September 11, 2001: You Will Never Forget Where You Were

I was at the bottom of the Grand Canyon working as a river guide. We were almost done with a 9 day trip, we finished on the 12th. I spent the 11th at a beautiful waterfall unaware that the world had changed. Walked into a hotel in Vegas late on the night of the 12th aware that something had happened but not really understanding what. I stepped into a cigar bar that had a tv on. The first tower was on fire and then I saw the second plane hit. Just as most of you who saw it live I let the expletives fly WTF was that? To which most of the patrons gave me an extremely quizzical look. Every time I run the grand canyon now and I stop at Travertine falls I stop and wonder how the world has changed this time?
 
Amen! AND, RIP to all those whose names you posted FiveO. Thanks for doing that---nice tribute. I know about a dozen names on the list. Parents of children in my kids' school, neighbor's relatives, baseball coaches, little league/basketball ump/ref's son, etc.

Our parish & elementary school lost the most parishioners on Staten Island. Very, very sad. Many have gone on with their lives but they will never be the same. My heart still breaks everytime I see the children of some of those young fathers who lost their daddy at such a young age.
I was home after dropping the kids off at school on an absolutely picture-perfect September morning, when my (ex) husband called to say he saw the WTC on fire while he was commuting by bus through NJ. I told him he was nuts since I was watching the news on tv and nothing was on about it. No sooner did I say that, then the horrible images were in front of me. I couldn't believe my eyes and got on the phone with my mom. My sister in law at the time worked at one the firms that lost many employees and was located on a floor above 100. I used to always tease her telling her she was nuts to work in that building on such a high floor. (I had been to Windows on the World once while dating my husband and swore I would never enter the buiding again. The elevator ride to the restaurant which was on the 107(?) floor was a nightmare for me. That elevator was so fast and since it was only the 2 of us as pax, shook so much, I was nearly in tears.) It took several hours to reach my sister in law who told us her bus that she commuted on had just pulled up to the block to let her off when the plane hit. Thankfully, she was running late that day! They just closed the door and drove as fast as they could the other way.

I vaguely remember driving to my kids' school to take them home and having to explain to them the best I could, what happened. We tried to shield them from the television, but it was impossible. I do remember seeing people walking home after obviously escaping Ground Zero. They were covered in soot and ash. These are memories that are forever burned in my brain. I will NEVER forget the thoughts that ran through my mind for days after that. I don't think I slept or ate for that matter for a couple of days. I, like so many others, walked around like a zombie trying to make sense of it all.

I too, will NEVER forget OR forgive the monsters who carried out that day's events. :mad:
 
What is freaking me out about this thread is how YOUNG all of you are. I was 31 at the time and working in Salt Lake as a physician.

I was working with my personal trainer in the neighborhood gym and I was in the middle of doing crunches when i looked up at the TV screen to see that first hit on the tower. We both stood up, stunned....the rest of the training session was aborted, i walked home and called my parents up on the west coast. The rest of the day was very strange.

I do recall feeling some pleasure over the next few days in having very quite skies (the planes coming into SLC would often go right over our house). Of course, that silence represented nothing good.

I just wish all the aftermath from the attacks had been better organized and more thought-through. I also wish that the 524 (out of 535) representatives from congress and the senate who did NOT read the iraq intelligence report before voting on the war had been voted out over the last few years. BTW, this is truly a non-partisan statement i just made since those 524 people who voted for or against the war resolution came from both sides of the aisle and voted based not on knowledge (and you can argue the flaws of the knoweldge available), but on rumors and innuendoes. Here's the link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A44837-2004Apr26?language=printer
 
Wow, great post. I was in Army Basic Training when all of this happened. I was two weeks away from graduation. I was also 18 years old, young and scared. That day I was asking myself what I got myself into. Now seven years I am currently on my second deployment. First in Afghanistan and now Iraq. It's amazing how one single moment and one single day can change our lives forever. What a sad day. What a sad anniversary to remember. All I can ask from everyone else is to not forget about all of the troops oversees fighting 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
 
When the whole day got started, I was a junior in college and in American History class. After that class ended, I was walking to, ironically, Aviation History and started hearing bits and pieces about what was happening. Once I go to Aviation History, I heard "the rest of the story" and that was that. I learned to fly 12 miles from Whiteman AFB, home of the B-2 bomber, and they put up a 20NM TFR for several weeks, so I didn't fly for a while.
 
