
09-11-2016, 03:45 PM
That's a very good point, tm.

CNN is airing a special 15th anniversary show tonight that I want to watch. As I've said before, even though it's painful to relive this every year, I think it's really important that we do so. It must be especially painful for the victims survivors - it's both a blessing and a curse. I think we need to be reminded of these kinds of events to maintain their relevance and provide a fresh perspective for the younger generation. On the other hand, these families have to relive that day so publicly every year, which also must keep the pain so fresh for them. My heart goes out to them, and, deep down they must be grateful that their lost loved ones memory will live in infamy.

We must never forget.

ETA:

I thought I would repost this video that Soda make 5 years ago for those who may not go back and read this entire thread. I is very poignant and glad to see the link is still live ...


Here's something I've been working on all day - I'm still not completely happy with it, but I wanted to post it before the day is up. I took footage I found on YouTube of 9/11 and cobbled it together, underlaying it with "Hole in the World."

https://myspace.com/eaglesonlinecentral/video/911-hole-in-the-world/108181358

buffyfan145
09-11-2016, 04:02 PM
I can't believe it's been 15 years as well. I had the same thought about the kids and teens today too. For me I was 15 when it happened. I remember we were getting ready for my sophomore English class to start which was my 2nd class of the day. I had just gotten out of choir and something felt off when we were singing. When I got to class another English teacher from across the hall came in and took my teacher aside. He looked grave after whatever he was told and nodded to her as she left. He told us that something had happened in New York and went to turn on our classroom's TV.

When the TV came on we were all shocked to see the fire coming out of the building. We didn't know what caused it and thought maybe it was a bomb. I remember my teacher saying it weirdly reminded him of the song "Smoke on the Water" and now I still think about this when I hear it. Then when the 2nd plane hit we knew something was really wrong.

I had never been so frightened in my life. We had no idea what exactly was going on and then the Pentagon got hit and the plane went down in Pennsylvania. We may have been teenagers but we were all scared and didn't know what to do. I remember so many of us crying and hugging. The teachers trying to console us but didn't know what to do either. Most of us started to leave early as our parents got off work and picked us up. It's weird too now to think back as it inspired so many of my male friends to go into the military and one of them died in Iraq 4 years later and another, my dear friend Mark, after serving three tours in the Middle-East would die in a car accident 10 years later.

I remember too my Grandpa was visiting family in Boston at the time while my Grandma was still here in Ohio and she was worried sick. After he flew back home he's never flown on a plane since. I also stuck really close to my parents that day, as did my younger brother. We ended up watching old comedy movies since all the TV networks had non stop coverage.

The weather that day was so sunny and nice out that you would never think what was going on. I used to love going outside to listen to music so I did that day and I remember I heard Don's song "The End of the Innocence" on the radio and how weirdly it fit, especially from my point of view. I also loved when the Eagles released "Hole in the World" as it was such a lovely song, as did my Mom.

It really changed everything and I will never forget and always think of the families who lost loved ones that day too.

WS82Classics
09-11-2016, 04:39 PM
I was in 2nd grade when the terrorist attack took place. The teachers didn't show us television footage of what was happening in NY or DC, which I fully realize was for the best--I can't imagine what it would have been like to watch an event like that one in real time. Without any inkling of what was going on, I ultimately found out after I got home and saw the footage re-played on cable news channels. It was truly unlike anything I had ever seen before. I had visited family up in Queens, NY, around Thanksgiving of the previous year, and my thoughts immediately turned to them.

It took years for the true scope of what took place that day to fully dawn on me. I remember seeing, in the months after the attack, these television footage reels of men and their families getting together around the Thanksgiving/Christmas season just before their deployment. It really tore me up, as I sub-consciously thought about what it would be like if my own father were to be deployed out to a war zone. That no small number of them didn't make it home alive is surreally awful.

I watch the MSNBC "Living History" show, a re-air of the "Today Show" from the morning of September 11, 2001, every year, and it magnifies the horror of what happened in so many different ways. This morning, around 10:21 AM, I saw the footage of those firemen valiantly bee-lining for the North Tower, which collapsed within 10 minutes, and I realized that they probably did not survive the attack. To this day, every time I watch 9/11 footage, there is nothing about it that feels or seems at all real.


I had a conversation 4 years ago with a young girl I briefly knew and really liked, and she gave me the ultimate "Wow, what a small world" tidbit--Somehow or another we got to talking 9/11, and she mentioned that in the years she lived in South FL, her dad was a flight instructor and, in his capacities, had unknowingly helped teach 3 of the 4 hijackers how to fly(the ones who hit both towers and the pilot of the downed flight in PA). He didn't find this out until about 6 months after the attacks, when the FBI came knocking at the door. He described the students as unassuming and very good learners.


It is a day which no one, old or young, who lived through will ever forget, and that's what makes travlnman's point so strange and scary. Very soon, we'll have people coming of age who view 9/11 as little more than that thing mom and dad get all emotional about(likewise with December 7, 1941, and their grandparents). It will be interesting to see what the next few years have in store for this country.

