9/11

[LuvNH]

Never forget. Do you remember where you were?

[Bay Kid]

I will never forget.

[Taltarzac725]

Watching TV before going to volunteer at the East Lake Community Library in Palm Harbor, FL. Many if not all the volunteers, employees, and the like we're in shock. Same with those later that week when I volunteered at Palm Harbor Public Library. Combined these two public libraries had about 200 volunteers with many with New York connections.

[New Englander]

I remember. I was working down inside a tunnel being constructed under the streets of Boston.

[Stu from NYC]

I remember. Before we moved out of NY was in both buildings quite a few times. Unfortunately the media seems to want us to forget.

[Taltarzac725]

Older brother knew people at Pentagon as well as in New York City in the towers who died or were otherwise present on 9/11.

[Ham_and_Cheese]

I was heading in to a 9am meeting and I always got there early

On the way into the conference room, someone said that a small plane had hit one of the Trade Center towers

Wasn't until the meeting was over that I found out what had really happened

Told my boss that I was going home (had a 1hr drive at the time) - stopped at BJ's on the way home and stocked up on emergency stuff (water, canned goods, paper products, etc.)

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I was working a temp job at Pratt-Whitney Aircraft, editing computer specs for military helicopter parts. It was my 2nd or 3rd day on the 4-week assignment. The spec-writing department was a temperature-controlled mobile-home office within the enormous factory (the building itself was the size of 6 football fields). We had a small TV on. We were preparing our computers and printers for the morning tasks. It wasn't quite 9 yet. All of a sudden the guy with the TV shouted for us to come look at the TV.

We all rush to his desk and crowd around the TV to witness the initial attack on the first building, replayed from only a few seconds prior. We stood there staring, more employees came into the office and crowded more - we were all in shock and horrified.

And then...

One guy in the office says - you know we would make a perfect target for them. (Pratt-Whitney had massive military contracts at the time and our branch was responsible for repair, melt-down and re-configure of the parts that make up the military planes and helicopters)

As soon as he said that, I grabbed my purse and ran through the factory, around half of the entire length of this massive structure, and drove home. Called Kelly Services while I was still crying and shaking like a leaf and told them there wasn't enough money to get me to return to a target of terrorists.

I spent the rest of the day crying while practically glued to my TV at home, terrified that my town might end up blown up and grateful that I got out of that building.

[Taltarzac725]

I was working a temp job at Pratt-Whitney Aircraft, editing computer specs for military helicopter parts. It was my 2nd or 3rd day on the 4-week assignment. The spec-writing department was a temperature-controlled mobile-home office within the enormous factory (the building itself was the size of 6 football fields). We had a small TV on. We were preparing our computers and printers for the morning tasks. It wasn't quite 9 yet. All of a sudden the guy with the TV shouted for us to come look at the TV.

We all rush to his desk and crowd around the TV to witness the initial attack on the first building, replayed from only a few seconds prior. We stood there staring, more employees came into the office and crowded more - we were all in shock and horrified.

And then...

One guy in the office says - you know we would make a perfect target for them. (Pratt-Whitney had massive military contracts at the time and our branch was responsible for repair, melt-down and re-configure of the parts that make up the military planes and helicopters)

As soon as he said that, I grabbed my purse and ran through the factory, around half of the entire length of this massive structure, and drove home. Called Kelly Services while I was still crying and shaking like a leaf and told them there wasn't enough money to get me to return to a target of terrorists.

I spent the rest of the day crying while practically glued to my TV at home, terrified that my town might end up blown up and grateful that I got out of that building.

Sounds smart of you. The enemy military would probably target those kind of facilities. We did it a lot during the bombing war in WWII.

[fdpaq0580]

Small anchorage in Northern British Columbia returning from a summer boat trip to Alaska. Some other boaters told us what was going on. It seemed unreal in that peaceful cove and I just felt numb from the news. Details were sketchy. We didn't get more information for several more days.

[ThirdOfFive]

I remember it well. It was Tuesday, the day of our weekly unit meeting, which was cancelled. There was a TV set up in one of the conference rooms and most of us gathered there. "Somber" was a mild word to use to describe the mood.

Interesting thing about a week later...a bomb threat was received by our service one morning. That soon after 9/11 it was taken VERY seriously. We were evacuated to a building about two blocks away while bomb-sniffing dogs were called in and went over our offices and common areas. They didn't find anything but the powers-that-be decided that we should leave for the rest of the day, and could leave as soon as our "cars where cleared". There were several deputies doing the clearing. I asked the one who was peering under my car with his flashlight, just what he was looking for. He responded "I have absolutely no idea".

