September 11, 2001 - Never Forget, Always remembered!

[4cbln3]

Paying my respects today for all the Americans who perished in that tragic event in NYC on that day. I made a promise to myself that I would visit there and pay my respects, in person, in front of where the World Trade Center used to be.

In the meantime, I will be lighting up one of my very best cigars today. We all have our stories of where we were and what was going on in our lives when we turned on the TV that tragic morning. Here's mine.

I was off from the HFD due to a neck injury and I turned on the news at 5 o'clock to watch this event unfold in front of my eyes. My watch would be going on duty that day, so I called my friends and told them to watch the news. The watch already at the stations had been woken up that early morning via our dispatch center so they were aware. It seemed surreal to see the first tower fall. It made me get sweaty palms and feet knowing what happens when chaos of that size erupts in front of arriving units.

My wife woke up and we watched quietly as the second tower fell. I told her, "we're going to war". I guess this worried her as our son was in New Jersey serving with the Air Force at the time. Sure enough, within a week, he was in the Middle East, doing something for the war effort. "Sorry, he said", he couldn't tell his mom and I where or what he was doing for the country. I've healed from that injury, albeit, i work around that area just to stay strong. I think the country has too.

What were some of you doing at the time?

Dave

 

[Set-In-Stone]

Somber day to say the least. Seems like only yesterday I was a Freshman @ Hofstra University, and witnessed the buildings on fire and collapse from the top floor of our campus library. Complete chaos w no way
off 'the Island'...I will never forget the faces of those who were watching the same thing unfold. How some wept, some had blank stares, and some saying things like "my Aunt's in there" or "my brother,my brother, my brother"... I will forever remember that amazing pain I felt, and how it must have dwarfed in comparison to those directly affected. I will never forget...

 

[MoeCizlak]

Amen Dave. I was fishing in Northern Ontario with my dad and my cousin. We were just coming in to clean the morning's catch around noon and the older Ojibway couple who were running the camp stopped us and told us to come into their cabin where they had a TV and we watched in stunned disbelief. We cleaned the fish in dead silence where we would normally be laughing and joking about the morning's fish stories. Cell phones didn't work where we were so we kept playing phone tag with our wives from an old pay phone they had at the camp. I'll never forget that bright, beautiful day and the horrible memories attached to it. My thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones left behind by those that perished that day.

 

[looking for knowledge]

I'm too young to remember JFK, but as I understand it, it was one of those water shed moments.

I was teaching second grade. We were told not to discuss the events. One of the times I regret following directions.

The lower on my .50 BMG, then and now.

There is no way we will ever forget.

 

[jfields]

I was working for a large private ambulance company at the time as the fleet manager for it, and the EMS of several surrounding counties. We were within 35 - 40 min from DC.

I remember thinking the first plane was an accident and then realizing after the second that something was going on. Was on the road listening to Howard Stern and Robin talk about the events unfolding when the voices on the radio became really agitated and they said the first tower collapsed. It didn't seem real and I didn't really accept it until I saw it on TV 10 min later. My wife who was my new girlfriend at the time came downstairs in tears because her daughters father was working at the Pentagon and she could not get in touch due to the phone lines all being tied up.

We ended up becoming a command center that day with several jurisdictions mobilizing there. I remember working pretty late that night doing whatever needed to be done to help.

We went to the Twin Towers site in 2007 and it was a very emotional feeling when thinking about the loss of life. Several people there at the makeshift memorial. Some were crying, but other than that and the construction equipment below, it was very quiet.

I'll never forget the day. It's clearly etched into my memory.

 

[Gern Blansten]

A day etched in all our memories.

My story:
Our team was off to sail in the US Sailing Mens Championship in Dallas. We did our usual show up at the airport moments before they shut the plane door. Off we went. Northwest was our normal gig, but we were on American that day. Even more scary in hindsight after we learned of potential plans for flights against Chicago. Somewhere over Kansas or Oklahoma, the pilot gets on the blower and says, "Something has happened on the East coast, the FAA is shutting down all flights, we need to get on the ground now." Never experienced the next thing, nor do I want to ever again, but a high speed descent...plane had significant pitch and we were getting pressed into our seat backs....to a MUCH lower altitude...think tree tops but a touch higher...then a landing in Oklahoma City. Frazzled and confused we get off the plane. I called my wife back home who gave what info she had...still too early to have any idea. We ended up getting one of the last rental cars and started to drive to Dallas. The regatta never happened because some of the teams never made it due to air travel being shut down. Spent the next five days at Rush Creek YC watching the tube and thinking how eerie it was to not see a plane in the air when we did go sail.