I work for TSA so I literally never forget 9/11. I was 18 and in my 4th week of college. My best friend had just gone to boot camp the week prior; he has since been to Iraq 4 times. That year was definitely a defining point of my life. It is sad that it is not remembered how it ought to be, too many people have forgotten.
 
It's been seven years, people.

No, we shouldn't ever forget about it, and we won't. September 11, 2001 will be one of those days that's burned into the national conscience, just like December 7, 1941 or July 4, 1776 or September 17, 1787.

But we've got to move forward.

If we don't, the son of a bitches who plotted and carried out the attack win.
 
Amen! AND, RIP to all those whose names you posted FiveO. Thanks for doing that---nice tribute. I know about a dozen names on the list. Parents of children in my kids' school, neighbor's relatives, baseball coaches, little league/basketball ump/ref's son, etc.

Our parish & elementary school lost the most parishioners on Staten Island. Very, very sad. Many have gone on with their lives but they will never be the same. My heart still breaks everytime I see the children of some of those young fathers who lost their daddy at such a young age.
I was home after dropping the kids off at school on an absolutely picture-perfect September morning, when my (ex) husband called to say he saw the WTC on fire while he was commuting by bus through NJ. I told him he was nuts since I was watching the news on tv and nothing was on about it. No sooner did I say that, then the horrible images were in front of me. I couldn't believe my eyes and got on the phone with my mom. My sister in law at the time worked at one the firms that lost many employees and was located on a floor above 100. I used to always tease her telling her she was nuts to work in that building on such a high floor. (I had been to Windows on the World once while dating my husband and swore I would never enter the buiding again. The elevator ride to the restaurant which was on the 107(?) floor was a nightmare for me. That elevator was so fast and since it was only the 2 of us as pax, shook so much, I was nearly in tears.) It took several hours to reach my sister in law who told us her bus that she commuted on had just pulled up to the block to let her off when the plane hit. Thankfully, she was running late that day! They just closed the door and drove as fast as they could the other way.

I vaguely remember driving to my kids' school to take them home and having to explain to them the best I could, what happened. We tried to shield them from the television, but it was impossible. I do remember seeing people walking home after obviously escaping Ground Zero. They were covered in soot and ash. These are memories that are forever burned in my brain. I will NEVER forget the thoughts that ran through my mind for days after that. I don't think I slept or ate for that matter for a couple of days. I, like so many others, walked around like a zombie trying to make sense of it all.

I too, will NEVER forget OR forgive the monsters who carried out that day's events. :mad:
Well said Q,
My exwife and I went the following December (2 months later) to see how my mom was doing. I think many people do not realize the impact it had on the NY metro area. There was a cop on every corner, her building had guys in black pajamas in the front with submachine guns, they saluted me when I showed them my ID. My mom was devasted....for at least the next year. She lost so many people that she would just say hi to in the morning on the way to work. She was 2 weeks out of a historectomy (sp?), her 2nd day back at work. She made it out, because she knew, she couldn't walk back up the stairs, and so when they told everyone to get back in the buildings, she couldn't. When the second plane hit, she finally reached the ground, and then made it for the subway.

Tony - your comments are inappropriate. It's been 7 years, and we are still fighting this war. They haven't won, not even close, in fact, we have been bitch slapping them around the world since. BLUF - We have never had civilian loses in the US that equal this. Never. Also, the attacks of 9-11 have forever changed our innocence in the world. I'll leave it at that.
 
