Remembering 9/11...A Must Read!

[DEBBYIAC]

I was driving to work that morning and from my house a had a perfect view of the twin towers which by this time you could see smoke coming out of the first tower and I could hear on the radio that a plane had hit it. And not really thinking it was anything but an accident keep driving to work. On the NJ turnpike there is a total clear view of the the skyline and as i was driving I could see the explosion from the second plane hitting(not know that at the time) it is an image that i will have ithe me for ever. I knew several people that lost there lives that day just becasue they went to work, one of which his wife was excepting there second child, it was report by a suivor that he stayed behind with a man that could bring him self to keep walking down the stairs but Harry would not leave him behind. and that was just the kind of guy Harry was. i know he is looking down on us all. the January after 9/11 is the last time I went to WDW with my son for his first time, and this year is my DD first time so I want it to be the most magical time ever, becasue you just never know what tomorrow brings.

 

[BarbieGal457]

I live in Philadelphia, and was in 8th grade. That morning, I remember looking at my Backstreet Boys calender over my bed, thinking what a beautiful day it was, and hoping the rest of the week would be too as I was set to be in NYC the next three days for Fashion Week (my uncle's collection was showing.) I was in a Catholic grade school a block from home, and we were writing something like "Quote of the Day." The teachers started buzzing around, and we were all called into the gym as a school. They told us the towers fell, and we'd be going home immediately. I remember sobbing with my friends as our parents rushed to us, and how we kept saying it reminded us of the movie Pearl Harbor that we'd seen for my birthday in June. I sat on my basement sofa sobbing eating my tuna fish sandwich for the rest of the afternoon. Everyone in Philadelphia was so worried they'd come attack our city next, and no one dared go outside. I also remember, for days after, watching MTV just be devoid of personalities and show videos, no live people. I also remember baseball stopping, and starting again, and the World Series, just praying the Yankees would win, thinking NY needed it so badly. I'll never ever forget that day, especially not when I'm in NY. Everytime, for a long time after and even still sometimes, a plane too low would make us all stop and look up silently.

I flew for the first time after 9/11 to WDW in June of 06, and we were absolutely terrified. I'm okay with flying again, but my heart still breaks and tears well up when I think of how scared those people must have been, and how brave they all were. I can't even imagine what it was like for parents to clutch their children in such terror. My eyes are welling up as I type.

I go to Shea Stadium a lot for Mets games, and I'm always very sad to see the Towers above the scoreboard in their skyline with a red, white, and blue ribbon covering them. I saw Billy Joel there this summer, and he opened with the National Anthem, which everyone in the stadium sang along to. My eyes welled up and I had goosebumps all over. Any time I go to a Yankees or Mets game and they sing the Anthem and God Bless America, I tear up.

 

[Wild4Walt]

I still think about that day often - most of the time it still brings me to tears, either of pride or sorrow.

I believe we should never forget. He need to remember and honor the sacrifices made and lives lost that day.

 

[mom2aredhead]

9/11/2001...
I was at work in NJ. My husband was working somewhere in the 5 boroughs of NYC. We lived in Staten Island. For a few hours after the planes hit, I had no idea exactly where my husband was or if he was OK since his office was in the area of WTC but he traveled all over the city to different job sites.

We closed our office early but I could not go home since all of the bridges and tunnels in and out of the 5 boroughs were closed. I went to my mother in law's house and we watched the TV in silence for hours. My sister in law and her kids came over later, and we all went out by the bay which normally had a beautiful view of the NYC skyline. On that day, and for weeks following, you could see nothing but smoke. Everyone there that day just cried silently in disbelief.

A few hours later I finally got a text msg from my husband saying simply "OK". To say I was relieved is an understatement. As it turned out he was in Brooklyn but the phone lines (cell and landline) were down for a while so no calls were able to get through. He wasn't able to get home either because of the bridges.

During the next few days news started coming in about people that we knew who were lost...our friend's brother, several high school classmates, relatives of our neighbors, and a former co-worker. No one "close", thank goodness, but we were still touched by what happened.

