Any happy/lucky/heroic moments that you remember or care to talk about that happened on 9/11?

[Buzz Rules]

Any happy/lucky/heroic moments that you remember or care to talk about that happened on 9/11?

Boatlift helps bring a smile to my face on this somber day:

 

[Buzz Rules]

 

[pooh2001]

I was at a meeting at IBM
They made an announcement there was a fire at World Trade Center
Then after a few minutes they made an announcement the would trade center has fallen
Everyone just got up silently and left the meeeting

I went to my children’s school
They were in lock down
I picked up my children and went home

On the bright side, a lot of men who worked at the World Trade Center took the day off the help build a playground at my kids school
God was looking out for them
Those children still had their dads

My friend from High school worked there
I knew she was not in the building
She always worked 10 am to 6 pm
But she saw the building fall
Her co-workers died
She took a few weeks off to compose herself then ..
She went to the Chicago office to work
After a year she came back to work in NY

God Bless those who died
And those who helped put out the fires

Maybe they should check out the people who want to fly a plane
The terrorist went to Florida to learn how to fly commercial planes

My children still remember what the saw on TV on 9-1-01
They were 7 and 10

 

[mjkacmom]

My husband worked across from the UN, he bused in as usual, he couldn’t get back to NJ. A coworker took the ferry in, so he took the ferry back with her (this was around 6 pm). She had her car there, but all highways were closed. She took back roads and brought him home, it took forever. I was very grateful. He had no cell service so I had no idea where he was once he decided to leave his office.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I don't have very many happy memories of that day. I was at home with my youngest niece and my mother, who was recovering from her first cancer surgery so I was taking care of them and trying to work at the same time. I remember it was a really beautiful day. Until it wasn't.

 

[fly girl]

Tuesday… I was home as my flying always was on the weekends/holidays. The life of a junior flight attendant.

My husband was called out early that morning to work. It was 4am when he got the call. He did tell me where he was going, but I was half asleep so I didn’t pay attention. That haunted me for the next 8 hours.

Fast forward to getting up and starting my day. I was watching the Today Show when they showed the hole with the first WTC hit. Saw the second one and realized it was not a private plane, but a commercial jet.

That’s when the phone started ringing nonstop.

I tried getting on crew website to see where dh was, but it was crashing. At the same time my sister and I were on the phone watching the video replay of second hit to see what airline, was my airlines tail? Too blurry, too fast. Omg where did dh tell me he was going? Why can’t I remember!

Fast forward and crew website showed that dh already went to Dallas, then took off and landed in Memphis, and is in the air again with no destination! OMG. This was after ATC shut everything down … and he was still in the air somewhere. To say I was nervous was an understatement. I had no clue where he was.

Phone rings, his military unit checking in to see that all the pilots are accounted for (2/3rds of the pilots worked for various airlines as well as guard). All but two checked in safe, my husband being one.

Fast forward what felt like an eternity, my husbands plane was the last one to land in Cincinnati. They were over Memphis when ATC shut down. He never made it to Dallas (his original destination). However, turns out they were ferrying (no passengers, just positioning an aircraft) so the captain requested they go back to CVG since they had no passengers. ATC granted their request. He landed around 11:50am.

Still no word from other military pilot for 2 hours. Turns out he was safe in D.C., but cell service was insanely difficult to get through.

I still remember my husband asking naively, “How bad is it?” when he called from the airport. I told him worse than you could imagine.

We were lucky that day. Very lucky.

I still get chills hearing the phone recordings of Betty Ong and Madeline Amy Sweeney.

Never forget.

 

[leebee]

I've mentioned this in other threads, but my BIL was scheduled as flight crew on United 175 on 9/11. However, several weeks prior, he'd received a speeding ticket after work one evening, on his way home from Logan airport. The officer who wrote the ticket made it pretty clear that he wouldn't be in court for the hearing if my BIL wanted to contest it, so BIL called in "sick" on 9/11 to go to court to contest the ticket so it wouldn't show on his driving record and he wouldn't have to pay the fine. Of course, he never went to court on 9/11, he want to Logan to see if there was anything he could do. He spent several years in therapy as he couldn't get over that someone died in his place, if he hadn't called in sick someone else would be alive (although he wouldn't be). Not a good headspace, but he- and we- were very, very lucky that day, that circumstances went the way they did.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Oh my gosh, just lots of hugs

 

[PollyannaMom]

I don't have any personal stories, but one I read really stuck with me. It was about someone who was late to work (and therefore alive) because his shoelace broke and he stopped at a store to buy a new one. For a long time, I thought about that when small things would go wrong in my day, and it gave me perspective and patience.

 

[fly girl]

I've mentioned this in other threads, but my BIL was scheduled as flight crew on United 175 on 9/11. However, several weeks prior, he'd received a speeding ticket after work one evening, on his way home from Logan airport. The officer who wrote the ticket made it pretty clear that he wouldn't be in court for the hearing if my BIL wanted to contest it, so BIL called in "sick" on 9/11 to go to court to contest the ticket so it wouldn't show on his driving record and he wouldn't have to pay the fine. Of course, he never went to court on 9/11, he want to Logan to see if there was anything he could do. He spent several years in therapy as he couldn't get over that someone died in his place, if he hadn't called in sick someone else would be alive (although he wouldn't be). Not a good headspace, but he- and we- were very, very lucky that day, that circumstances went the way they did.

I can only imagine his survivor guilt. I do believe in a higher power, and he wasn’t destined to work that day. But not easy to grasp or come to terms with when you’re in those shoes. I sincerely empathize as his head and heart took a terrible beating.

My hugs to your BIL. I know this anniversary is never easy, but even more so for others.

 

[amcnj]

We had a 9/11 ceremony in town again this year, and I ran into a neighbor there. He worked on Wall Street and told me of his experiences that day. He said he was on the last Path train into the World Trade Center, and was proceeding to his office when it all started. He spent the rest of the day trying to get out of NYC, and eventually was one of the boatlift people.

At one point while I think waiting for a boat, they announced that anyone who had been south of Canal Street should come forward. He was thinking maybe they were prioritizing them for evacuation, but instead they were conducted to an area where each of them and anything they were carrying was hosed down. So he was wet the rest of the day, and then after dark getting cold too. But of course happy to eventually make it home later that night.