Remembering 9/11...A Must Read!

[luvmickey5374]

I'll never forget...I woke up and saw the news after the first plane had hit. They still thought it was an accident. As I watched the second plane hit I felt my stomach drop. My DFiance was working at the time, I flew to the phone, scared as to what was going to happen next. Then it hit the Pentagon, and then in Penn. I remember thinking "They were coming to get us" Silly I guess but I felt so unprotected without him there. Our wedding was 4 days later and everyone kept asking if we were going to postpone it. We were like life has to go on. Our strength is proven in how we all as a country reacted...you push forward so that's what we did. They celebration was needed in that time and I'm so glad we went on with it. Peace to all

 

[EMom]

It's my birthday today. I am also from Long Island, NY about 25 minutes by train to NYC. Our town lost a great number of people in the attacks, a few of which I knew. It's a very, very hard day. I watch all the History Channel programs and cry. And it sucks because I never feel like celebrating my birthday anymore.

I've thought about all the people who feel guilty celebrating birthdays or anniversaries on Sept. 11 because of what happened to my mother. Her birthday was on D-Day. She told me that after D-Day, her birthday was never the same and she was always sad and couldn't really enjoy it the way she should because of thinking of the classmates she lost that day.....not to mention the thousands of other US soldiers. And even if she tried to forget it, every single year the newspapers and news programs would commemorate D-Day. They still do it now, 60 years later.

It's the same for the Sept. 11 people now. So many people lost someone that day, or knew someone who lost someone, that it seems almost no one was left untouched. It's hard to feel like going out for a big celebration when you wonder if the people nearby are just trying to make it through the day until Sept. 12 can come.

So I understand how you feel, because my mother lived it for most of her life. I always felt bad for her and tried to make her birthday the happiest I could.

 

[elderfam]

My husband is and was in the military stationed in Jacksonville at the time. I worked in retail and before the store opened we got a call about the first plane. We went down to the sears store and saw the first building fall. Everyone was in a panic. We were able to rig up a TV used for training videos to get local news and it was all so bad. The rumors about how many planes they couldn't account for, the scope of the attack. As soon as the mall closed I raced home. That day my husband was off work and we sat watching TV together.
They closed the flight line so everyone on base had to park far away from the hangers, the park areas right inside the gates looked like parking lots...some cars didn't move for weeks. Security was tight and every time you drove on base they had soldiers with automatic weapons in hummers...I knew nothing would be the same. I know the war is a hot topic, but we can fight here or there.
I am so proud of the way my fellow Americans took care of each other in those horrible days. I am sad for everyone who lost a loved one and hopeful for our future. Because of that day, I know that we are surrounded by heroes, ordinary people who when needed, will step up to the plate and put there life on the line for what's right.
I hope I raise my children to have hero potential, and pray they will never be tested.

 

[Gabkatt]

There are so many other stories and I can go on and on. Those are just a few that come to my mind right now.
This morning I felt it was important to have a discussion during class about this day six years ago. Every one of my students had their own story. You can't be a New Yorker and not know someone personally that had been killed.

Thank you for including the photo! This is still so fresh for everyone...I'm glad to hear that people are not forgetting and its stories like this that tell the human story. Not to depress and spread fear, but to remind people how great this country is and to hear that heroes still exist!

 

[crazywig]

jeez if i felt it was bad beig in NYC at the time i wonder how it was to be in the happiest place on earth or for that day the not so happiest place on earth!

me and dh (actually fh at that time, we had gotten engaged 3 days before), were in Epcot when we heard. it was probably around 11am, we had already eaten in the castle that morning and monorailed over without hearing anything.


it was eerie, the parks closed that day and we stayed in our hotel (GF) only venturing out after dinner because i just couldn't watch the coverage any more. we stayed until saturday the 15th and amazingly flew home to Providence on our scheduled flight. up until that day we didn't know if we'd be getting out or not.

flying over NY we could see the smoke from the towers.

 

[disgram]

I remember being so frightened and so alone that day. DH was at work and my DGDs were in school. I called DH as soon as the second tower fell. I had to hear his voice. It was a confort feeling that I had not felt in a long time.
I talked to my Dad right after and offered to take him to the nursing home to see Mother but he told me to get my DGDs and to stay home and apprecitate and love them.

Later that day, my son, who is a paramedic in Charlotte, NC, called and wanted to make sure that I was ok. He and his wife were debating on going to NYC to help. My son was an MP in the Army only a couple years prior and he and his wife thought that they could possibly help. The paramedic unit that they are part of did send people to help.

At Christmas time that year, we went to WDW. In the American Pavilion, they had the flag that was found in the crash site. It was the first place that we went. To see that symbol of our Country, all tattered and torn, and knowing where it had been, was overwelming. Those that were standing there, looking at it, all had tears in their eyes and on their faces. And it was so quiet! That quiet, I will remember, always.