The "threat" turned out to be some Jr. High student's idea of a prank.

[Taltarzac725]

I had been pushing Florida libraries back then to get a link to the Florida Victim Services Directory.

I had done similar things in many other states if they had such directories.


It is very hard though to help so many people affected by tragedies like 9/11.

[Kenswing]

I was the Director of Operations in the Bay Area for a company that made discs for hard drives. I was driving to work when news of the attack started on the radio. As soon as I got to work I turned on the TV. We were a 24/7 operation but after a couple of hours it was obvious that no work was going to get done. So we sent the day shift home and canceled the night shift. That was the first time in over five years that production stopped for other than Christmas eve and Christmas day.

[Keefelane66]

I remember. Before we moved out of NY was in both buildings quite a few times. Unfortunately the media seems to want us to forget.
Don't know what you are thinking MSM has been advertising for weeks about Memorial Services NY, DC and Pa…

[Altavia]

Budweiser 911 Tribute - Respect

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlaE5a-SI4

[Taltarzac725]

I sure felt elation when they nailed Bin Laden.

[fdpaq0580]

I sure felt elation when they nailed Bin Laden.

I don't think you are alone?

[Taltarzac725]

I don't think you are alone?

Osama Bin Laden was the person who put all that horror together.

[Stu from NYC]

Just watched a repeat of the 60 minutes story on the burning and collapse of the twin towers.

The courage of the first responders was remarkable and their courage was amazing.

Also brought back to mind pictures that day of palestinians dancing in the street.

[tophcfa]

Never forget. Do you remember where you were?

In London on a work trip, all meetings were immediately cancelled. My companies travel department immediately began trying to book me a flight back home, which ultimately took a week and a half. Flew there on 9/10 from Boston on 7:45 AM flight (about the same time the planes that were hijacked took off the next day). When I returned my car was not where I left it, all vehicles were towed away and ripped apart looking for evidence. Had to jump through loops to get my compounded vehicle back. Several people working for Investment Banking firms who I had long time professional relationships with died in the towers that horrible day.

[villagetinker]

I was at an off campus work meeting, and going back to my desk, when a co-worker stopped me and asked where I was going, then told me the building I worked in was evacuated and everyone told to go home. I got the full story about 25 minutes later when I arrived home. Scariest day of my life.

[Keefelane66]

Sad thing we bombed Afghanistan back to the stone age for 20+ yearsand we are back to square one. The terrorists came from Saudi Arabia on passports.

[Dusty_Star]

I was there. I think it unlikely that I will ever forget, even though I sometimes wish to. But I do understand your desire that the country as a whole does not forget.
This is a quote I found from a New York art history professor: "None of us has ever liked the World Trade Tower, but, when a very conspicuous building in our city, which we expect to outlive us, is destroyed by enemy action, then it’s not only the lives of the people who are lost in it, but the lives of all of us, and the hope of future life which is cut away. And they know it. They know what they are doing.”

[patfla06]

We moved to Florida in 1997 from N.Y. due to a corporate transfer.

Our Son was in his senior year of high school in 2001. That July we were doing the college tours and went to NYU. After he wanted to take his friend to the WTC and I refused due to the first try in 1993.

I will never forget that day.

[FredMitchell]

Yes.

[Jerry F2]

Never forget. Do you remember where you were. Traveling back from Pottsville, PA in car with my dad after visiting his brother. We pulled in an interstate rest stop (just outside of Shanksville, PA) the TV was showing the towers burning.
I asked someone "what is happening?" He said, "we are being attacked". My dad was an Army Veteran of WW2. At that time, I was an Army Veteran of Desert Storm, Somalia and Bosnia. Both of us had seen lots of combat. As we got back into the car my dad turned to me and said, "Keep the radio off, we will not talk about this until we get back to Cincinnati, which was 5 hours away." I said to dad "You know that I am going back and volunteer for active duty." About a year later, at 50 years old, I was in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban. Actions speak louder than words.

[Mrfriendly]

Never forget. Do you remember where you were?

