[senior citizen]

The recent Boston Marathon terrorism brought back painful memories for those from Newtown Connecticut who were running in the race, as well as for those who lived in the Greater New York/New Jersey Metro region with memories of 911.......never to be erased from their minds.......

Any folks out there who lived in northern New Jersey but commuted into "the city" (meaning New York City) who went to work unsuspectingly on that fateful morning..........when all of our lives were changed forever...?

Anyone work in nearby office buildings who experienced the collapse of the towers?

Any stories of having to walk across the bridges.........?

That day is indelibly engraved on our minds.........as we had to fly a few days later.......on American Airlines.* Share any stories you wish to tell.
Thank you in advance..........

p.s.We also know people who were stranded in Europe and couldn't get flights home.....Boston was horrific for sure.........but all of the after effects of 911 were simply overwhelming to all of us..........

[Ecuadog]

If I hadn't retired in 1995, I would have been working across the street in a building that was heavily damaged that day. Instead, I was home on Long Island watching the whole terrible thing on television.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by Ecuadog

If I hadn't retired in 1995, I would have been working across the street in a building that was heavily damaged that day. Instead, I was home on Long Island watching the whole terrible thing on television.

Guess it was fate that you retired earlier and were not in the path of terror.
None of us will ever forget that day, for sure.

Many of our cousins in Bergen County N.J.'s townspeople were among those in the towers........as a lot of N.J. communities are "bedroom communities" for those who worked in N.Y.C., commuting home each evening.

Unfortunately, some never came back.

[Cynbod]

I worked in a school on W25th. I could see a lot and the experience is one I will never forget. We live in Park Slope and knew many people who never came home. Lets try to remember the recipes from our childhood you so often mention.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by Cynbod

I worked in a school on W25th. I could see a lot and the experience is one I will never forget. We live in Park Slope and knew many people who never came home. Lets try to remember the recipes from our childhood you so often mention.

That's a profound statement, "We knew many people who never came home". None of us know when our last day is.....so yes, I will cherish all of those old recipes.

This recent Boston happening brought back many memories of 911, even though it wasn't quite the same in magnitude.

My dad was raised not far from where the Twin Towers were.....
.......on the lower east side (a long long time ago in the late 1890's to the 1930's....)

Thanks for sharing........

[REDCART]

I was at work the morning of 9/11 on the 40th FL at 26 Federal Plaza. We watched the first plane fly by our windows over Church St. before it struck the North Tower. The wings were wobbling up and down and our first thought was there was something mechanically wrong with the plane. When the second plane hit, we were all staring at the Trade Center in disbelief. We immediately understood this was a deliberate attack and we grabbed jackets, handbags and many of us ran out of the building. I think we believed our building would be the next target. Police had closed the Brooklyn Bridge subway entrance and I walked up to Canal St to grab a subway. Some of my co-workers stayed behind for whatever reason and witnessed the Twin Towers collapse. I just wanted to get out of Dodge. The Federal Building was closed for the next two weeks, and it was months before the dust and debris were finally cleared from the area.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by gryoung

I was at work the morning of 9/11 on the 40th FL at 26 Federal Plaza. We watched the first plane fly by our windows over Church St. before it struck the North Tower. The wings were wobbling up and down and our first thought was there was something mechanically wrong with the plane. When the second plane hit, we were all staring at the Trade Center in disbelief. We immediately understood this was a deliberate attack and we grabbed jackets, handbags and many of us ran out of the building. I think we believed our building would be the next target. Police had closed the Brooklyn Bridge subway entrance and I walked up to Canal St to grab a subway. Some of my co-workers stayed behind for whatever reason and witnessed the Twin Towers collapse. I just wanted to get out of Dodge. The Federal Building was closed for the next two weeks, and it was months before the dust and debris were finally cleared from the area.

The vision of the plane flying by your windows will forever remain in your memory........what an experience that must have been. What a day; what a night.

[redwitch]

I was in California and watched in horror as the second plane hit. Until that second, it was a horrible, tragic accident. The second plane made it an incomprehensible act of terror.

I lost two friends on the Pennsylvania flight (it was coming from Boston to California).

My ex-husband worked in the Pentagon. For an entire week, no one could find him (his car was in the Pentagon parking lot, he worked in the east wing). Turns out his friend had borrowed his car and he was on vacation. Rather than going to the Caribbean as planned, he went to NYC to help in the clean up. Tragically, he died of mesothelioma last year. He'd never smoked or worked with asbestos. The doctors felt he probably got it while helping with the clean up.

You didn't have to be in NYC to be indelibly affected by these acts. Like the assassination of President Kennedy, it is something that those who were alive will always remember with a heavy heart.

[tommy steam]

I was working in about 15 miles away. I was on the roof of building , I could see the towers burning. My youngest daughter was working a few blocks away from the towers. She saw it all and watched as the second plane hit tower number two, horrible. My second daughter on a business trip ,had been working in NYC and was staying in a hotel with a room right across from the towers. Thank goodness she left the day before and was going to Canada on business. She became stranded in Canada for maybe a week till they allowed the planes to fly again . There was noway you could use the phones that day. Three thousand souls were lost that day. We can never forget NY or Boston .

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by tommy steam

I was working in about 15 miles away. I was on the roof of building , I could see the towers burning. My youngest daughter was working a few blocks away from the towers. She saw it all and watched as the second plane hit tower number two, horrible. My second daughter on a business trip ,had been working in NYC and was staying in a hotel with a room right across from the towers. Thank goodness she left the day before and was going to Canada on business. She became stranded in Canada for maybe a week till they allowed the planes to fly again . There was noway you could use the phones that day. Three thousand souls were lost that day. We can never forget NY or Boston .