 

[WannaBeInWDW]

I live in New York and 9/11 is my aun't birthday. When the first tower was hit, we were watching it on television at home. My father works in the city and he was supposed to be down in the financial district for court. For some reason, he stopped at his office that morning (his office at the time was on 42nd and 6th).

We couldn't understand how a plane had hit one of the twin towers. We were on the phone with my dad (who had a clear view of the towers from his partners office) and all of a sudden he started screaming and out television went black. He said "another plane hit!!" along with some few choice words.

The other part of this story is that my brother was at Animal Kingdom that morning with his girlfriend. They were leaving when they heard a cast member say the tickets would be good for use on another day. He was confused cause they were evacuating the parks. He went up to a cast member and asked what was going on and she told him that NYC was under attack and everything within 5 miles of the Trade Center was destroyed. Not true, but that's all he knew. They were staying at Caribbean Beach and they hopped in a cab because the lines for the buses were too long. He tried calling and calling but you COULD NOT get through to ANYONE in NY that day. It was impossible. It wasn't until he got back to the hotel that he knew what was going on! He finally did get through to us, crying and wanting desperately to get home. It's the only time I heard him cry!!

My family knew a lot of people that we lost that day! It is 6 years later and it still makes me cry everytime I think about it. I will never forget that day. It helps to talk about it. Thanks for listening!

 

[danalee]

Thank you for this thread.
I like all of you remembered excatly what I was doing 6 years ago yesterday. Myself and my son were watching Barney and my mom called from work still thinking it was an accident she wanted me to tune in and see what was going on. She worked in a little store with no tv or radio a couple customers told her a plane hit the towers. So I turned on the Today Show, told her what was going on and told her I would call her back if anything else happens, moments later the 2nd plane hit, I called her back hysterically rambling, called my husband at work and they didnt know anything so I was on the phone back and forth. I remember looking over at my son, who was just playing away and thinking to myself "how will I ever explain this to my son one day?"

Well that day was yesterday, my son who is 8 now, knew "about 9/11" he knew that in school they would have something special and he wears Red, White & Blue that day, and he knew that planes hit the towers, the Pentigon and one crashed here in PA and he knew that it was a sad thing to think about, but after school yesterday he asked me "why"

"Why" he just wanted to know why.
We talked about it for hours, I explained the best I could about the day that our country changed forever, what we were doing when it happened, and about all the hero's our great nation lost that day.
When his dad got home and we were eating dinner my son wanted to let his dad know about our talk and he ask him if he cried that day like mommy did and did it still make him cry, my hubby was brought to tears just by the statement.
When my son was getting into bed last night he said "mom I am glad I understand this day better and when my kids ask me someday I am going to tell them I cant remember it when it happened cause I was 2, but my mom and dad helped me remember"
At that moment I knew I did ok in our talk, I told him "that's right honey we always, always need to remember 9/11"

 

[Gabkatt]

my son who is 8 now, knew "about 9/11" he knew that in school they would have something special and he wears Red, White & Blue that day,...

My kids do the same thing! I have to say though, when they got home from school yesterday, I asked what the school did in remembrance of 9/11 and they both said "nothing". I said "no moment of silence or an announcement or anything?", they said they just talked about it in one class. I am very irritated! I don't want them or the other kids to be in fear, but I refuse to let the day pass without talking to and teaching my kids to never forget!

 

[jfranklyn]

Thank you all for sharing your most personal stories about that horrible day and the days afterwards. I live in northern NJ, about 13 miles from NYC. That morning I had just dropped my daughter off at our church for her first EVER day in preschool - she had just turned 3. She was my only child at the time, and I felt uneasy about leaving her - but FREE at the same time!! I worked also, but was off that day, so it was the first free morning I had had in a long time. I remember hearing as I pulled out of the parking lot, that a plane had hit the WTC, and like many other, imagined a little Cesna or something smacking into the side of it. I didn't think much more about it - it had happened before. I did a few errands, and then went home. When I put the TV on, I saw a pure horror show on TV. The 2nd tower had just been hit, and what footage they did have was of just the mass bedlam. I remember my gut reaction was that I needed to run back to church and get my daughter - that she wasn't safe without me. But I fought off that urge and started to make some phone calls. Luckily, I called my parents first - and asked my dad if he was watching TV (my parents NEVER watched TV!) Of course he said no, so I told him what was going on. He had spent his career working for the NY Times in Manhattan, but had recently retired. I hung up with him and went back to watching TV. In an ironic twist to this story, one of his brothers, who lives in Northern Ireland, called him not 5 minutes after I did to make sure that everyone was OK. If I hadn't called my dad, he would have had NO CLUE what his brother was talking about, and we live 13 miles away from NYC. Had he been outside, he would have seen the smoke first.