Eerily this year was exactly like 23 years ago weatherwise here in NJ/NY. Cool crisp morning with no clouds.
That day I was driving to a morning meeting and heard on local radio of plane hitting building and I could see the smoke across the river in New York from that crash. During the meeting a small black-and-white TV with rabbit ear antenna showed us the news and shocked us all that we should go home right away. While driving home I went past a blood center and a number of ambulance and fire stations in different towns. The line was around the block with people ready to give blood and every fire and ambulance station stood at the ready to accept the possible throngs of dead or injured from the attack. I got home and hugged my wife.
I’ll never forget.

[terryf484]

I was in Albuquerque to teach a class at the Enroute Air Traffic Control Center. I was staying at the Resident Inn and had just came into the breakfast area. People were looking at the television showing a picture of the one tower smoking. Someone said a plane had hit the tower. I was thinking how could a plane mess up and fly into something that big when the second plane came flying by and hit the second tower. By the time I got to the Center, planes were disappearing from the controller's displays. Never thought I would see blank screens on all of the displays. What always impressed me was how everyone came together in unity after 9/11.

[MandoMan]

Never forget. Do you remember where you were?

I was two hours away in Pennsylvania, in my office. After the first plane hit, my department chair put a little portable television on a bench outside my office. So I watched the second plane hit live and watched both towers fall live. When we learned this was a Muslim terrorist attack, I realized at once that the real intent of the terrorists was to spark non-Muslim retaliation in the Middle East which would in turn lead to Muslim uprisings. I realized that this would last a generation or more. I was right. Yes, terrorists want to hurt people, but they are more interested in sparking retaliation that will lead to world condemnation. This is what has happened with the Hamas terrorism in Israel, as well. Hamas has probably succeeded even more than it had dared hope. Israel had little choice, but even so, it fell into the trap Hamas set.

[Sandy and Ed]

Sitting in the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance Operations Center in DC with a bank of tv’s tuned to every English speaking station. Saw the second plane hit live on tv as the first tower was burning. Had to interrupt a high level meeting in the conference room to report we were under attack. Brother was working on the floor of the NY Stock Exchange. No one will ever forget where they were nor will they forget the lives lost then and subsequently as a result of the attack

[sharonl7340]

Never forget. Do you remember where you were?

I can never forget. Watched it all unfold 10 blocks away.

[Ken D.]

Budweiser 911 Tribute - Respect

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlaE5a-SI4
That was a great tribute, very touching.

[birdawg]

Was ten miles from ground zero in Livingston NJ Never forget I was hoping I would have seen more flags displayed in our community

[frostola]

I was driving my son to school when we heard the news on the radio, we were in shock. I continued on to my job, I worked in Labor and Delivery at a local hospital, such a day of mixed emotions for these mom’s bringing new life into this world.

[coconutmama]

I was on the second day of a new job near Boston. One co-Worker had a radio. We were all glued to it in horror and disbelieve. For days after the eeriness of no planes flying overhead to Logan airport, the television relaying scenes of bravery & the vast destruction will never be forgotten by those of us who were alive.

We were all asked to watch for anything suspicious around rail tracks, bridges etc. We should still do so but probably have become complacent.

[NoMo50]

The amazing thing to me was the speed with which the citizens of our country came together in a common bond. Petty differences were (at least for a while) forgotten. We banded together as Americans. For months after the attacks, American flags were in short supply...everyone wanted to buy and fly the flag. It reminded me of stories my grandfather used to tell about how the country was instantly galvanized following Pearl Harbor. And that was before social media and the 24-hour news cycle.

Today, we have slipped back to the point of allowing difference of opinions define us as individuals. A world where the MSM says it is OK to hate your neighbors because their beliefs may differ from yours. It is tragic that it takes a major catastrophe to bring us together as a people who share common bonds, despite petty differences. We are better than that.

[nn0wheremann]

Never forget. Do you remember where you were?
Packing for an 11:30 AM flight from O’Hare to Denver. The night before I had changed from the 6:30 flight. If I had caught that one I would have been stuck in Denver.

[RcCalais]

Never forget. Do you remember where you were?

Yes, I remember where I was at the time, I was in a country called Yemen working in an area referred to as the Empty Quarter near the border of Saudi Arabia. Scheduled to return to the states the following day a decision had to be made, wait it out or start the 34 hour trip home. I decided to chance it and headed home.

With all flights to the US cancelled, the plane change in the UK took a good bit longer. I was fortunate to be able to get a seat on the first flight to the US when they resumed.

Yes, I remember and will never forget.

[Oldnavycdr]

I was a new political appointee in the Pentagon with an E-Ring office just down the hall from the crash site. So new (less than a week) that I hadn't yet met all of my staff -- some of which were killed that day. My office ultimately burned.