I had never seen this until yesterday, seems very apropos for this thread:

 

[Tall Paul]

It was my sophomore year of high school and I was sitting in English Class when my teacher’s husband came running in pushing a TV on one of those wheelie carts. I overheard him say to his wife “we are under attack” and he turned on the TV. At this point both towers had been hit and they were replaying the clips of the planes hitting them. I remember the headmaster sent everyone home and allowed parents to come pick up their kids but most in that class sat and watched the TV as the towers fell. After the towers fell I headed home from school to find my mom in a panic at home crying. My aunt, her sister flew out of Logan that morning on a United flight heading for DC for work and my mom could not get a hold of her all morning. Finally at some point in the afternoon our phone rang and it was her and the flight she was on had landed with no issues! I think I was too young to really fully understand the severity of what just happened but as the days progressed it really started to hit home and make sense. Now as the year’s progress it is clearer and clearer to me. I am deeply saddened for all the lives that were lost that day and I will never forget the sights of the towers when they fell and how it made me feel. I remember how it was a beautiful cool day with a clear blue sky. Strange to me that yesterday felt eerily similar as I was out and about. Yesterday was also the first time 9/11 fell on a Tuesday like in 2001.
Paul

 

[4cbln3]

Yesterday was also the first time 9/11 fell on a Tuesday like in 2001.
Paul

I didn't even realize that coincidence till you noticed that, Paul. This year marks the 11th anniversary of 9-11 and I noticed I'm on injury leave again, this time for a rotator cuff surgery.

There was an article online about this years solemn gathering being different since the 10 year mark was reached, that the politicians were not speaking on the mics, but that people were telling their stories of how they have gone on and continued with living with this in their past.

Those are interesting stories you all have, keep em coming.

Thank you.

 

[chiefmd]

I was on the USS Ponce LPD-15 deployed in the Black Sea. I was doing galley week and was in the chief's galley cooking when we immediately went to battle stations and ceased communication with the outside world for 3 or 4 days. Then it was a different Navy after that.

 

[kann]

I was stationed at Little Rock AFB in Arkansas. There were three of us working at the Passenger Terminal that day, and we were having our morning briefing to prepare for our monthly flight down to Keesler AFB in Biloxi for the SNCO Academy graduation ceremony. It's still clear: I was sitting on the corner of the pool table in the terminal rolling around the eight ball, discussing the manifesting procedure, as we were having a number of DV's on the mission that day and we wanted to make sure that everything went smoothly. The phone rang and it was my boss's husband. I recall her jaw dropping, her gasping and saying in her Caribbean accent, "Noooo wayyyy!". She told one of us to turn on the TV because a plane just hit the Twin Towers. That was about 0800 CTS, maybe, so it was probably a little after 0900 EST. While we were watching, the second tower was struck.

Even though there was mass confusion going on, we still had to continue on as if the events of the day were still taking place. As of that moment, they were, because the FAA hadn't grounded all operations yet. My coworker and I were at a different building when the Pentagon was hit. The direct line from our office to where I was at rang, and my boss asked for me. She said to come back because nothing was happening today. It was not officially directed yet, but she just knew. And she was right.

The next few days are a blur, honestly. I probably didn't get to sleep for a good 48+ hours. DoD and government wide, installations and offices went to Force Protection Condition DELTA (think: DEFCON 1 for all you Cold War junkies). I'd never seen the real world FPCON set over BRAVO, and no one I have talked to since has ever been through an across-the-board DELTA such as this. It was anxious and surreal. I was running the night shift once we split into 12 hour shifts, and I don't know how many hundreds of troops we processed in just the first few days. At first it was just "hurry up and wait" because of the FAA flight restrictions. Once restrictions were lifted for military operations, chalks started going out. We are a training base, so hearing C-130's around the clock was nothing new. However, it was an eerie feeling knowing that the lone aircraft in the night I'd hear was actually going somewhere operational.

My daughter's 1st birthday was two days later. My wife is also active duty Air Force, so we would pass in the night; I'd come home in time to see her leave in the morning, and I'd be gone before she got off work and picked up our daughter from daycare. I still have the pictures from that day. We were both still in uniform, and we just plopped the baby down in a high chair, put the cake in front of her and encouraged her to make a mess. We tied up a few balloons and she had her first birthday party before the sun came up. It lasted less than 10 minutes.

For those that understand what the AEF cycles were, my wife was already slated to deploy in October of 2001. Many of us in our unit sent written volunteer notices requesting to deploy in support of whatever operations were going on now and in the future. Because my wife was already in a "bucket", my request was denied and I was told that I would not be selected to deploy unless it came down to the wire and I was one of the last ones left. A few weeks later my wife went on the road as scheduled...