For the next few weeks I traveled to work amidst caravans of police escorted trucks carrying debris from the site to the landfill where they were sorting and trying to find and identify people's remains and their belongings. Each time I crossed the bridge, it was under the watchful eye of a national guardsman with an rifle in his hand.

During that time I also watched he owner of a neighborhood business paint a beautiful mural of a flag and an eagle on the side of his building. The landfill is closed, there are no rifles anywhere near the bridge, but amazingly enough, 7 years later, the mural is still there, virtually untouched by the graffiti that was the norm before.

Now I am the mother of a kindergarten student. He'll be learning about that day in his history class, and we'll be talking about it the way I heard my parents talk about the day JFK was killed. No one around here will EVER forget what happened that day.

 

[Fonzy13]

Edited so as not to offend.

 

[blondemom]

My heart goes out to all who lost relatives, friends, co-workers, and neighbors on September 11. My soul cries for these innocent victims - the ones in the buildings, the airplanes, the firefighters, police officers, good samaritans.

I can honestly say, my life changed so much on that day. I lost some of my innocence on that day. I see things through different eyes. I was saddened to have to bring my children into this new world; this world that I could no longer understand. I guess you could say that I finally woke up and realized just how bitter and angry people can be. I, too, was angry. How could people judge me because of who I am? Sadly, that kind of prejudice is all around - from many years ago, and I'm sure will continue.

I try my best to live to the best of my abilities, to make the right and responsible decisions, and to love as hard as I know how. You really never know anymore how long you have.

I pray for our soldiers and the men and women who are always fighting for my freedom and the freedom of my family. I believe that these men and women are true heroes.

 

[kadesha]

I was in high school. I was in the guidance office when I heard. (I was doing research on colleges) When they told me I thought they were playing some crazy joke on me. It was a really laid back atmosphere and we were always having fun, so I thought they were just trying to freak me out. I went back to class and everyone was glued to the TV. By then both towers had been hit. I remember most kids went home that day. Those of us that stayed continued to change classes, but watched TV in every single class.

 

[mellowyellowuk]

9/11 I was at university in Edinburgh where I was doing my nursing training being in uk it was 2 pm when the first tower was hit I saw it on TV in the canteen but being only 19 I didn’t really understand I had never heard of the twin towers I do remember on by way home I had to go through the centre of Edinburgh and people were standing in front of shops watching the TVs that were all broadcasting as the towers fell.

Now talk about tables turning I work in an A&E outside London and have experienced it in a more personal level we were put on major incident alert and were in lock down on 7th of July 05 not knowing if were would be receiving casualty not knowing if more attacks were to come not really knowing till the next day what had happened. My hands are shaking as I type this.

 

[stm61]

I was teaching school, using a scripted math lesson that I had to read word for word, exactly as printed in the book. My aide was trying to make a dr's appt. and I wondered why they were keeping her on the phone so long. She handed me a paper that said something about planes hitting bldgs, DC, and I forget what else. I had K thru 4th graders in that class and didn't want to alarm them so I'm trying to read the script and giving strange looks to the aide at the same time. Finally finished math and grabbed the phone to call the Air Guard Base. They confirmed what had happened, but didn't know how we'd be effected yet. Turns out while I was calling them the cheif was franically trying to call me, but I didn't have a cell and the school lines and district office phone lines weren't being answered. He finally got thru and informed me I needed to be there at 6 am 9/12. I stayed there for the next 5 years.
Dh was working out of state so I called my mother to put her on active duty with the kids. I had to drive 2 hrs to pick her up that night and it was eerie (sp?). No planes, very little vehicle traffic, all we saw was blue lights from houses because everyone was watching tv.
My sister was a newly wed. Her dh worked in one of the smaller tower bldgs and she didn't hear from him until that evening. She was convinced she was a widow. His train stopped 15 min out, it would have gone into the basement of the tower but the first plane had already hit so they kept it on the tracks until they could back it to the last station. He couldn't get a message out, all phone lines were jammed, he ended up walking over the bridge back into NJ and getting a ride from there. He's alive today because somehow their alarm clock got switched from an a.m. setting to a p.m. setting and he missed his usual train. Both of them swear they never touched the clock the night before. He lost his business, but everyone survived. His partner had started vacation that day and his secretary had a dental appt. so noone came in on time that day.
My former roommate's brother is a flight attendant. His usual route included one of the planes that crashed. He started vacation that day as well.
It's amazing how many people have stories similar to these.