Never.

[tucson]

I had a customer who was in NY that morning and unfortunately she was in a taxi and saw ppl jumping out of windows and heard horrible screams, etc, etc.

[2BNTV]

My son was working a few short blocks away in the basement of a building when the first plane hit. The building shook and all three workers looked at each other and said, "what the heck was that". They went outside and saw the first plane sticking out from the tower, My son starting walking uptown when he saw the second plane hit. At that point, a lot of debris was filling the air and he started running uptown to about 53rd street to meet his wife. He stayed in the lobby of the hotel while she was finished work and took a bus out of Manhattan.

I was working,oblivious to what was going on and he called to say he was alright. I remember saying to him, "why wouldn't you be alright? He then informed of what transpired.

Another person I know son, was working in the twin towers and luckily was late arriving for work that morning. He got off the subway, saw what happened and walked across the street, and took the subway back home.

NEVER FORGET!!!!!

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by redwitch

I was in California and watched in horror as the second plane hit. Until that second, it was a horrible, tragic accident. The second plane made it an incomprehensible act of terror.

I lost two friends on the Pennsylvania flight (it was coming from Boston to California).

My ex-husband worked in the Pentagon. For an entire week, no one could find him (his car was in the Pentagon parking lot, he worked in the east wing). Turns out his friend had borrowed his car and he was on vacation. Rather than going to the Caribbean as planned, he went to NYC to help in the clean up. Tragically, he died of mesothelioma last year. He'd never smoked or worked with asbestos. The doctors felt he probably got it while helping with the clean up.

You didn't have to be in NYC to be indelibly affected by these acts. Like the assassination of President Kennedy, it is something that those who were alive will always remember with a heavy heart.

Your husband was one of those selfless people who rose to the occasion and volunteered to help; unfortunately, he no doubt ended up with the lung problem from breathing in those toxic chemicals at the site.

Our next door neighbor, at the time, owned a funeral parlor here in town; he went down to N.Y.C. with his son to help in identifying the bodies at the morgue.......was down there for quite awhile.

You are correct.......the memories are shared by people all over the U.S.
Thanks for sharing....

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by tucson

I had a customer who was in NY that morning and unfortunately she was in a taxi and saw ppl jumping out of windows and heard horrible screams, etc, etc.

That's a horror that would never be forgotten...........their witnessing that.

You realize you are either going to burn to death, choke to death or jump to your death. Which do you choose? I can't even imagine.

Nothing has been the same for our generation since then.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by 2BNTV

My son was working a few short blocks away in the basement of a building when the first plane hit. The building shook and all three workers looked at each other and said, "what the heck was that". They went outside and saw the first plane sticking out from the tower, My son starting walking uptown when he saw the second plane hit. At that point, a lot of debris was filling the air and he started running uptown to about 53rd street to meet his wife. He stayed in the lobby of the hotel while she was finished work and took a bus out of Manhattan.

I was working,oblivious to what was going on and he called to say he was alright. I remember saying to him, "why wouldn't you be alright? He then informed of what transpired.

Another person I know son, was working in the twin towers and luckily was late arriving for work that morning. He got off the subway, saw what happened and walked across the street, and took the subway back home.

NEVER FORGET!!!!!

Your son, thankfully........as well as the other son mentioned were among the fortunate ones that day..........

We will never forget.....ever.

I never had put the morning news on prior.........but for some reason I turned on the early morning t.v. news and saw it from the very beginning when they thought a plane had crashed accidentally into the building.....then the rest unfolded..............by then I had called our son in Colorado, our daughter up north, my husband, etc. and everyone else I thought should know...........everyone was in disbelief. Then we saw the news that one had crashed into the Pentagon (we knew people who worked there) and then the terrible tragic flight of the one that crashed in Pennsylvania.......as someone else just mentioned.

My brother in law was stranded in England, a cousin was stranded in Italy. No one could get flights back.

We were scheduled to fly to a wedding out west in ten days on American Airlines. Half of the wedding guests CANCELLED due to a fear of flying out of Newark's International Airport or New York's airports, etc.

We got to Chicago and O'Hare was literally EMPTY. I spoke to a few other families, also going to weddings in Colorado........no one wanted to be flying.........but we had no choice.

The stewards, stewardesses and the pilots appeared EXTREMELY NERVOUS........and this was ten days after 911.

It was a very strange time. Coming home was exactly the same.

A time not forgotton..........I later heard from friends and cousins who had young adult children who had been "up in the air" on flights that day..........and those flights were brought down in strange cities, where they had to rent cars to get to wherever their original destination was.

We were all glued to our televisions watching over and over again those towers come down.........praying for all the families who had lost loved ones..........trying to comprehend the horror of it all and the senseless act that caused that horror.

Boston Marathon, although smaller in scope, brought back the memories of 911.......... I also remember all those firemen's funerals, the police, etc. and the victims, etc.........very sad time in our nation's history.

WE later found out that some of the pilots of those hijacked airliners TRAINED IN VENICE FLORIDA...........not far from where our beachfront condo was in 1994 and 1995. Ironic. We might have passed them by and not known it........if they were there then. I'm surprised the owner of the flight school didn't think something was strange..........but easier to say in hindsight.....

Thanks for sharing your memories.........