This is one of my all-time favourite songs, and the video for it features pictures of the Trade Center and particularly the Windows on the World restaurant at the top of the North Tower. America and NYC in happier times. Really, I think, seems to evoke the feelings and the spirit of a bygone era: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF9hyogNurU

AlreadyGone95
09-12-2016, 01:37 AM
It's hard to believe that 15 years have passed since this horrible event. It's even harder to believe that people who weren't born when 9/11 happened will be of age in a few years. Granted, I was only (nearly) six when it happened, but I can remember it very vividly in my head. I saw more than most kids my age because the adults at the therapy center listened and watched some of it unfold. Any time I watch something related to 9/11, I usually have to hold back a tear or two.

The phrase "Never Forget" is very appropriate, I think. 9/11 changed the states (and even the world) in so many ways. My generation has grown up in the midst of this change. Children in the 1950s learned what to do if a nuclear bomb hit; we've had to learn what to do if a terrorist attack happened or if an active shooter came on campus.

shunlvswx
09-12-2016, 10:01 AM
I was 21 and in college. I had just left my internship at my local tv station heading on campus to my Chemistry lab class. I really don't remember seeing anything on the attacks when I was leaving at the tv station. The first time I heard about it was when I got in my car heading to my department building and I heard the late Peter Jennings on the radio. I had wonder what the heck he was doing on the radio not know what happened. Its strange. Those two hours I was in Chemistry lab, I didn't hear anybody talked about what happened earlier.

Every time I see the second plane crash into the building and seeing the twin towers fall, I always cry.

I watched the movie World Trade Center that starred Nicolas Cage for the first time last year. He played John McLoughlin. The guy who was stuck in the collapsed World Trade Center for 22 hours. Another guy was in there with him and got out in 13 hours. It was a great movie.

Brooke
09-12-2016, 04:04 PM
It seems impossible that it's been 15 years! I know I'll never forget.

Jonny Come Lately
09-14-2016, 08:20 AM
A few days late for the 15th anniversary of the tragedy but I wanted to pay my respects to all those affected by it. Some people very close in age to me have provided some very thoughtful contributions to this thread and I feel that whatever I have to offer will be inadequate in comparison. I cannot remember much about it apart from the sense of confusion and seeing the footage of the Towers falling - as a 7 year old and a non-American I wasn't really aware of the significance of what was happening apart from knowing that it wasn't at all good. My parents were quite protective of us as children so I think we were sheltered from the worst scenes.

(By the way (on a far less serous note) - Shun, I had no idea that you did Chemistry. I wouldn't have been surprised if I was the only chemist on the board).

VillageGirl
09-14-2016, 10:46 AM
September 11th is not a day I will ever forget. I am from NYC, Greenwich Village in fact, but was living in Boston at the time. My parents still live there. It's not very far at all from where the Twin Towers once stood. I kept calling them over and over as well as everyone I knew in NYC and kept getting busy signals as all of the phone lines were down.
I had to work 3-11pm in the ER that day and I honestly cannot remember anything about that shift as I was so worried as to what was happening back home.
I was supposed to go to a Christening not far from the World Trade Center in September 2001, but it was obviously delayed until December. When we went, the air was filled with the smell of burnt debris and carnage. Although I was so happy to welcome my good friend's little girl into the world, I was sickened at all the lives that had been lost and what had been done to our country. It makes me tear up just writing this and to be honest, I think I block 9/11 from my memory a lot of the time.
There are not many people who are born and raised in NYC. I am 3rd generation. But after 9/11/2001, NYC no longer felt like home anymore and I look for any excuse to avoid going there.
If I stop and think about all the lives that were lost and the families of the victims, I can go to a very dark place.
It was a horrible, senseless act that brought so much needless pain and suffering to so many people.

sodascouts
09-11-2017, 08:09 PM
Another year, another anniversary of the day that changed the way we viewed the world.

New Kid In Town
09-12-2017, 12:23 AM
This is always such a sad day for us here in NY/NJ Metro area. So many innocent lives lost. We lost a family friend, 12 people in my town died and appx. 22 people in the town where one of my sister's lived. I will never forget how beautiful the day started out - one of the nicest days all summer. Crystal clear blue skies. I remember talking with friends as we waited for our train about how beautiful the weather was. That of course changed shortly thereafter.
I think about all the people who went to work and never came back. I remember coming home from work every day for the next two months and seeing the smoke from Ground Zero - and I live almost an hours train ride south of the city.
All the crazy "but for the grace of God that could have been me" stories. My cousin's wife retired from the Port Authority of NY & NJ which had offices in the towers the Friday before. She had decide to move her retirement up one week. One of my best friends brother had a HVAC business and was set to begin working that day at the towers but the parts needed had not come in. Another friend had a sister who worked there. Her dog ran out the front door and she had to chase him down the street. She missed her normal train and was forced to take a later train. Had she been on the earlier train it would have just been pulling in at the station under the first tower when it collapsed. At work, the guy who sat across from me had a brother who worked in one of the towers and got out safely.
That day changed everything. All the brave lives lost that day and the last 16 years fighting terrorism. Hard to believe it has been 16 years. When I was watching the memorial ceremony this morning on our local NY tv stations, you could see the victims families will never get over that day. My parents used to talk about what they were doing the day they heard Pearl Harbor had been bombed. I remember talking to friends and saying "This is our Pearl Harbor" Sadly, the world has never been the same since that day no matter where you live.

