Remembering 9/11...A Must Read!

[Not so Dumbo]

My son, who was 1.5 at the time, and I were on our way to get a picture that I had made for my dad's second wedding framed. I heard the first report on the radio and it seemed odd. It didn't quite make sense to me. I finished at the store and on my way to the next store I had to go to when the reports started to sound very serious, at first they sounded like some kind of joke the radio station could be playing. I didn't make it to the next store, I headed to my mom's house, which was close by, to find out what was going on. As I watched the coverage, I kept looking at my 1.5 yo and thinking he has no idea of what's going on.
That night while trying to get to sleep, I remember never feeling more scared. I kept thinking, what if they aren't done. What if they blow up the nuclear power plant that isn't too far away from us? I was very scared that the baby that I had just found out I was pregnant with wasn't going to be born.

 

[ReggieB]

My initial post is back at #33 from last year a believe.

DH is in New York on business for a couple of days. His company has an office overlooking ground zero. I know he often says when visiting it that he sits and looks out of the site thinking of his friend. I haven't had a chance to ask him how he is feeling today, probably only a fraction of what his friend's family are still feeling, I'm sure.

 

[marc1477]

May we never forget that day!

Let us always remember what happened in NY, DC, and Pa!

 

[Gabkatt]

As it says in my op, these are some great stories! Please feel free to leave your comments and add to this thread, it will be re-posted every year. God Bless!

 

[swald91]

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 also have a friend who was working in the Pentagon on 9/11 who was thankfully okay. I was home watching Sesame Street with my 2 year old twins when it happened. I will never be the same. Our world will never be the same. That makes me so sad.

I guess alot of us don't even think of those who should be celebrating, birthdays, anniversary-etc...Those babies who were born that day & are 8 today & YOU! Happy Birthday-you don't feel like celebrating-but you are here & you have children-and family & to them you are worth celebrating-we will never forget the terrible things that happened that day.

 

[queenie82]

This is always the most emotional day for me. Just thinking about it I have tears in my eyes. I may live in Australia but New York is more special to me than any other American city. It has the most amazing spirit and resilience of any city in the world.

I was watching West Wing on TV late on Sept 11 (AEST) and in the ad break a news flash broke. Planes had hit a building in NYC. I couldn't believe it. They didn't have images yet.
The episode finished and we got the full story. We saw that second plane hit...my heart broke. I was transfixed looking at the TV. I could see the chaos. I saw two of my favourite buildings on fire, I thought about all those IN that building.
The most haunting thing for me is I said under my breath "Those buildings are coming down." It was not a wish at all.....as far as I can tell it was just a gut response because I knew a bit about their construction (architecture student)

When they fell...my heart tore in 2.
I will never ever forget this day. NEVER.
I will never be the same, I will never go to New York without staring at the hole in the skyline, without welling up, without constantly asking why.

I also remember the Pentagon and those that died when their plane crashed into a field because they FOUGHT the scum that were carrying out this atrocity.

My heart goes out to all friends and family of those who lost their lives, to every New Yorker, to every American.

Remember even on the other side of the world there are people grieving for you so don't you DARE let these people destroy your amazing spirit.

 

[Epcot Mom]

Today is our 16th wedding anniversary. In 2001, obviously no one celebrated anything but we make a point of celebrating our anniversary on Sept 11th each year, even if it falls on an inconvenient night with kid activities, etc. Our feeling is that it was our wedding anniversary long before that terrible day. If we let the horrible things that happen overtake the good of the date for us, we let the terrorists win. They wanted to disrupt our way of life, destroy who we are. We choose to not let them take our annivesary away from us. With our children, we remember what happened in 2001, but we also celebrate what happened in 1993, they won't take that away from us!

 

[Ktharee]

My whole family (nine of us at the time) all from Long Island, half who worked in Manhattan, were all in WDW during 9/11. We just finished a character breakfast at the Garden Grill and were returning to Test Track with our fast passes. As we were walking we saw a mass exodus from the park. We approached a CM who told us they were evacuating the parks due to the international incident. What incident? we asked. "Two airplanes just crashed into the twin towers and the pentagon is under attack. If you are staying on property, please return to your resort." My heart sunk. We were glued to the TV and desperately tried to contact all our friends and family. It's a miracle we didn't lose anyone. To this day, I don't get fast passes for TT. It's silly, but I just can't do it.