I was selling life insurance to employees at a factory in Ohio. I remember the radio in the break room mentioning that a small airplane had crashed into the WTC. Once my "shift" was up I headed home to the office and realized the severity of the situation. I went home first, just in time to watch CNN's live broadcast of the second collapse. It seemed unfair.

That evening I went for my normal bicycle ride. I recall about everyone I passed (normally frowners) nodding, waving, acknowledging. At that moment we were all Americans.... even the skinny racer in spandex on the bicycle qualified.

The lines at the pump in our small town were a marathon.

Nothing hit me until the next day. I was driving back home and the hard rock station I always listened to (WLVQ) cut into the the song at the top of the hour and played our national anthem. Still gives me goosebumps to this day remembering that moment.
 
Well said Q,
My exwife and I went the following December (2 months later) to see how my mom was doing. I think many people do not realize the impact it had on the NY metro area. There was a cop on every corner, her building had guys in black pajamas in the front with submachine guns, they saluted me when I showed them my ID. My mom was devasted....for at least the next year. She lost so many people that she would just say hi to in the morning on the way to work. She was 2 weeks out of a historectomy (sp?), her 2nd day back at work. She made it out, because she knew, she couldn't walk back up the stairs, and so when they told everyone to get back in the buildings, she couldn't. When the second plane hit, she finally reached the ground, and then made it for the subway.

Tony - your comments are inappropriate. It's been 7 years, and we are still fighting this war. They haven't won, not even close, in fact, we have been bitch slapping them around the world since. BLUF - We have never had civilian loses in the US that equal this. Never. Also, the attacks of 9-11 have forever changed our innocence in the world. I'll leave it at that.

Wow! Your mom was one of the lucky ones---I got goosebumps reading your recollection of that day's events. This sounds funny, but thank God for the timing of her hysterectomy (you were ohsoclose!!).
I don't know how many people realize it or not, but after the first plane hit, the other tower was in the process of being evacuated. The evacuees were mistakenly told everything was alright and to go back to their offices. As I said, my sister-in-law would have been there if she wasn't running late for work. The only friends/coworkers of hers who survived were the ones who ignored the "all clear" signal and continued the long journey down the stairs. The ones who did what they were instructed to do, perished.
That was one of the first lessons I taught my kids post-9/11. Even though we raised them to listen to authority (especially in school), they should feel comfortable and confident enough to "break away from the crowd" in a situation they feel is "different." I told them we'd worry about the possible consequences of bucking authority after the fact.

Tony--I don't think anyone here is dwelling on 9/11 to the point they can't function in everyday life. (although around here, things were like that for a while). It's just very important to some of us to remember that fateful day and honor those who were murdered. For their loved ones and friends life has gone on (hopefully), but you can't really think they should just put it completely out of their minds.
Don't think for a minute I wasn't aware of another side of that day while working 3 flights yesterday. Before I started this job, I knew only the side of office workers/firemen and policemen who were at the WTC. Being a FA had me thinking about the FA's, pilots and passengers who had to have had one of the most horrible deaths imaginable. :(
 
Well said Q,
My exwife and I went the following December (2 months later) to see how my mom was doing. I think many people do not realize the impact it had on the NY metro area. There was a cop on every corner, her building had guys in black pajamas in the front with submachine guns, they saluted me when I showed them my ID. My mom was devasted....for at least the next year. She lost so many people that she would just say hi to in the morning on the way to work. She was 2 weeks out of a historectomy (sp?), her 2nd day back at work. She made it out, because she knew, she couldn't walk back up the stairs, and so when they told everyone to get back in the buildings, she couldn't. When the second plane hit, she finally reached the ground, and then made it for the subway.

Tony - your comments are inappropriate. It's been 7 years, and we are still fighting this war. They haven't won, not even close, in fact, we have been bitch slapping them around the world since. BLUF - We have never had civilian loses in the US that equal this. Never. Also, the attacks of 9-11 have forever changed our innocence in the world. I'll leave it at that.

