9/11 20 years later

To quote country singer Alan Jackson: Where were you when the world stopped turning?

Hard to believe it's been twenty years since four planes were hijacked on a Tuesday morning and the country was in shock. For my borderers, I'd like to hear what you were doing when the towers collapsed, the Pentagon was hit, and when the plane crashed in Pennsylvania.

Me? I was twenty and about three months pregnant with the second kid and asleep while the ex-husband was getting ready for work. It was six a.m. and he had the tv on. Suddenly I felt him smack me on the leg and heard him say "wake up, a plane crashed into the world trade center" I sat up and saw that the news was talking about the pentagon. I looked at him and said "wrong, the plane crashed into the pentagon not the trade center. They're not even in the same city!" And as I said that last line, I heard the newscaster report mention both crashes. Then both of us sat motionless and watched in horror the live footage of the south tower of the world trade center collapsing. It's a day I will definitely never forget.

I was at work, as were most people, I suppose. Such a shock. :cry: Folks nearby saw and heard Air Force One flying only tree top high on it's way to Barksdale Air Force Base near Shreveport. Surreal.

FF, that's a good word for that day: surreal.

Thanks for posting this on the 20th anniversary, Elle.

I was driving to work when I heard the first plane had hit. 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, we found out 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.

Although most of us did not experience the suffering of those who were directly affected and/or lost loved ones that day, everyone of us in the free world were impacted by this tragedy to some extent. Even though it is still painful to watch and memorialize the events of 9/11, it think it is important to do so in order to keep it relevant and teach future generations how fragile our democracy is.

Wow, that's crazy that you experienced that, Dreamer.

And You're welcome. If I hadn't had to work, I would've just sat in my room listening to songs written about or referencing the attacks, like the aforementioned Alan Jackson song, Eagles' Hole in the world, and Undivided by Bon Jovi to name a few.

I was headed to Chicago with my parents for a preoperative appointment on September 11th. We were halfway to Chicago when the first plane hit. We already had the radio tuned to the news for some other reason. We honestly figured it was a horrific plane accident crash. None of us thought about a terror attack and no one on that particular station even mentioned that possibility. Just outside Chicago, we got word a second plane had hit. At that point we all knew it was no plane crash accident and that something like a terrorist attack was happening as was it was being talked about on the news after the 2nd hit. At that moment of the 2nd plane going into the tower. We had to make a judgement call whether or not to continue into Chicago as they were talking about other possible locations for attacks and Sears Tower was one of them. I was headed to RUSH University. We decided to continue into Chicago as we were literally about 30 minutes away from the hospital at that time and for whatever the reason, didn't feel any risk in doing so or at least felt it was a manageable risk and that if the hospital got busy we would just leave. Had we been closer to home when we got the news about the 2nd Tower I believe we would have turned course and gone home and cancelled the appointment.

As soon as we got into the hospital, all of the TVs in the waiting rooms were all tuned to CNN news and we saw the Towers fall. There is a big difference between hearing something and seeing something. It was bad enough hearing about it on the radio. The TV was sobering. We also heard and saw the aftermath of the Pentagon hit. We saw the first tower fall, then I went in the back for my final preop check with the doc, and then on the way out of the hospital waiting at the lab, a TV showed the second one falling. It was very sobering. We then went home and of course by that time we all were talking about what had happened. I was 12 at the time. And always being intellectually older than my age in terms of being able to process things better than most my age and able to discuss things and understand the gravity of what was discussed, we talked about it and I knew what they were saying and I knew what it had meant. It wasn't lost on me. It was a historical moment for all the wrong reasons. It wasn't something I had to be told in kid terms unlike some of my classmates at that time/just didn't get it or they couldn't understand the magnitude of it.