Brooke
09-12-2017, 12:36 PM
No it will never be the same and I remember every year what I was doing. Even though we are way over here in Missouri. For a few days the world did stop turning, it seemed. Can't believe it's been 16 years.

NKIT, those are some amazing 'close call' stories!

New Kid In Town
09-13-2017, 11:24 PM
So true Brooke. But the number of those types of storied people told the days after 9/11 were amazing.

Houston Baby
09-11-2019, 01:30 PM
I wanted to bring this thread forward for 2019 as I noticed we did not post to it in 2018. I know we will never forget and I hope we remember to move this thread forward every year. I encourage our newest members to share their feelings and memories.

Memories of that day on September 11, 2001 returned to me this morning. The confusion, the anxiety and the pain of watching what was happening to our brothers and sisters was overwhelming that day. My heart broke for the family members on the planes and inside the buildings and all of our brave first responders. The aftermath was horrific but I also remember people came together like I had never seen before. There was no race, no religion and no politics. It was just us. People from all over the world helped not because they had to but because their hearts were broken too. But our will was strong. I pray today that we remember again that we are all on the same team. We should be cheering for one another, praying for one another and helping one another.

Lest we forget......
:grouphug:

Brooke
09-11-2019, 01:57 PM
Amen, HB. I couldn't have said it better.

Every year I remember where I was and what I was doing and my husband and kids too. Time stood still for a while. Watching some of the clips of it all this morning brought tears again. It's hard to believe it's been 18 years. Prayers again for everyone that lost loved ones.

NEVER FORGET.

CAinOH
09-11-2019, 08:17 PM
I remember that day so clearly, and I remember it because of those who aren't here any more.

I work at a family business, but I worked at a different company during and right after college. I remember we were all watching on the television at my company. One of the guys working for us was an airplane mechanic for the National Guard. He was telling us that the hole in the first building was not made by a small plane. I called my husband to make sure he was watching (he is from New York and actually lived in the city for a while). We watched the second plane hit. I was on the phone with him when the towers fell.

I don't remember the order of events, but after the plane hit the Pentagon, I got a call from my Mom. I worked with my uncle (her brother) at my previous job. Mom called because my Grandmother called her; Grandma was sure my uncle was in Washington DC. And since he worked "for the military", she was sure he was at the Pentagon. I couldn't tell them, but I was pretty sure he wasn't (even though I never made it to DC while I worked there, I knew our contact wasn't at the Pentagon). But, I promised to call his company and find out where he was.

It had been a while since I worked there, so it took me some time to find his secretary. (I did talk to a couple of people I hadn't talked to in a long time.) By the time all the phone calls had been made, it was probably a couple of hours after the Pentagon hit. I have to hand it to her, the secretary wasn't working there when I was there, but she confirmed who I was with a couple of other people when I called. She assured me that he was safe. In fact, he was scheduled to leave DC that day. By that time, all the airports were closed. The second time I called, she said she was actually on the phone with him then, and he and the other guy who was there, too, were going to rent a car and drive home. I told her to relay to him that I was going to let Grandma know he was fine. She said something I couldn't understand, then came back and replied his thanks. I thanked her, hung up, and called my Mom. I asked her if she wanted me to call Grandma since I had made the call. So, I also called Grandma. Grandma was a worrier; she could convince herself that a trip anywhere would result in tragedy. I talked to her, assured her that my uncle was fine, and would be on his way home as soon as possible in a car.

Besides the horrors of the day, the memory is most bittersweet. Grandma died in November of 2002. My Mom died the next July. After my Grandpa's death in 2011, things happened and we no longer talk to my uncle.

And... that story turned out to be a lot longer than I anticipated. Sorry.

Ive always been a dreamer
09-11-2019, 09:35 PM
Thanks for your heartfelt posts HB and CA.

Like everyone else, my thoughts and prayers continuously remain with all those impacted by the events of that tragic day. That day did leave a permanent hole in the world. But, on this day I'm also always reminded of Don's song New York Minute because that day more than any other shows us that in a New York minute everything truly can change. As painful as it still is to relive those events every year, I believe it is important that we do so.

New Kid In Town
09-13-2019, 10:22 AM
September 11th is a very sad day for all Americans, especially those of us in the NY/NJ Metro area. My sister lost a close family friend that day. 12 people died from my town and 22 from the town where one of my sisters lived. All bridges and tunnels into and out of NYC were closed. I had a family friend stranded in the city who had to take a boat back home to NJ. Private boats, ferries and tug boats ferried over 500,000 people home to NJ, Long Island, Brooklyn and Staten Island. I could see the smoke every day from Ground Zero on my way home from work. They show the memorial ceremony here every year on tv. It still brings tears to my eyes. The pain of the victim's families is still so raw. I remember how united the whole country was. Sad it is not like that anymore.

HB & CA -Thank You for your heart felt thoughts.