18 years

[A Life Aloft]

18 years ago 246 people went to sleep in preparation for their morning flights. 2,606 people went to sleep in preparation for work in the morning. 343 Firefighters went to sleep in preparation for their morning shift. 23 Police Officers went to sleep in preparation for morning patrol. 8 Paramedics went to sleep in preparation for the morning shift. 37 Port Authority Officers went to sleep in preparation for their work the next day. 1 FBI Agent went to sleep in preparation for his shift the next day. 125 Military personnel and civilians went to sleep before working their jobs at the Pentagon the next day. None of them saw past 10:00am Sept 11, 2001. Over 6,000 others were injured on 9/11. In one single moment, your life may never be the same. As you live and enjoy the breaths you take today and tonight before you go to sleep in preparation for your life tomorrow, kiss the ones you love, hug them a little tighter, and never take one second of your life for granted.

18 years ago, 23 New York City Police Officers lost their lives in the moments immediately following the September 11 terrorist attack. In 2019, that death toll has climbed to 241 additional Officers. Its cause.....the lingering, previously unforeseen, illnesses related to the 9/11 attack.

343 FDNY members died on 9/11. 207 have since died from the illnesses due to their exposure on 9/11.

The numbers of deaths will sadly grow over the coming years. Nearly 10,000 first responders and others who were in the World Trade Center area have been diagnosed with cancer.

 

[Stryker172]

Sadly I completely forgot what day today was until someone on frequency marked the time when the first plane impacted tower one. I cant believe how much time has passed yet every moment of that day so clearly remembered.

 

[A Life Aloft]

Sadly I completely forgot what day today was until someone on frequency marked the time when the first plane impacted tower one. I cant believe how much time has passed yet every moment of that day so clearly remembered.

I remember it like it was yesterday. Some things just can never be erased from your memory, your heart or your soul.

 

[Stryker172]

Those last two pictures were the first thing I saw when I got home and turned the tv on. It was zoomed in on a group of people waving white hankerchiefs trying to get someones attention. Then someone slipped and I lost it.

 

[Skåning]

So effing sad. Not to forget the thousands who have been killed in the “war on terror” in the subsequent years and the ripple effect that day had.

 

[Oxman]

From my personal collection. I have more at home. The smell is unforgettable.

 

[NovemberEcho]

The eeriest experience I had was a few days later going to Morristown and cars in the train station commuter parking lot being flagged. You knew those people had parked there the morning of the 11th but were never coming to get their car.

 

[AAPalmTree]

Never again.

 

[A Life Aloft]

From my personal collection. I have more at home. The smell is unforgettable.

View attachment 49516

It must have been so very painful and heartbreaking for all the first responders and those who came a bit later to keep searching through the rubble for any possibility of life........and then the horrible realization and acceptance of no one left alive........and then the gruesome task of having to just search for bodies and fragments of bodies or belongings in the hopes that they could be identified. There are no thank you's that can ever be sufficient for what all of you did, day after day, week after week, month after month. I cannot fathom how one goes about trying to lead a normal life after such a horrendous experience.

 

[bbmikej]

It must have been so very painful and heartbreaking for all the first responders and those who came a bit later to keep searching through the rubble for any possibility of life........and then the horrible realization and acceptance of no one left alive........and then the gruesome task of having to just search for bodies and fragments of bodies or belongings in the hopes that they could be identified. There are no thank you's that can ever be sufficient for what all of you did, day after day, week after week, month after month.

I heard stories that some of the responders would hide in the rubble so that the search dogs would have someone living to find every once in a while.

 

[A Life Aloft]

I heard stories that some of the responders would hide in the rubble so that the search dogs would have someone living to find every once in a while.

I have heard the same. The dogs apparently became distressed, depressed and agitated when after a time, no more living people were found/recovered. The dogs didn't want to rest, they just wanted to keep searching. When the dogs weren't actively searching, they tried to comfort the Fire Fighters, LEOs and all the volunteers. Over 300 dogs joined in the search for the living and for the dead.

 

[Oxman]

I heard stories that some of the responders would hide in the rubble so that the search dogs would have someone living to find every once in a while.

Very True! The Goldens on site would get depressed after finding nothing but dead people in the rubble. So much that they started staging rescues to keep their loving spirits up and motivated.