9/11

For those too young to remember, I am sharing this:

On Tuesday morning, 9/11, I was teaching just North of Manhattan. At about 9:30, an announcement was made that a small plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I figured it was some knucklehead in a Cessna. About 15 minutes later, a young woman in my department ran past my room screaming and crying. A few minutes later I was told that her brother had called her cell in class. He worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, on the 86th floor. He told her, "I'm not going to get out. There are fires. I love you."

Days later I attended his funeral--the first of several I attended without a casket or urn.

My younger brother was NYPD. He worked the midnight tour on The Deuce. He was off-shift and heading home when he was told to turn around. He was on the pile for about two weeks. After the usual cop gallows humor, the search became grim and then hopeless. He's had cancer treatment and is, I think, suffering from PTSD from his service.

I know the above may be upsetting, or perhaps out of place on this board, but I do think younger people need to know.
lilylivered's Avatar
It was a lot more personal to you, but it was a tragedy that none, I hope forgets.

Thanks for sharing
I'm glad you posted it.
offshoredrilling's Avatar
I was at work, Got back to my office before 2nd plane
after that, I was shocked seeing a plane in the air driving to work
most times never see or don't care. Dam I was happy seeing that plane

The day of got boring fast, seems people don't break things if not working glued to a TV or radio. I would have been better for me if it keep busy

one guy I knew was on a plane to go to the T Towers. Found out when trying to get a ride to.from airport. Was stuck till could get a train back

Never forget, sadly many have
I am good friends with a guy who worked in tower 2. He had a morning meeting that was very important. He ended up very sick and attended the meeting by phone from a coffee shop about 2 blocks away. To this day his life is still a struggle. There are many more victims then the death toll
Twenty years ago, today, I was busy setting up a DMS computer lab at NCTS Diego Garcia. When word of the first plane hitting the WTC, my first thought was that there had been a tragic navigational error or malfunction on the plane. When word of a second plane hitting the other tower hit, I said, "We just went to war." Being on the other side of the world, it was evening for me. I knew we would be going on alert soon, so I stopped what I was doing, and went to get dinner (figuring I would be up all night, and I skipped breakfast and lunch due to my workload.) I grabbed a dinner from the burger joint near my barracks, and headed to my room to eat and change into a fresh uniform. As I was walking to my room, my roommate told me another plane had hit the Pentagon. The TV was on and we stood by to hear what directions would be given. We did go on alert and I was up all night standing by to assist.
12InchClock's Avatar
I wonder how many people were fucking while this happend?










On a more serious note.....

I was in middle school and in the middle of class the teacher turned on the news and we watched the updates on the towers and pentagon. Some kids parents came to pick them up and some had loved ones in the building. Tragic day in American history.
9/11 ty George bush and gop.
I was at work and my wife (now ex) was at home. I heard about the first plane hitting the north tower about 15 minutes after it happened. I immediately thought of two people.

Two of my sisters-in-law worked in the south tower. One on the 43rd floor and the other on the 51st floor. Occupants of the south tower were initially "advised" to stay in place after the plane hit the north tower. Many did not follow that advice and evacuated the building anyway.

My 2 sisters-in-law were among those who ignored the advice and evacuated their building. One had just left the building and the other was walking through the lobby when the second plane hit their building.

It was very late evening before we got news that the girls were out and were safe. It was a (for lack of a better word) happy ending for our family. For so many other families, sadly, it was not.
valkyra's Avatar
I was very, very young. I remember everyone was ushered into the gymnasium in the elementary school and a lot of people were quiet and parents were coming to pick up their kids. my mom was deployed at the time and not around - my grandparents couldn't pick me up until after work. i ended up going home with a good friend who lived on my street. the gravity of what happened didn't really hit me until the next day or so, everything just seemed frantic and blurred.

thank you for sharing this. never forget
rooster's Avatar
I don't do well with heights. I love the view from them, but every time I went up to the top of places like the WTC, I would always think about what a nightmare it would be to fall from a height like that. And then....we all had to watch while a bunch of people chose that death over one by smoke inhalation and being burned.

I am an atheist, but as I watched those people jump, I dearly wished that there WAS a hell...and that the people that forced them into making that choice would have a very special spot in it.

There is nothing worse than taking the lives of innocent people.

Nothing.

.
Carlos Danger's Avatar
Captured at last. Whew

CryptKicker's Avatar
I used to work for AT&T and was on a community relations team that went to schools and made presentations. This day I was in a dinosaur costume and when I heard the 2nd tower was hit I told the folks in the class I was in that I had to leave. I went back to the office and the call center that I worked out of closed and watched the events for 4 hours before we finally reopened the phones. Most people were crying and wondering what would happen next. Telephone service is considered an essential service and we had no choice but to stay and answer the calls. I was glad that I was in a position that didn't require me to be customer facing. I spent the rest of the day being comforting to those that just couldn't handle what was going on. 9-11 is hard for me because I lost a lot of friends that I went to college with and moved to NYC to start their financial career. I was glad I chose another path and was still in Texas.