9/11 8 years later

[Nerak]

Always remember, Never forget!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65KZIqay4E"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65KZIqay4E[/ame]

[flaggwalkstheline]

8 years, damn
so...
any of u guys wanna talk about where u were on 9/11/01?

I was in the sixth grade and the school went into lockdown, all the kids and teachers hid under the desks, then they wheeled out a tv and everyone watched the towers fall, then my mom pulled my younger brother and me outta school

I remember that to me, being a kid who had only known the stability of the 90s, it was very shocking to realize that things like that could still happen...

[mystima]

This happened exactly ten days after my mother passed away. i was at home and was about to go back to work after taking time off for her funeral. the kids were watching tv. and asked me to come into the living room because all the channels were playing the same thing and was wondering if the tv was messing up. i got up and and when i saw what was happening i was struck with all amounts of horror as i saw the second plane hit the tower. i then called my sister to see if she had seen it and she was about to call me at the same time. all i could think at the time was that i was glad that my mother didn't see it because that would have killed her if she hadn't passed away already.

[razz]

I was in fifth grade. We were in Science class, and they interrupted everyone over the PA, and tv's were turned on. We watched all the shit happen, but I didn't actually realize what had happened for another year.

[Daghain]

I was working on the shop floor of the box factory running a machine. We had a radio out there so we could listen to music and they announced a plane had hit the first tower. We thought it had to be a military accident or something until the second one hit. I didn't get a chance to see the footage until later that afternoon when I went to my class at CSU and it was EVERYWHERE. I remember in one of my classes I had to explain to one ditzy eighteen-year-old (I was thirty-four at the time) that no, the economy did not just stop and we should not all go home, crawl under the covers and stop living. I don't think she got it, but the other six listening did.

[turtlex]

I was at work. It was so weird. We have a 9am conf call and I was sort of spacing on that. The other people on the conf call are located in NJ... and their window view was of the WTCs across the river.

It was the oddest thing. All of a sudden, all the people around the cubicle farm... the phones started ringing, one after another, like dominos almost. It was most of the guys' wives calling them - since the news was on at their homes, I guess.

The conf call people told us they saw something going on at the WTC, smoke and stuff. They ended the call sounding really panic'd.

I jumped on the web - and went right over to NewsRadio88 in NYC. Their server was down. I finally got the BBC and they had a live feed.

Eventually they put up a television in the cafe' and we all went there. I was standing with three of my co-workers when the second plane hit and we all just stood there, completely shocked and amazed. The guys started talking about no-fly zones ( two were ex-military ) and scrambling fighters. They seemed to feel it was some kind of attack, long before the news guys mentioned it.

I called my family - my brother was working at Logan Airport at the time, and he was locked down there. My mother was scared but okay.

I was at my desk when the plane hit the pentagon - and saw that report online. Of course the plane in PA... that scared us all - all the mentioning of Pennsylvania since that's where we were.

We all spent most of the day just sort of numb - roaming back and forth from our cubbies to the cafe' - and watching the news via the web. I called all my friends. I told everyone I loved them. I remember feeling so incredibly alone.

[Gris]

I was in the Pentagon. B Ring, 3rd floor.

[flaggwalkstheline]

I was in the Pentagon. B Ring, 3rd floor.

whoah

[Jean]

I was at home, and my wife turned the television on, which we very seldom do - and we saw that. We thought it was some catastrophe movie, or maybe some distopian documentary... I don't know how long it took us to believe that it was for real. Things like that just didn't happen in America. Here, where we lived, anything might happen, but not there; the USA was a country where right was right and law was law and such words as safety and order and common sense were not just words... anyway, it looked that way from where we were... and then it all collapsed. I know that most, if not all, people here felt exactly what we did: immense pity and sorrow for the dead (whose number was especially heartbreaking because America is not used to bearing such losses, - thank God, thank God! but just to think that this unprecedented number of lives was taken away so quick, in a country where every life was so precious, comparing to what human life was worth in the most of the world...), and some deep confusion: no, not America, not this bastion of reason, not this last wall that separates human existence from the absurd, from chaos and hell...