 

[lbklyn]

To Fonzy13, I do agree with alot of what you wrote. But please remember there are so very, very many people who won't and can't forget that day. Especially those who lost their loved ones. There is not a day I come to work on the train and look over to where the towers are supposed to be when we are going over the bridge and feel heartsick. I have heard things today like "Why doe's this have to keep being rehashed", it breaks my heart. My sister told me that on some of the major NY papers there is barely a mention. On one they are still talking about the lipstick comment from Obama (This is not a political post, please do not respond about that). There are those out there who deal with things by just saying let's move on and not back. Well, I believe we HAVE to do BOTH. This is a day of mourning and and anyone who say's differently is kidding themselves. Just to let you know, you are so not alone. May God watch over us all.

 

[bsmcneil]

Please remember all of the people who died on that tragic day...

...and every other single day.


Remember our country...

...and all countries and peoples.


Remember the carnage, the senselessness of 9/11/01...

...and the carnage that has happened because of it.




The attacks of September 11th were difficult and wrong - but so is all violence, including the violence against women in houses across the world. Keep all of this in mind on this remembrance and every day.

 

[pipervali]

I find it ridiculous that people need to use this day as a political platform to rant about the suck of the politicians in this country. I'm sorry, it just makes me angry that we're living in a time right now where the whole country is polarized by who they're voting for. And that's all I'm saying on the matter, I apologize to those of you this offends.

Anyway, I remember that day very vividly. My grandfather had passed away a week to the day. I always sleep with the tv on, have since I was a child. I had gotten up to use the bathroom, and as I was walking back to bed to turn on the morning news, the second plane hit. I was confused at first, because I hadn't seen the coverage of the first one because of just waking up. I immediately called my mother at work, who had known about the initial hit, and like many people, had assumed it was just a small twin engine piper cub or something of the like. We stayed on the phone for a while, and then the coverage shot changed to the Pentagon. I remember saying to her that the smoke was so bad you could see it from Washington, because that's where the camera shot was from. She put two and two together right away.

That afternoon I drove down to my grandfather's grave. There was no music on the radio, only the news feed. I remember standing there over his grave, and for some odd reason, feeling a kinship with those that had lost their loved ones on that horrible day. I could feel the desolate pain of losing someone they loved so much. Not the same situation of course, but the pain was just as real. I think that's why 9/11 has stuck with me so much, even though I didn't have a personal connection to any of the poor souls lost that day.

That night we went to a candle light vigil at my high school alma mater. I remember driving through town and it was just silent. Very little traffic. Young children stood on street corners with their parents, waving the American flag and holding lit candles. That memory will never be erased from my mind.

I actually was in NYC for the first since 9/11 last week. We went to the WTC Tribute Center. Looking at the wall of photos, looking into the faces of all of those who were lost, it's something that will stick with me as long as I live. It makes it just that much more real.

God bless us all. And God bless America.

 

[letthewookiewin]