The other day I was going through my daughters baby book with her (she's 9 now) and we came to the part about "historical events". On the night of 9/11/01, I had made a very emotional entry in her baby book, and the next day had attached the front cover of the NY Times. She now reads that often to try and understand the events of that day and what it felt like to us at the time.

I had mixed emotions when she said that her school didn't recognize it yesterday with a moment of silence. She said her teachers did mention it, but that was it. When is the appropriate time for letting go? Is there limit to this grief we all still feel? I often wonder if it is worse for us because we were so close to it all. I knew no one personally, but quite a few names (high school families and the like). Watching all the coverage yesterday brought that grief back into my gut like a knife. What an awful time that was.

 

[jfranklyn]

Thank you all for sharing your most personal stories about that horrible day and the days afterwards. I live in northern NJ, about 13 miles from NYC. That morning I had just dropped my daughter off at our church for her first EVER day in preschool - she had just turned 3. She was my only child at the time, and I felt uneasy about leaving her - but FREE at the same time!! I worked also, but was off that day, so it was the first free morning I had had in a long time. I remember hearing as I pulled out of the parking lot, that a plane had hit the WTC, and like many other, imagined a little Cesna or something smacking into the side of it. I didn't think much more about it - it had happened before. I did a few errands, and then went home. When I put the TV on, I saw a pure horror show on TV. The 2nd tower had just been hit, and what footage they did have was of just the mass bedlam. I remember my gut reaction was that I needed to run back to church and get my daughter - that she wasn't safe without me. But I fought off that urge and started to make some phone calls. Luckily, I called my parents first - and asked my dad if he was watching TV (my parents NEVER watched TV!) Of course he said no, so I told him what was going on. He had spent his career working for the NY Times in Manhattan, but had recently retired. I hung up with him and went back to watching TV. In an ironic twist to this story, one of his brothers, who lives in Northern Ireland, called him not 5 minutes after I did to make sure that everyone was OK. If I hadn't called my dad, he would have had NO CLUE what his brother was talking about, and we live 13 miles away from NYC. Had he been outside, he would have seen the smoke first.

The other day I was going through my daughters baby book with her (she's 9 now) and we came to the part about "historical events". On the night of 9/11/01, I had made a very emotional entry in her baby book, and the next day had attached the front cover of the NY Times. She now reads that often to try and understand the events of that day and what it felt like to us at the time.

I had mixed emotions when she said that her school didn't recognize it yesterday with a moment of silence. She said her teachers did mention it, but that was it. When is the appropriate time for letting go? Is there limit to this grief we all still feel? I often wonder if it is worse for us because we were so close to it all. I knew no one personally, but quite a few names (high school families and the like). Watching all the coverage yesterday brought that grief back into my gut like a knife. What an awful time that was.

 

[mx3man123]

And to answer the original poster's question...today, and many days throughout the year, I STILL wonder how anyone could be that heartless that they would kill thousands of innocent people.

I wonder that myself and then I wonder why American troops have killed over 400,000 innocent iraqi's in 4 years.

 

[Gabkatt]

I wonder that myself and then I wonder why American troops have killed over 400,000 innocent iraqi's in 4 years.

Take your political views somewhere else! This is about people sharing their personal stories. If you want to talk about opinions on this topic, start your own thread!

 

[csharp7]

It was my second week of college at NYU. I was a freshman - just moved away from home into my dorm on 5th Avenue and 10th Street, and the first thing I noticed was that I could see World Trade from my bedroom window.

On the morning of September 11th, I was in a for-credit yoga class in Chelsea - we were sent home when the news broke and I had to walk home *towards* Ground Zero while everyone was running away. The second tower fell when I was still on the street and we felt the ground rumble. My cell phone didn't work, so I couldn't call home to tell them I was alright. I remember feeling very small. When I got back to my dorm, I realized I had left my keys behind that morning and I was locked out of my room. But every door on my floor was open and everyone was going in and out of all the rooms. I spent the day with the students in the rooms on either side of me that day, and they are still the best friends I made in college.

I was able to send one email before the university email system went down, but my mom forwarded it to everyone she knew. It ended up being published in my hometown paper, and my high school paper.

In the days that followed NYU made us stay in the dorm. Classes were can canceled for the week and we weren't supposed to go outside - there was a huge orange cloud full of asbestos floating North towards us. Since my dorm was south of 14th street, we were below the line where they allowed only residents (with proof of address) and *no* cars. That was creepy, only National Guard tanks. And loud fighter planes every few hours. Several students on my floor left school for good - but not the only guy I knew who lost someone. *Both* his parents worked on one of the upper floors. When they discovered that the stairs had been cut off by the plane - they sent him a good bye email. He never heard from them again. When he accepted his diploma at graduation, I heard he got a standing ovation.