Gris:

[Nerak]

I was in the Pentagon. B Ring, 3rd floor.

[Woofer]

We were on the way to the doctor's office. Everything on the news was hunky dory when we left the house, but when we got to the doctor's office (10 minutes) it had already happened. We all gravitated toward my friend Nettie's house and spent the day following the rescues and other stories. I felt like I did the day Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. My mom was strangely calm, but she was from stoic Southern stock and had loved ones in WWII and Korea and Vietnam.

[razz]

The Heroes of 9/11

[Gris]

I was a surreal day to be sure. We saw the news after the first plane hit and were watching as the 2nd one hit. Of the 5 of us in my shop, 3 smoked so we went out to the center courtyard which was the designated smoking area. We discussed how at first it seamed like someone screwed up, but then the 2nd hit and we knew it was going to be a long day. While we were walking back in, one of my troops made the comment, jokingly, "y'know we're next, right".

a nice little rumble later I got up off the floor and we helped with the evacuation, which was unbelievably calm and organized considering. Then we went back inside and did our job.

[alinda]

I suppose everyone remembers the moment one heard about ,or
viewed this horror. I was just where I am now, at my desk.
Sept 11th has always been a day of rememberence for my
family, it's the day my father passed away. But oh my ,this
was just so horrorific. Like some of you indicated surreal even
unbelievable. It still hurts to see those images. Even today as we
remember , I feel sick to see them on the TV. Will we as a people
ever live thru anything as terrifing in our lifetime again, I pray not.
I'm sorry I am finding it hard to continue.

[Nerak]

I was a surreal day to be sure. We saw the news after the first plane hit and were watching as the 2nd one hit. Of the 5 of us in my shop, 3 smoked so we went out to the center courtyard which was the designated smoking area. We discussed how at first it seamed like someone screwed up, but then the 2nd hit and we knew it was going to be a long day. While we were walking back in, one of my troops made the comment, jokingly, "y'know we're next, right".

a nice little rumble later I got up off the floor and we helped with the evacuation, which was unbelievably calm and organized considering. Then we went back inside and did our job.

Holy crap!!!


Linda

[Woofer]

Gris and Linda:

[turtlex]

Gris

[rosie real]

gris

i was in the hospital. i thought it was a hallucination because of the meds i was on. . . or maybe. . .
the nurses were gathered at the nurse's station watching it on the internet. televisions were turned to it. . . patients were crying. i remember a sense of "this isn't real, can't be real". but it was.

dear president obama #235

[CRinVA]

I was in Washington, DC about a mile from the Pentagon! I worked at the time at The Dept of Education. Someone in the bldg heard about the first one and we were all standing around watching a TV amazed that such an accident could occur.

Then the second plane hit and we saw the live coverage and everyone went numb! No work was done and then we heard The Pentagon - the Government shut down and everyone was told to leave. It was mass chaos. No one knew what was really going on, but a million people were desperately trying to get out of the District.

I took the train to work then, but no way was I riding the train to Prince William County and having to go directly past the Pentagon. We did not know if there would be more attacks or what! I got on a subway headed West and planned to go to the end of the line - Vienna, Virginia to be excact. I was with two co-workers and we all tried over and over to call loved ones - the circuits were way overloaded. I finally got my wife who was frantic trying to call me since she heard the news. I told her to get to Vienna anyway she could to get us.

It took us 3 hours for the metro to get to vienna, normally a 30 minute ride. I have never seen the subway so full - for everyone in a seat there were 30 or more standing. At every stop the doors would open and more people would try to get on - there was no room. The loudspeaker announced for people to back form the doors that another train was right behind. People did not care if there was nother train in 2 minutes - they wanted on the one in the station. Total Chaos. The doors would not close until people were forced off! You could see the terror in their eyes!

When we got to Vienna I was interviewed by a Sweedish news correspondent as I got off the subway train. Couldn't really say much! didnt know much! It took my wife about another two hours to get to us. And then another couple of hours to get home. We fihnally got a hold of one of our kids and they were able to get the message to the others that mom and dad were ok but stuck in traffic big time.