I had just gotten out of bed and turned on the t.v. to see what the ozone alert was going to be that day. At the time, I worked in a day care with the school age children and was in charge of all their field trips. My DH stood in front of our t.v. for what seemed like forever. When I realized I needed to get my children ready for us to go to work, neither of us were standing any longer. We had both sat down on the edge of the bed without realizing it. As I sat down in front of the t.v. in the living room to get the boys dressed the 2nd plane hit. My oldest DS asked why did they fly the plane into they building. When I told him that I didn't know, he said "well someone should spank them and put them in a big time out." As soon as we got in the car for my DH to drive us to the day care I worked at, I turned the radio station to a morning show that I had listened to the host of since I was in middle school. My DH did try and change the channel (he hates the guy), but decided it was a better idea he not since I threatened him with ripping his arm off. That day and many days after that radio dj would start his morning show at 5 AM and then go to 1 or 2 PM. Many of the children over the next several weeks were very scared. I spent most of my time giving extra hugs and doing anything I could do to make them feel more secure. My exterior was calm, but internally I was a raw ball of nerves. Not long before September 11, my sister had moved to New Zealand. She had won a rotary scholarship and was going to school in Christchurch. My sister and I have always been very close. We shared a bedroom until I moved out of my parents house when I was 18. I would have given anything to blink my eyes and have her in the same room with me. Then there was my DH's brother and his wife. She had left the army (honorable discharge) to have their son, and she had been a medic. My brother in law was a MP with top security clearance. August 28 of that year, they had their son. As soon as the first plane hit, my brother in law was called to get back to base. He would spend the next weeks working on base 12+ hour days. We didn't know what, when or where the military would be called to go. I was worried that my sister in law would be reactivated.
The thing that I remember the most is how creepy it just felt to be outside. The air just felt different (and not in a good way the way the air at WDW feels filled with magic and pixie dust). I live in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area of Texas. There are at least 3 major airports in the area (2 commercial, 1 cargo). I was used to planes flying over my house as they went in for a landing, and being able to see at least 3 planes in the air at all time. Going outside and not being able to see a single plane made me feel like I was stuck in that movie "The Night of the Comet". I can remember being outside at the day care with the kids. One girl (who's dad actually worked on the engines of the planes for American Airlines) came up to me and said, "Please Mrs. Kim can't we please go inside. It's just too creepy out here with no planes in the air".
I learned one horrible lesson that day, and it was one that I could have gone the rest of my life not learned. I had always felt that as long as my children were on American soil they were safe from that kind of violence. I know that you can never protect your children from everything that can harm them. I just thought I could from that. Also, since that day everytime I get off the phone with a family member (not just on special occasions) I say "I love you". That don't always say it back. I sometimes think it's b/c I do say it so often. However, I would rather them roll their eyes as I say it for the 50th time for that week, than somethig happen to me and never have said it outloud at all.

 

[Gabkatt]

I find it ridiculous that people need to use this day as a political platform to rant about the suck of the politicians in this country. I'm sorry, it just makes me angry that we're living in a time right now where the whole country is polarized by who they're voting for. And that's all I'm saying on the matter, I apologize to those of you this offends.

I agree!! If you read the stories all the way through from last year you'll see an exchange I had with someone that spilled over to PM's...ridiculous! This is for people to share and relate, not to try and continue to divide!!

I am so moved by all the stories and yes this day forces up deep emotions for most of us. POLITICS ASIDE...please continue to share!!!

 

[Nicole786]

My friend went to High School 2 blocks from WTC. When the first plane hit, the building shook, but everyone was told to remain calm that nothing was wrong and class resumed as usual. 10 minutes after that, the smoke become too much to bear and the school was asked to calmly evacuate on to the back lawn because the front was blocked by firetrucks etc. She was outside looking towards the buildings when the second plane hit and all she remembers after that is panic and mayhem. Her and a few of her friends decided to hop the fence and run towards Wall Street/Staten Island Ferry so thats what they did. Most of her classmates did too. She doesn't remember running, she just remembers being there. She jumped on to a ferry that was fully loaded, but she got knocked almost overboard until someone grabbed her hand and pulled her back on the boat before she was about to be sandwiched between the wall and the exterior of the ferry. The most tragic part of her story is the fact that her school was damaged and for a few weeks they had to take classes at a rival school. Well this rival school was mad at them for getting "all the attention" and death threats were made, knife fights, etc

My cousin lives in Brooklyn and went to college also down the street from WTC, she remembers a similar story to where everyone in the begininning said to remain calm but she too eventually ran. She doesn't remember anything but running. People were shouting "run north, run north" and thats what she did until she got to Harlem. She went to therapy for a while after that.

I was up in Westchester County at the time, and I remember the day well but I was okay.

What I do remember is the time that I lived in NYC the beginning of 2008 I lived 4 blocks from WTC and would have to pass by ground zero almost every day. Every time I would pass it I would be listening to my iPod but I would have to turn it off for some reason, and a great deal of sadness would overcome me. It has this extremely eerie feeling to it even though it seems that everything is back to normal around that area.