 

[tzuhouse]

I was 7 months pregnant with my 2nd son. It was a day when we would go to church for a Mommy/Child thing. We did that a couple of times each month. I had just gotten out of the shower and my husband called to tell me that a plane had gone into the World Trade Center. Having never been to New York, I wasn't sure where that was. I turned on the news and stood watching, unable to move, as a 2nd plane flew into another building. I remember standing there thinking "What are the odds that two planes would fly into buildings in the same day, let alone buildings right next to each other. That moment lasted about 10 seconds and as my brain wrapped around what I was watching, the realization hit that there was no way it was random. No way it was an accident. And that little white picket fence that had been around my life in my mind came crashing down in an instant because I realized that this was being done on purpose. By whom, it didn't matter. Some nut job was crashing planes into giant buildings. And then my thoughts turned to what kind of world I was bringing my new son into and what kind of place would we be living as the boys grew up. Sean was born on Veterans Day, exactly two months later.

Mary

 

[LD NURSE]

My husband was working in dowtown Tulsa, in a building that was modeled after the Two Towers. All I could think of was all those poor souls trapped. It still breaks my heart. But I am very PROUD of all the American heroes who gave their lives that day. This IS a great country!

 

[PSUGuy]

My response to this evil act is to go on with my life as though it never happened. I realize that this would be impossible if I knew a direct victim of this and also that this is probably not a popular stance, but one of the intentions of these criminals was to disrupt our lives and plant a seed of fear and doubt in us, and I won't grant them that. If not for the media attention to this date I probably wouldn't take note of the day at all. To me, to memorialize this event is to give the perpetrators exactly what they hoped to achieve, and I refuse to do my part in that.

 

[dbriggsq]

I live in the UK and remember hearing it on the radio in mid afternoon while I was out shopping (on the Simon Mayo program) - got home and my teenage son was watching on the TV - quite distressed.

We were due to fly to NY 2 weeks after this to set off on a cruise - obviously I thought it would be cancelled but we were told that it wasn't and that we would fly into NY and then be transferred to Boston to sail. I have to say that day we spent in NY was one of the strangest I can remember - everyone very sombre and quiet, still a strange smell and then seeing ground zero live after seeing it on TV for 2 weeks. A taxi driver asked how we were brave enough to fly into NY - I said we didn't really have a choice but that we would have done it anyway.

September 11th has another sad memory for me now though - it is 3 years since my father died - September 11 2006 - sadly not a good death so I will always now remember it for him.

 

[darrengs]

I am reminded daily as I travel to work and see the NYC skyline. Loved ones were lost.

 

[melliemelo]

My boyfriend (now husband) and I were on vacation in Destin, FL. We were getting ready for the day and heading to the outlet mall. We just happened to turn on the TV before leaving to see the first tower had been hit. I honestly didn't think much of it except that it was a freak accident ~ a "normal" plane crash. Then as we watched the 2nd plane hit. And I was really confused as to how this was happening? Then the towers went down. And we sat there dumbstruck. I called my Mom and she was so glad to hear from me. We watched everything on TV for a while then went to the mall. It was a ghost town with lots of the shops closed.

 

[KellyNY]

That day I took my DD to school and went to college, my classes started around 11AM, so I was sitting outside in a quiet pond area reading a book, nobody was around me and I had no idea what happened.
When class started everyone was joking and laughing as usual, nobody knew. Our prof. told us and we all were in shock. I did not know who, how, why but I knew it was a war. I stepped out of class to make a call since cell phones did not work. Every paid phone on every floor had a huge line with people crying and screaming. I called my mother and asked her take my DD out of school earlier and to put together any papers and money in case of evacuation. I walked that day home, buses were rare and had people hanging on doors, subway did not work. As I was walking I was getting more and more angry with those who did it. It is my city, my country.
I put together a little bag with everything we might need if we will be evacuated. I kept this bag for couple of weeks. Next couple of weeks were full of bomb alarms, my father work(City Hall), my DD school, my college. My DD school had lots of people from middle east, I think they were afraid even more then we were, afraid of violence toward them. Tragedy changed everything.
Victims will never be forgotten, 9/11 will always be a part of our lifes.

 

[Funky Chicken]

I was attending a corporate automotive product launch meeting in New Jersey that day, about a 2 hour drive from my home in Connecticut. I stayed at my Mom's house in Monmouth County the night before and I can remember getting up early and walking outside to one of the most beautiful weather days ever. As I drove up the GSP to Woodbridge I still couldn't believe what a gorgeous morning it was. I'm usually too busy to notice such things and it was strange that I was paying so much attention to the weather.