All in all I got back to my home around 6pm and the attacks occurred 8 hours earlier! We were scared, and I was mad - mad that this could happen in America. I am a 12 year Marine Coprs Veteran from the 70's and 80's and I was mad and could do nothing about it!

Back then my wife was in this Local Twins Club - - now my twins were 10 years old at the time. There was this one set of Twin's Dad that was a volunteer firefighter - he just happened to be in NY City at the time of the attack! As best his family can put together he ran into the Twin Towers and worked feverishly to get people out - total disregard for his own personal safety! He never made it out! Just another Dad with a set of 2 year old twins - a normal guy minding his own business on a business trip to the City - and a hero!

I also think a lot about the heros on the flight in PA. Man they all knew they were going to die and yet they did the right thing - they banded together and stopped a fourth tragedy from becoming any worse that it was already!

One last story - I have a co-worker - actually he used to work for me on a previous contract - who was in the Pentagon near the blast zone. He survived but will never be the same. He was interviewed and told the reporters that when the blast hit all the walls crumbled around him and he was thrust into darkness and he was burned badly about the face and shoulders. He says all he remembers is he was crawling trying to get out and away form the flames and he heard this voice that kept saying come to me come to my voice and he followed that voice and crawled to safety, BUT there was no one there when he got out! Creepy. He was at the local Army hospital for quite some time - he is also a veteran. And he was visited by the President in his hospotal room. A year later he went back to work and back to the Pentagon - he managed to stay there for about 4 hours - just couldn't take it - drudged up too many memories. My company found him a new position at Fort Belvoir (about 10 miles from The Pentagon) but he was never the same and ended up retiring early on disability some time after!

So I say Remember, and be Vigilant! And say Thank You to the Firemen and the Policemen and the Veterans and the Reservists and the Active Duty Military Personnel, and the everyday heroes that make up our society. They put their lives on the line for all of us!

God Bless America!!!!!

[gsvec]

Some amazing stories here. to you all.

I was living in North Jersey at the time and was supposed to fly out of Newark Airport on a United flight to Chicago that very morning. I had the Today Show on and was just finishing up my packing and ready to head out to the airport when the first plane hit. The original newscast tagged it incorrectly as a small private plane, and my first thought (after being amazed) was that my flight would be delayed so I might as well relax for a while. Then the second plane hit. Holy crap - this wasn't just some accident.

Needless to say, I was glued to the TV from that point forward and I screamed and cried like a baby when the first tower fell. I could see the smoke from a upstairs bedroom in my house. I tried all day to contact my family back in the midwest to tell them I was okay, and finally reached my brother who was VERY relieved. He wasn't sure what flight I was scheduled on and was beside himself because he'd been trying to call all day but couldn't get through.

I spent all week either glued to the TV or on the phone, and got a whole new attitude about life and what's important. The Sunday night after, I was going to log in and check my work email since I'd been on "vacation" all week and decided not to - they weren't paying me again until Monday. Perfect decision. Fifteen minutes after I walked into my office on Monday morning, my VP came in and gave my my RIF papers.

[AIMB]

I was asleep in my bed. The year I dropped out of high school. My mom called me freaking out and I said "yeah, yeah whatever and went back to sleep for 3 more hours. Later realized the seriousness of it when a couple of my friends and I went to the mall and it was closed. Sooo stupid I was. Later on that night we were horseplaying around at my friends house upstairs and we got in trouble by their mom because we "should be mourning"

It makes me sick how much I blew it off then, now it seems so serious to me. At the time I was like, "whatever, how are we getting alchohol this weekend?"

[Ricky]

I remember I was in fourth grade at the time. They annouced that we were getting out of school but none of us knew precisely why; we didn't know what was going on. I think it took us awhile to fully understand the seriousness of the situation.

Though I wasn't near NY, my aunt was in the Towers on 9/11/00--exactly one year before.