 

[sandym718]

Like most everyone, I can clearly remember how I felt that day. We had just found out on 9/2/01 that I was pregnant with our first child. We had just announced it to our families the Sunday before (9/9 - Grandparent's Day). I was at work - I managed group homes for the developmentally disabled, training a new employee. We were in one of the homes, where no residents were home, no other staff on duty. We called into the office for something and they were like - have you heard? We ran to the home's living room, put on the TV and proceeded to sit there for a few hours. I can clearly remember thinking, Oh my God, what kind of world is my child coming into????? My Mom works in a building that also houses an ATF office. I called her and they all had to be screened very carefully before they could leave work, cars checked, etc. I remember her asking if I was going home from work and I was like, uh, no - these homes are 24 hour operations, my staff have to work, I'm not going home! DH works in excavating and landscape installation, they just listened to the radio and kept on working also.

I also clearly remember May 14, 2002 - the day my son was born - the maternity ward was VERY crowded. The nurses were cranky in postpartum saying "all these 9/11 babies". I was like, NO, most of us knew we were pregnant before 9/11, we were 5 weeks pregnant at that point. Anyone who WAS having a 9/11 baby at that point was fairly early, and there probably weren't many there considering there is no NICU at that hospital.

 

[mickeymousemom]

I remember getting up for work and having coffee, watching GMA and relaxing before getting ready. I saw the report about the first tower and was still watching when the second tower hit. I was about to leave when the first collapse happened. It was so hard to walk out my door and go to work. I wanted to go get my girls from school and just hug them. From that point on, for a few years, it was hard to feel safe anywhere. All of a sudden I didn't feel like my kids were safe in school and I didn't feel safe even going to WalMart. It was horrible.
We went to WDW three weeks later and it was incredibly eerie there. We walked on everything and everyone seemed so somber. Of course, 9/11 was still being talked about every where.

I don't think any of us will ever forget that day. I believe it will be one of the most remembered pieces of history in this century. My girls were younger(11 and 7), but even they remember how scared they were that day. I remember going to a Colts game and being scared the Dome would be blown up. Almost sounds a bit silly now, but then I think most people were pretty leery of going to any special events.

Now there are days I dont think about 9/11, but of course it still haunts me. I can't tell you how many times I've glanced at the clock over the years and the time is 9:11. Creepy. Certain pieces of that day I will just never forget...like the face of Mohammed Atta, the crumbling of those towers that less than 20 years earlier I had the privilege of visiting(and eating at Windows on the World), the words of Todd Beamer("Let's roll"), and the days after of watching the news showing desperate friends and family members putting up signs and searching for their loved ones who would never be found alive.

In short, its a day that we turned our heads for just a second and the unthinkable happened. Lets pray we don't make that mistake again!

 

[MareSINY]

September 11, 2001 I started out a little later than normal, so instead of walking to work like my sister and I usually did we hopped on the bus after getting off the ferry from Staten Island. The bus was crowded so we had to stand, we kept seeing people looking out the windows and pointing up, I had no idea what they were looking at.

Traffic was awful, when we reached Wall St. we got off the bus and prepared to walk the three remaining blocks to work. Something seemed funny but I didn't know what it was. I remember seeing computer reports and Guy Fitzgerald letterhead with burn marks on it. When we reached Maiden Ln. people were standing on the corner looking left, so we stopped to see what was going on. We could see the flames pouring from the top of the WTC. My heart raced as I thought of all the poor people in that building, still unaware of what was unfolding.

We reached our building and as we entered a man mentioned that a small plane had hit the building. We hurried up to the office, working for an aviation insurance company I figured I'd have a busy morning. When I got upstairs my boss asked if I had just heard the loud noise, I told her no. The second tower was hit while we were on the elevator. It was at that moment I found out it was an airliner that hit the tower. Mass chaos was going on around me, everyone was scrambling and taking calls from the various airlines. We found out the second tower was hit and that there were planes missing. My dad was in his mid 60's at the time and worked even closer to the WTC than we did. A short while later we found out they were evacuating his office. So we also left, I begged him to walk up to Water St. and down to the ferry that way, luckily he agreed.

