9/11 your memory......

I remember being in complete shock. We heard about the attacks inbetween periods and my next class was Weight Training where there were no TVs for us to watch. We tried to listen to the radio about it, but it was hard and we missed a lot of things.

I was worried for my Assistant Coach that worked at the Pentagon. As it would turn out, he had left his office to run an errand, and as he was coming back the plane hit. His office was destroyed, along with those of his coworkers who weren't so lucky and were trapped inside.

I was worried for my friends whose parents and neighbors worked at the Pentagon. I was worried for my Dad at first also, becuase he was on a flight out of Dulles that day, and before they announced which flights had crashed I didn't know if his would be one of those to be named.

Most importantly though I remember the weeks after September 11th. Everyone had such great pride and unity that should be evident more of the time, not just in a national tradgedy. People pulled together, and it was great to be an American then because we knew that nothing can ever stop us.

 

I remember temporarily leaving a meeting to find everyone huddled around a radio and co-workers who had the internet's desks. The first thing someone said was a plane hit the WTC, I remember thinking it was a Cessna. In the next half hour, we would all learn differently. I remember thinking it ironic that all these events coincided with a date that doubles as the emergency phone number.

Many bomb scares at my office later, I remember feeling true anger at those who could make us feel so helpless. Luckily, the one person I knew who worked near the Trade Center still got married to my wife's cousin 10 days later. Other people I know weren't so fortunate, as they lost loved ones that day, including an acquaitance in our Baltimore office whose wife lost her brother in NY and father in Washington.

Yet the temporary fear has not changed the way I live. I still fly, I went to more DC games this year than I have since 97, and am amazed at the way everyone has come together in this country.

God Bless America!

 

i remember being in pure shock. i had seen the towers a month before that when i was in new york for a soccer tournament. i had passed right by them on a tour. the rest of my team had stayed at the marriot hotel across the street from them. and i took my flight home out of boston to california. and it got me thinking that i could've been killed had they decided to hit the wtc a month earlier. all my friends could've gotten killed had they been in the hotel when the planes hit. the whole experience made me thankful to be alive.

 

I can't believe it was a year ago. I can't believe that exactly one year ago those stupid coward ************ers were going to sleep knowing what they were going to do in about 8 hours. I can't believe how much has changed, but also how much has stayed the same. I can't believe how stupid these people were, thinking they could mess with us and get away with it.

 

numb.

seething, building, quiet, helpless, internal rage.


I do remember that I had arrived at the office at around 9:00 after my usual 30 minute walk to work, which made me think later that it meant that it had happened around the time I crossed Fayette Street.







p.s. not to be a big jerk or anything, but we had been attacked on our own soil on other occasions, including 1812 (Washington was burned, Ft. McHenry bombarded), and of course Pearl Harbor.

 

I was turning the corner onto 19th street driving to work when they announced it on the radio. I thought "small plane" but learned otherwise when I got to my office and the TV was on. One coworker had an uncle at the World Trade Center. Another coworker is retired military with friends at the Pentagon. Both were worried as they saw the images unfold on the screen.

I crossed 19th street for a meeting and saw the white smoke eerily rising from the Pentagon. People drifted into the meeting, including a guy that had flown in from Newark that morning. The pilot told them as they landed at National that they would always remember this day. Their flight took off the same time as one of the hijacked flights. Others at the meeting were from New York and they watched in horror as the TV showed the WTC coming down. Everyone from out of town was marooned. You couldn't get out of DC that day. Humvees and national guard on the corners downtown. No Metro. No Amtrak. No airlines.

Someone who lives a block away from me was on the plane that hit the Pentagon. One of my brother in law's friends was the rugby player from California on the flight that went down in Pennsylvania. He was supposed to be at a wedding I went to a couple of weeks later in California. We all celebrated his heroism at the reception. Strange how all these threads weave together.

I'm getting on a plane to go out of town on the 11th. Screw the terrorists. Honor and never forget the everyday heros.

 

I thought it was a joke a year ago listening to a local radio statio Hot 99.5 when Kris announced a plane hit the world trade center. It was just unbelievable, and than when another plane hit I thought this was just more than weird.

We lost one staff member at the Pentagon and today we will go out at 10:00 AM and salute the flags in front of the building that are half mast in honor of all the victims of that horrible, horrible day.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!

 

As a I said to a fellow employee of Cantor Fitzgerald:

"Today is hard...but last year was harder. I believe it can only get easier."

God Bless..........

 

I am in the Navy(stationed on a ship in Norfolk) and had taken the day off to help my family pack b/c we were in the process of moving to Monterey, CA. We had our TV on but it was on a Cooking show or something, really just background noise. One of my neighbors came over and asked if we'd been watching what's been going on in NY and DC. By the time we'd turned onto CNN the first tower had already fallen. I remember thinking, "Man, it will be weird to tell my son (5 months old at the time) that there used to be two towers." No sooner had the thought passed through my mind then the second tower collapsed.