 

[december]

Take your political views somewhere else! This is about people sharing their personal stories. If you want to talk about opinions on this topic, start your own thread!

Thank you!

 

[momof2n2]

Cruise on 9/9. I went to an all day education seminar for work Monday on 9/10 [I was mostly a SAHM mom and rarely worked day times] . Our class was off on Tuesday 9/11 and was to meet again on Wednesday.

We live in upstate NY.

Few of our family quite knew when we were exactly travelling and since we were busy unpacking etc., we hadn't really talked with anyone.

Every friend and family member we knew called us to make sure we were home safe.

Home safe = yes. Glued to the television.
Home sound... never again.

MY SISTER was actually at our local AIRPORT at the time it happened. She was scheduled to fly out from our city to San Francisco. Of course air travel was suspended. She was actually already on the plane preparing to taxi down the run way. They wouldn't let anyone in or out of the airport for quite a while. I was on standby to go pick her up. When my son and I went to get her it was the strangest feeling to be there. It was so quiet. I haven't ever seen an airport silent.

 

[momof2n2]

In the days that followed NYU made us stay in the dorm. Classes were can canceled for the week and we weren't supposed to go outside - there was a huge orange cloud full of asbestos floating North towards us. Since my dorm was south of 14th street, we were below the line where they allowed only residents (with proof of address) and *no* cars. That was creepy, only National Guard tanks. And loud fighter planes every few hours. Several students on my floor left school for good - but not the only guy I knew who lost someone. *Both* his parents worked on one of the upper floors. When they discovered that the stairs had been cut off by the plane - they sent him a good bye email. He never heard from them again. When he accepted his diploma at graduation, I heard he got a standing ovation.

wow, thanks for that perspective. I am speechless.

 

[luvthemouse71]

Take your political views somewhere else! This is about people sharing their personal stories. If you want to talk about opinions on this topic, start your own thread!

Thanks. I was going to open up the proverbial can of whup **s but you said it better than I ever could. This thread was meant to honor the memories of those lost that day and for people to heal. I'm proud of everyone who shared their memories of that day with such candor and heartfelt emotion.

 

[MareSINY]

I work in downtown Manhattan, near the South Street Seaport, which is about 5 blocks from Ground Zero. I was running late that morning, so my sister and I decided to take the bus to our office instead of walking. I knew something was going on, we were stuck in a ton of traffic coming down Water Street and I was watching the people on the street all looking upward. We finally got off the bus at Wall Street and I noticed letterhead from Guy Carpenter which was partially burned laying in the street. There was paper falling everywhere. When we reached Maiden Lane we looked to the left where everyone was looking and we saw the first tower on fire. We had no idea it was hit by a plane, just that it was on fire and we felt awful for all the people in the building. We hurried to our office and as we entered the building were told by someone that a plane hit the building. We assumed it was a small plane, and since we work for an aviation insurance company we knew we better get upstairs and see what was going on. When I got up to my department everyone was running around and I found out that it was an airliner that hit the building, my boss asked if I felt or heard a loud noise a minute or so before, I told her I hadn't. The second plane hit while I was on the elevator, we got confirmation of it a minute or so later. All hell started to break loose, we were hearing rumors of missing planes. Over the next 30 minutes or so we found out about the plane hitting the Pentagon and the one that crashed in Shanksville. Eventually my dads office was evacuated and my sister and I left to meet up with him at the ferry. We left my building, walked half a block and looked up at the burning towers just as the first tower collapsed. We had to run from the giant cloud of debris, I still remember the man running down Maiden Lane yelling, "It's coming! It's coming! Run! Run!" Everyone started running towards the Brooklyn Bridge, but we kept heading towards the ferry. I was so scared for my dad, he was 65 at the time and I was worried about his health in all of this. It was so hard to breathe, and we couldn't see anything. We finally made it to the ferry, and when I saw my dad I ran to him and gave him a huge hug. We were standing in the terminal waiting for a ferry when the second building collapsed, we knew it had collapsed when the giant clouds of debris started hitting the windows. Everyone was in shock, people on the ferry put on life vests and everyone was sharing cell phones trying to get calls to loved ones. Half way across the river the sky changed, it went from gray and dingy to bright blue skies. When we finally got home I immediately went up to the shower and took off all my clothes. I threw those clothes in the trash, I never wanted to wear them again. I cried my eyes out, still not believing what I had been through, and knowing that what I had been through was nothing compared to the people in those buildings. I sat on my porch that afternoon looking at the sunny skies amazed at what was going on a few miles away.

I'll never forget 9/11 and the months that followed. It still makes me sad and I relive those events every year. I want everyone to remember 9/11, to never forget what happened that day.

 

[amykathleen2005]

I remember I was in 9th grade geometry and the teacher turned the tv on just as we walked in the room, right after the second plane hit. Wow, I don't think I will ever forget that.