WELL SAID, That is the problem with this country, we DO FORGET to easily! These people want to kill us, the same way they killed those Men, Women, and Children listed above! Qgar, and anyone else here who lost friend and family on 9/11, God bless you, and I'm sorry for your loss!
 
Tony - your comments are inappropriate. It's been 7 years, and we are still fighting this war. They haven't won, not even close, in fact, we have been bitch slapping them around the world since.

It's hard to say we've been bitch slapping them around the world when Bin Laden's still free and the Taliban is resurgent.

But as long as we're all stopping what we're doing to wallow in the horror of September 11, they are winning.

We will have won not just when Bin Laden's head is on a pike and the Taliban is no more, but when September 11 is another day like December 7 or September 17 -- a day with historical significance but nothing more.

Nobody's saying forget what happened. All I'm saying is move forward. And if that offends you or you think I'm saying just erase it from your memory, that's your problem, not mine.
 
It's hard to say we've been bitch slapping them around the world when Bin Laden's still free and the Taliban is resurgent.

But as long as we're all stopping what we're doing to wallow in the horror of September 11, they are winning.

We will have won not just when Bin Laden's head is on a pike and the Taliban is no more, but when September 11 is another day like December 7 or September 17 -- a day with historical significance but nothing more.

Nobody's saying forget what happened. All I'm saying is move forward. And if that offends you or you think I'm saying just erase it from your memory, that's your problem, not mine.


I'm with Tony on this one. Victory will not mean Bin Laden strung up on the fence outside the White House and the Taliban crushed- it will mean a return to a sense of security like before 9/11.

- No more people looking at someone not like them and thinking 'terrorist'
- No more TSA looking at ANYBODY and thinking 'terrorist'
- No more people being held under shady circumstances in Guantanamo Bay
- No more people saying America is sliding into a 'police state'

As long as we continue to act in fear, they're winning.

To hell with that!

Sure, we have to be alert to the possibility of this sort of thing in the future so it can't be repeated.

One can be alert without being AFRAID. I think Americans have failed to learn the difference.
 
The "American way of life" prior to 2001 we're all so fond of was a pack of lies leveraged on our futures (and our children's). Our choice now is whether to take our lumps and return to concerning ourselves first with our own economic health and Constitutional government, or to continue the insane quest to remake the world in our image (after taking a hefty cut off the top to fuel our exponentially increasing demand...and I use the word "demand" here advisedly...the electorate ain't askin'... for flat screen tvs and luxury light armored vehicles.)

Realizing this does not prevent one from feeling for the people who were killed in what was, whatever the political reasoning, a dastardly, deliberate, underhanded murder of civilian non-combatants.

I for one hope we never "feel comfortable" in the same way that we did on Sept. 10th, 2001. That's how we wound up with the infuriatingly named "Patriot Act" and the associated bellicose, meaningless, and often racist puffery we've been bombarded with both before and after that sad day. It's possible to believe that our nation has lost its way and abandoned what principles it had in the insane, grubbing hunt for more consumer electronics and ikea furniture, but to simultaneously believe that a bunch of female-enslaving goatherders determined to live (and force the rest of the world live) in the 13th century ought not be permitted to murder our own. Consider the possibility that it's not a binary proposition. You needn't take any side but that of right and proper government by the people and for the same, with liberty and justice for all.

But then, perhaps it's a subject for a different thread. Certainly I do not find it troubling that people want to remember the attacks all these "many" (7!?) years later.
 
I was unfortunately standing on the banks of the Hudson river watching it all unfold from my high school. I almost lost two cousins, my classmate lost his dad and another friend went for nearly 12 hours not knowing whether his only living family member was alive or dead.

Apparently though, my experience led a gentleman to believe I was apart of the conspiracy led by the US government so we could go to war in Iraq. He was protesting a 9/11 memorial saying it was a big elaborate hoax.
 
Late reply, but I was in Washington, DC, directly across the Potomac from the Pentagon attending a meeting.
 
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