[nn0wheremann]

Never forget. Do you remember where you were?
My daughter was in junior high school on that day. When she got home she drew n American flag on a tee shirt with the legend “Patriots (the school team name) Stand Together”. She got approval from the school, had a bunch printed, and sold them to establish a memorial in town to the locals who died in the pentagon. She went on to become the youngest woman promoted to field grade rank in her state’s National Guard’s history. Yesterday, she met a soldier who was born after 9/11. That made her feel like an Old Soldier.

[RRGuyNJ]

Never forget. Do you remember where you were?

I was an engineer for NJT and had made one trip into NY CITY for that morning's commute. I often wonder if any of my passengers never made it home. We had close to 1000 people on that rush hour train. After the RR was reopened we were sent back to NYC but we're held out for hours waiting fo authorities to check the tunnels for bombs etc. All we could do was watch smoke rise from where the towers should have been. We also saw many fire and rescue vehicle travel on I-280 heading to the city to assist.
To the best of my knowledge, we were the first train back into NYC from NJ after the inspection.
For several days afterwards we saw many cars with chalk marks on the tires to show they had not been moved and local police could begin tracking down the owners. Many were people that died on that day.

[TeresaA]

Never forget. Do you remember where you were?

We were stationed in Hawaii. We felt so isolated when hearing the news. Over the next couple of years we watched tourism come to a stop and the island was so empty. It was a very eerie feeling for a very long time. My heart goes out to those families who lost loved ones. What a tragedy

[msilagy]

In MID town Manhattan at a sales meeting

[tedquick]

Never forget. Do you remember where you were?

I remember well. I was having breakfast with a friend who I have not seen in years because I've moved to FL. but we still text each other on 9/11. We must "never forget".

[FredJacobs]

I worked on Wall Street, about 1/4 mile from the Twin Towers. From my window, I saw paper floating down and thought that it was because of a parade on lower Broadway. I noticed that some of the paper was singed and that because I was on the 23rd floor, the paper could not have been due to a parade. When we were told that a plane hit one of the buildings, we concluded that it was an accident until the second plane hit the other building.

I was sitting at my desk when the first building fell. My desk shook for a moment or two, as though there was a minor earthquake. The building management closed all the vents and we waited for the dust to settle before we told to vacate the building and go home. By that time, Manhattan Island was closed to traffic in both directions. The Brooklyn Bridge is a short walk from Wall Street. Long Island and Staten Island residents walked across the bridge to connect with the Long Island Railroad and relatives from Staten Island who drove in to pick them up. A colleague, who lived in New Jersey about 35 miles south of NYC, had to drive 30 miles North to be able to cross the Hudson River. After an hour of driving North, he was able to drop me off near my home. By the way, this colleague had his car parked at the World Trade Center 1993 parking garage bombing.

The eeriest site was watching U.S. Navy jets making figure eights over Manhattan.

[juddfl]

Never forget. Do you remember where you were?
We had lived in New Jersey and had a view of The Twin Towers. I was at work and had planned to retire in about a year or two. My husband had retired in July and had been in that building every day for 30 years. My husband called me at work and said that he wanted me to retire immediately. I had 31 years and could get my pension. The first attack, my husband had taken the ferry over instead of the train. When he got there, the garage of The World Trade center had been bombed. When I got home, we dicussed it and decided for me to retire earlier than what we had planned. I was only 51 years old. We closed on our home in The Villages on October 10. When we drove away, I can still remember the buildings were still smoking. I will never forget!!!

[MSGirl]

Never forget. Do you remember where you were?

At a real estate convention in Fairhope, AL, getting ready for the day to shop at the outlets in Foley, Had the tv on NBC, Today show and saw 9-11 unfold. So surreal and a day I will never forget.

[jjombrello]

Driving over the Mackinac Bridge, heading south.

[darkim]

I was an aircraft mechanic for United Airlines. At the announcement of grounding aircraft, we began prepping to park 100 aircraft in any space we could find. Sadly Flt 93 was our aircraft inline for a maintenance visit in a few months … and when it didn’t show up as scheduled we had an empty bay as a remembrance for about 30-days

[jmsturm]

On vacation in Fenwick Island, Delaware. Going back home to PA that day we passed Dover AFB. Saw a line of cars at main gate, armed guards lining the fence line and many planes on the tarmac looking like they were being loaded!! Will NEVER forget!