I had the actual surgery as planned on September 24th, 2001 in Chicago. On the way to Chicago and on the way home discharged 7 days later, you would see semis and vehicles hauling cargo with huge American flags draped on the side. Not political signs for a candidate. Not rebel flags. American flags. And it was unbelievable. Billboards with American flags. Signs saying Never Forget. And it was like that on the many follow up appointments I had made in the weeks to come. It was truly something I will always remember. People were nicer. It was truly heartwarming.

The only thing else I will say about it is that I do feel that in the days, weeks, months, and even year following 9/11 - we were more united than ever before and have been since. I read something this week about someone saying they don't miss 9/11/01 but that they miss 9/12/01. And I agree with that fully. We were all Americans. Humans. Politics didn't matter. Race/gender identity/sexual orientation didn't matter. We were a united front. And I miss that. I feel like we need that right now with the COVID pandemic. It's something I think everyone in America on any side of any argument or policy or debate or position can agree on. I never ever want another 9/11 type event to happen to this country or any country. But I miss the way we were all united after 9/11. I hope it *doesn't* take another event of that magnitude to bring us together again. I really do.

It was absolutely a day I'll never forget. I was lucky that none of my family was affected in any way. That doesn't mean we didn't feel the pain felt around the nation and around the globe. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget where I was and what happened and seeing the country come together after one single day. That is something I don't think a person can forget. I can't often remember what I had for dinner the night before. I've forgot important events before. But I think for as long as someone asks me where I was, I'll always be able to tell them where I was that day.

Thanks for your thoughtful post, WF. I agree how nice the across the board unity was, and how disheartening it was to have it leave so soon. People must realize that much division is sown by our enemies, and makes us so much weaker for future attacks. We would pray to have our petty differences back, if overtaken by a people who care nothing for our history, advancements, rights, liberties, and sacred beliefs. We need to be reminded of our motto: Out of Many, One.

I was looking back on what I has posted about the attack back in 2006 on this board, its five year anniversary. It blows my mind that we're now 20 years out, and I have students that weren't even born when it happened.

We say "We'll never forget" but the truth is that time makes things fades. It's only threads like these, documentaries, listening to people's stories that keeps it alive. Last week I watched the documentaries on 9/11 about that day and saw all the footage, and that's when it really came back to me, how it felt.

I lived in Houston, Texas at the time - more specifically, Kingwood. It was my first job out of college after getting my master's degree; I was a brand new teacher, only a few years older than most of my students and younger than the non-traditional ones.

My first class was at 11:00, and I started my day around 9 by going to the computer and opening up my email before going to work. Back then, the internet was AOL. The first thing I saw when I got online was the AOL news page with a photo of a plane slamming into one of the towers. At that point, though, I thought it was a tragic accident and although it was horrible, I didn't click on the news story. I just checked my email and then got ready for work.

It wasn't until I got into my car to go to work about an hour later that I knew something was wrong. I turned on the car radio but instead of the rock music that usually greeted me, there was just news. For a second I thought that my settings on my dial were messed up but that notion was disabused quickly when I heard the first thing they said: "There's no way this was an accident." They were talking about the second plane. It was now a terrorist attack.

I listened in stunned silence as I drove to work. How was I supposed to teach a lesson today?

The point turned out to be moot. When I got to campus, I didn't make it past the parking lot; they had a security officer telling everyone to go back home. Houston had decided to go on lockdown; all schools and federal offices were closing - they were afraid terrorists might target the oil rigs or other buildings essential to the country's infrastructure.

Everybody was just scared and going on the idea "better safe than sorry."

So... I just went home and watched the news all day.

We tried to "go back to normal" when classes resumed the next day but we never really did get back to normal, did we? The world had changed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sodascouts

".......we never really did get back to normal, did we? The world had changed.

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Sadly, so true. We can never go back to the way things were.:worried:


On a lighter note, so glad to hear from you, Soda! Hoping you and others we haven't heard from lately are doing well!:nod:

Thank you to all who have shared their stories.

in their song "Undivided" Bon Jovi sang:

Where we were once were divided
now we stand united
as one,
undivided.