We exited the building, unprepared for what we were about to face. We stopped to look up at the towers and suddenly the first tower started to collapse. We ran for our lives, along with everyone else on the street. We headed towards Maiden Lane and I will never forget this moment as long as I live. We looked up Maiden towards the towers and saw this GIANT cloud of smoke and debris heading our way. A man was running down the middle of the street hollering and waving his arms, "RUN! It's coming! It's coming! RUN!" Everyone ran. Most headed towards the Brooklyn Bridge, but we kept going towards the Staten Island Ferry. We reached Wall St. and had to run again from the cloud of debris coming towards us. We couldn't see, it was difficult to breathe. We had no protection from what we were breathing in. We heard a plane and stopped and started screaming and trying to see it, but you couldn't see anything. We thought another plane was coming to get us. We later figured out it was a fighter jet from various accounts we've read.

I cried so much. People kept telling us we were going the wrong way, to head to the bridge. I kept yelling that I had to get my father and just kept going to the ferry, everyone kept saying the ferry wasn't running. I didn't care, I had to get to my dad. I stopped and called his office to make sure he had left, his boss answered and said he had left, he asked me if we could breathe, I said no and I had to go.

We kept going to the ferry. When we finally reached it I started shouting out my dads name. My sister finally convinced me to come inside the terminal to look for him there. When I spotted him I ran to him and hugged him very tight. He was his usual calm self. Nothing ever rattled that man. LOL The terminal was packed, everyone was waiting to use the phones, they worked sporadically at best. While we were waiting for the boat the second tower collapsed, we heard the roar and saw the debris hitting the windows of the terminal. By this time I was numb to everything.

On the ferry people were putting on life jackets, strangers were helping strangers. We were all dirty and crying and scared. I remember half way across the river the sky turned blue again and the sun resurfaced. Looking back towards the city everything was gray and ominous.

When we got off the ferry they made everyone get off the lower level, none of the buses were running. We luckily had our car in the parking lot, we were one of the last people to get our cars out that day. A friend had to wait a week to get her car back.

When we got home my sister, who was visiting from Italy where her husband was stationed in the navy, came running out with my niece, she was 6 months at the time, she gave me this huge hug and I remember telling her not to touch me I was disgusting, she just cried and said she didn't care.

I went right inside and took a shower. I cried in that shower for a good 30 minutes. The clothes I had been wearing sat on the floor in the bathroom for a week, I finally threw them out, I couldn't bear to ever wear them again.

Today was a day like 9/11/01, only it was a bit cooler than it was on that warm, sunny day. Every year on 9/11 I hope that people in other parts of the country are taking the time to remember the events of that day and that they still feel the empty sorrow that fills me every year on this day.

Never forget.

 

[Poohbear123]

I will never forget..... Faith

 

[TDS373X]

I remember the day I was on the phone with my landlord telling them they needed to do something about the mice in my apartment as I'd found a dead one in my bed at midnight the night before when the 1st plane hit. I work in a hospital lab so we were glued to the radio all day taking turns going to the break room to watch TV. At one point in the morning there was a report that they had thought a flight from Chicago had been hijacked my dad and step mom were supposed to fly out that morning from Chicago to San Fran to go to China. All I could think about at that point was about how much time I'd wasted over things that didn't matter My dad and I had just worked thru years of really stupid things and we'd only been back in each others lives not quite 2 years how unfair it could just go away. I was emotional and they offered me the chance to go home. I thought staying and focusing on patient care would do me more good then sitting home making myself sick with worry. At noon we had a prayer service in the chapel. Shortly after noon they said they had located the plane they feared hijacked but we still had no idea where our parents were. About 10 pm that evening they were finally able to get thru to my brother they were OK but didn't know when they would be able to get back home as there were no rental cars, or buses or anything available..Since then I don't sweat the small stuff so much and make sure that travel plans are known. I spend the day in reflection I can still remember how I felt when I didn't know. I can only imagine how those that truly lost feel. Today I educated my almost 9 y/o DD about the day and why we should never forget..I think that every year we will do something to remember