[dougawhite]

I was head of engineering for NEXTEL in the NYC area, the phone that had the push-to-talk button kind of like a walkie-talkie. The NYFD loved our phones because they were super-rugged and they often worked in buildings where their own radios didn't. My dad passed away in CT on Sept 9, so I was scheduled to work in our White Plains office on the 11th for just a few hours before traveling to CT. Well that changed as we were monitoring after the first plane hit, since our telephone/dispatch systems could get overloaded pretty quickly. After the 2nd plane hit it was all hands on deck! We setup a command post on the 15th floor of our office and could even see the smoke trailing off the towers from there. We attempted to setup filters to limit radio traffic to just those radios/phones owned by first responders but our technology at the time didn't easily allow for that (this feature was added in subsequent system upgrades). After the towers collapsed, the NYFD wanted us to setup a radio transceiver site right down at ground zero because they were hoping to be able to hear NEXTEL radio calls from trapped firefighters under the rubble. We made that happen after a lot of very quick planning and running around with spare equipment. By the late afternoon I had to drive to CT for the next day's funeral. I spent most of the night on the phone with our engineers coordinating recovery of telephone systems that interconnect all of our lower Manhattan cell sites. These telephone systems originated from the AT&T central office building which was immediately adjacent to the north tower. It turns out that steel girders from the collapse had pierced the underground cable vaults going into that central office and all the water being sprayed from firefighting equipment was infiltrating the cable vaults causing everything to short circuit, knocking out our downtown cell sites one by one. We had to setup microwave hops from each cell site around the towers and connect to locations across the Hudson to get the sites back up and running over the next few days. On a related note, because I'm a radio geek, I had taken a tour of the channel 7 TV station transmitter and the 350 foot tall rooftop antenna, and the hundreds of other radio antennas, on the north tower a few years prior to the tragedy. The TV transmitter was on the top floor and even included a 20KW diesel generator and the fuel necessary to run it for a day, all up there on the top floor. If you've never seen a 20KW diesel generator, it's about the size of an SUV. It's hard to imagine all of that falling straight down during the collapse!
http://www.thevillagesoldtimeradio.club/images/TwinTowersTVAntenna.jpg

[maistocars]

On 40th St. & 6th Ave In NYC- 36th Floor in conference overlooking WTC. Saw both planes hit. 2nd plane flew right by us. Very scary. NYC had burning smell for weeks.

[DONNIEBRONX]

I could see the buildings burning from.my office in NY and I was lucky to get a taxi to take me to my car in a white plains nt parking lot

[Marmaduke]

Traveling back from Pottsville, PA in car with my dad after visiting his brother. We pulled in an interstate rest stop (just outside of Shanksville, PA) the TV was showing the towers burning.
I asked someone "what is happening?" He said, "we are being attacked". My dad was an Army Veteran of WW2. At that time, I was an Army Veteran of Desert Storm, Somalia and Bosnia. Both of us had seen lots of combat. As we got back into the car my dad turned to me and said, "Keep the radio off, we will not talk about this until we get back to Cincinnati, which was 5 hours away." I said to dad "You know that I am going back and volunteer for active duty." About a year later, at 50 years old, I was in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban. Actions speak louder than words.
This is the most incredible post that I have EVER read anywhere.

God Bless you and your and my late WW II Dads.

A Pittsburgher.

[badkarma318]

What happened in Gander, Newfoundland due to 9/11 is one of the most inspiring stories of all time. Tom Brokaw covered the story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rteLASCbUrM


Also, the book "The Day the World Came to Town" is outstanding.

The Day the World Came to Town - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_World_Came_to_Town)

[Salty Dog]

Was in the Coast Guard and was just waking up to go to the office in Sitka Alaska. Was scheduled to fly to Florida the following day for retirement seminar. Was able to reschedule my flight for the 1st flight out several days later. Went to Patrick AFB in Florida to attend the seminar that had been cancelled, but they had forgotten to contact me. I retired 6 months later after over 31 years on active duty.

[Stu from NYC]

Was in the Coast Guard and was just waking up to go to the office in Sitka Alaska. Was scheduled to fly to Florida the following day for retirement seminar. Was able to reschedule my flight for the 1st flight out several days later. Went to Patrick AFB in Florida to attend the seminar that had been cancelled, but they had forgotten to contact me. I retired 6 months later after over 31 years on active duty.

Thank you and all the other veterans for your service