I immediately started packing a bag and called a taxi to take me back to my ship which was getting ready to depart to take station off of NY. I remember my wife asking when I was coming home,... but I didn't have any answers for her. I told her I'd call if I could and to watch local news for ship departures. Leaving her with a half empty house, a pending trip across country, and a 5 month old baby with no idea what was going to happen was one of the toughest things I've ever done.

After a week on standby, my ship was not sent to NY or DC (others went in or stead), so I was authorized to leave. The ensuing trip across country will be something I'll never forget. As diverse as our country is, the common thread from Virginia to California was the outpouring of support, pride, and patriotism. Flags were hanging from every building, car, bridge, street sign,... everything. I even saw a house in West VA that had an enormous flag draped over the entire house.

I feel that I am an emotionally strong person. I feel I've done things in my military career that have challenged me physically, mentally, religiously, and emotionally. But today I found myself crying uncontrollably after watching close up video of a man jumping from the WTC. I had seen still photos but for some reason, the video had a dramatic effect.

Please pray not only for the victems of 9/11 but also for all our military members around to globe who are risking their lives daily to ensure our way of life continues.

TS.

 

I'd like to second that.

I'd also like to also remind people that Muslims are in the army too. My cousin spent the last year in Afghanistan (she is Afghan-American) as part of the U.S. army and missed a year of her son's life. We're proud of her but it's frustrating when her family is harassed while she is out serving the country.

I wrote a long memory but my computer shut down so I'll just add that I was in shock like the rest of the country and worried about my family in DC and NY.

While listening to the names being read this morning, it hit me again, who would have thought that this could happen in the U.S?

Spread the seeds of liberty and peace.

 

My first reaction, hearing that a plane had crashed into the WTC on NPR as I pulled into work, was, "What kind if idiot flying a plane couldn't see the WTC right in front of him?" Within thirty minutes my shop and the business I was sharing space with at the time both came to a complete halt as we recognized what was happening. Now, my question is this, "What kind of person thinks that killing thousands of innocent people, be they infidels or not, is going to bring him any closer to ANY god?" I doubt very highly that the people involved in this attack are anymore likely to make it to the promised land than Hitler or Stalin.

 

It was wierd.......

I remember coming out of the JobCentre and walking over to the Skateboarders on the War Memorial. One of the guys said something about a plane crashing into the Pentagon, and my friend Dave said he was gonna run home and switch the news on. I didnt think it was going to something too serious so I got on the bus home.

Just as I walked through the door, I saw the 2nd plane live on the news and my stomach turned over. I watched the news for about 7 hours and I dont think I said more than 5 words all day.

 

I had a weird reaction to it all that day. One of my co-workers came into my office and said " a plane just hit the World Trade Center". "Yeah, right" was my first reaction. I went downstairs to the lobby where we have a TV and watched live as the second plane hit. My jaw just hit the ground. Then the third plane hit the Pentagon. My brother works over near the Pentagon so I tried calling him, but the building he's in over in Rosslyn was being evacuated.

My poor sister-in-law was starting her first day at work at her new job in Crystal City, and of course all hell was breaking loose there. I got hold of her on her cell phone and directed her over to my cousin's place in Arlington, as the highways were being shut down.

After that all settled, I got back on the phone and started doing business as usual. People I was calling were incredulous, like "what's wrong with you?". I think it was just a defensive reaction, refusing to deal with what I had just seen.

 

Amen, Saroccer, but I would have reminded people that Muslims are Americans too. I think one of the biggest travesties in post 9/11 America is the mistreatment of Muslims and anyone who looks Middle Eastern. Anyone who has taken the time to be rational realizes that jihads are to Islam as crusades are to Christianity. Both are/were senseless violence performed to convert people to a religious view. In this age of enlightment, I feel it it truly disturbing that anyone would think that actions of fanatics represent the group.

Be vigilant, but be kind.

[/soapbox]

 

Learned of, and watched the attacks at work, went home because "5th Plane" rumor had another plane flying toward DC over my building. After that flurry of activity, all my thoughts and feelings were developed against the background of TV coverage. Seeing the images unfold in New York and Pennsylvania. Receiving the panicked phone calls: anyone who has Pentagon business knows how heart-rending the voices of relatives finding out you were OK could be. Being unable to contact loved ones. Waiting for my family to come home. Wondering if I lost neighbors.

When I saw the sheer number of rescue vehicles in the Pentagon coverage, I ran up to Arlington Hospital to see if I could help with the deluge. They sent me away, saying they were told there wouldn't be a deluge. That single moment was when I truly recognized that there simply wouldn't be large numbers of survivors.

After checking off the mental list of everybody I could think of who could've been hit, I heaved a sigh of relief. A week later I found out about a completely unanticipated victim-- a former coworker in the DC area who relocated to NYC shortly before the attack.

I went to the Arlington memorial ceremony this morning, and found it curiously uninspiring. There was neither insight, feeling, nor direct acknowledgement of those most affected. It was capped off by a bizarre, rambling admonition by Channel 4's Doreen Gentzler to be careful about how much TV you watch. I personally wish I could re-watch that day's news coverage every year and remember all the emotions that rose up in me as the events unfolded.