The meeting was set up like a scavenger hunt and the plan was to drive between 3 locations in NJ-

Liberty Science Center which is directly across the Hudson from the WTC

Raceway Park in Englishtown

A hotel in Woodbridge

We were driving prototype cars with European radios so we had no way to get information.

One of the guys I was traveling with is a Volunteer Fireman. His pager went off after the first plane hit. He made a phone call and was told that a Cessna had hit the building. By the time we found out about the size of the first plane the second one had gone in. Management cancelled the rest of the day, and we all drove back to the hotel to pick up our cars and try to get home. Cellphone service was pretty much gone.

When we got back to the hotel we went straight to the bar. We bumped into a couple of FedEx pilots who had been waiting to take off out of Newark when the FAA shut down all air travel. They were pretty shaken up. Some of the participants who were setting up at the Liberty Science Center watched the second plane go in from the roof of the building. They were at the hotel bar with us and weren't saying much. One of those guys (who travelled quite a bit for the company) has not set foot on an airplane since.

We ate lunch at the bar while watching the news and then I tried to figure out a way home-normally I would have crossed Manhattan but that was not an option. I ended up driving out to 287 and up to the Tappan Zee Bridge. All the way up 287 I could see the plume of smoke, and I was at least 25 miles west of the river. As I drove across the Tappan Zee and looked South about 3:30 PM the sight was just surreal.

I finally got home about 5PM and my wife and I didn't really say a whole lot. Her boss had been flying that morning and she had not heard from him. It turned out that his plane was diverted to Dulles-one of the last planes to land. He tried to rent a car and drive back to CT but the only thing he could find to rent was a Box Truck from U-Haul.

We could hear the fighter jets flying over Long Island Sound that night.

I lost a good friend that day-www.marczeplin.com

 

[mollymar]

I am a flight attendant for United Airlines and I think about that day everytime I set foot on an airplane. It is in my flying partners memory that I carry on my safety and professional duties. They will never be forgotten.

I was lucky enough to be at home with my then 3 year old ds. It took me 6 months before I could find the strength and courage to return to work.

All of the victims and their families will be in my prayers today.

Tanya

 

[Dominus]

I'm a carrier at the post office. We never have the tv on. A customer got a cell ph. call and told one of the clerks. The clerk turned on the tv and it was very hard to go back to work with the story unfolding. As I worked I kept thinking that the buildings couldn't fall-but they did. I then realized we'd soon be at war. I was glued to the tv for the next 2 weeks before finally having to just tune it all out. I sometimes feel bad that the story wore me down like that, but it did. I'm thankful on this anniversary for every year that's past without such an incident.

 

[bdiddy]

I just wanted to say a prayer for my friend Amy and her family. She lost her Dad in one of the towers. They were living in CA at the time and he was giving a conference in one of the towers.

Every time you look at her you can see the saddness in her eyes, it never goes away. She just recently had twins, a boy and a girl and named the little boy after her Dad so hopefully she will have some joy in her life again.

I love you Amy and big hugs today!

 

[luvgoing2disney]

Like all the others, it was a day I'll never forget.

I had taken my son to school and was on the way to work, listening to a sports talk station when they reported about the first plane hitting. At the time, they did not know what type of plane it was and details were very sketchy. I remember thinking, "What IDIOT could not see the Towers and accidentaly hit the building?" I never dreamed that my country could be under attack.

By the time I arrived at work, the second plane hit and we knew this was no accident. Then the Pentagon got hit, and the Towers fell.

It just seemed too incredible to believe that what we were watching and what was happening. I remember that I just wanted to be home with my wife and son---not that we felt we were in danger of attack, but just wanted to give them a hug and be with them.

The next night there was a concert given at the Hollywood Bowl. As the musicians entered, they did not sit as they normally do, but stood as they played the National Anthem, and I just lost it. Hearing the music and knowing what our country had just gone through, the stress and shock finally broke and I cried and cried.

I did not know anyone who was lost in the attacks. In fact, I've never been to NYC, never saw the Towers nor have I seen the Pentagon. But those cities and people were from my country, and killed that reason only. I hope that we will always remember the day and the ones who died on September 11th and that we can become a stronger country than ever before.