 

[Vicster]

I was doing yard work and noticed the lack of air traffic which would have been a normal occurrence at my old house. After the military jets flew over which we never see, I went into the house and switched on the TV. I watched in disbelief.

A few years back I was one of the motorcycles that escorted steel from the towers as it was being moved from Newark to a VFW in Pa for display. That was an unbelievable experience with 1000’s of people lining the roads to honor the memory of 9/11 and what that steel stood for.

 

[Cigar FF]

Some nice stories here. Thank you for sharing. I remember many people stating that this will be a day where you remember exactly where you were when this all took place. I was still in college and I was in the shower when the first plane hit. I remember getting out shortly after and my mother telling me a plan hit the WTC. I immediately turned on a police scanner and started listening to the FDNY and NYPD operations. The radios where caotic. I distinctly remember many of the radio transmissions from that day as if it were yesterday, especially as and after the towers fell. It was surreal to say the least.

While I was at college, I was coaching a girls softball team. We had many players from outside of NY (Canada, California, Mid-west) and I recall 3/4's of the parents calling our phones telling us they wanted their kids sent home. They thought that their kids were at the epicenter of all of this meanwhile, our college was located 40-50 miles east of the city on Long Island, not far from where set-in-stone was. Needless to say, all the girls remained in NY and we dedicated our season to the 343 fallen firefighters (as one of our coaches was an active member of the FDNY) and all the men and women who lost their lives on that tragic day.

Five years later, I joined the FDNY as a firefighter where I am proud to call "my second home" today. Timing was everything and admitingly, I don't know how I could have been a part of that. Had I made a different decision earlier in life, I could very well have been there on that sad day.

Yesterday, I attended several masses in rememberence of some of those fallen members. One included the very first firefighter who was killed that day by a poor soul who was forced to jump from the burning building and landed on him. It turned out he likely saved the lives of several other members of his company and others as they tended to him.

Set-in-stone, that is a great picture of the memorial. It's a shame that it has become such a tourist attaction that people feel the need to leave their garbage and litter all over the place and sit on the names of all who perished that day, engraved into the railings surrounding the pools in search of that perfect "Facebook photo." Everyone knew it would become a tourist haven but nobody expected to see the amount of disrespect on all those who lost their lives that has been shown. Sad indeed.

Thank you to all of the men and women who have served here and overseas to keep our freedoms and liberties that we so grasciously have today. You are more appreciated then people show.

"Fallen but not forgotten"

 

[Set-In-Stone]

Set-in-stone, that is a great picture of the memorial. It's a shame that it has become such a tourist attaction that people feel the need to leave their garbage and litter all over the place and sit on the names of all who perished that day, engraved into the railings surrounding the pools in search of that perfect "Facebook photo." Everyone knew it would become a tourist haven but nobody expected to see the amount of disrespect on all those who lost their lives that has been shown. Sad indeed.

I couldn't agree with you more. I was amazed how everyone was running around, laughing, throwing their cigg butts on the ground...like it was some kind of music festival. Some people just don't understand. That memorial is sacred ground indeed. The only thing I could do was put my hands on a few names and cry as I listen to the water falling, to the point that my ol' lady had to pull me away. Maybe those scumbags wouldn't litter if they took the time to look around and see things like a mother holding up her daughter as the little girl ran a crayon over a name onto a piece of paper. Littering at the memorial should come with a VERY hefty fine - to which the money goes directly to those funds set up for the families. Maybe seeing a $1,000.00 ticket in their hand would make them think twice about it.

Anyways, thanks guys for sharing your stories...

 

[Cigar FF]

Littering at the memorial should come with a VERY hefty fine - to which the money goes directly to those funds set up for the families. Maybe seeing a $1,000.00 ticket in their hand would make them think twice about it.

I'm suprised something like this isn't already in place being that it is a revenue generator and there has been nothing but battles over who is going to get the money from the visitors, NY or NJ. One of the big reasons the museum has not been opened yet. It's a disgrace and certainly for another discussion.

 

[4cbln3]

Thanks for the warning of what may greet me when I visit there one day guys, at least now I'll be able to see past all of that so I can stay focused on why I came. Maybe it'll rain hard that day, giving the place a nice cleansing.

 

[Cigar FF]

I really wouldn't think of it as something to be concerned about. I personally have not been to the memorial. I missed my opportunity to go as I was out of town. I haven't been able to set aside time to go there since.

As set in stone showed in his photo, the site looks beautiful. If a picture can look that good, I can't imagine how nice it looks in person.