Remembering 9/11...A Must Read!

[Crickey]

In the Uk i was just finishing school and came home and put BBC news on and it was talking about the 1st plane i stood there shocked as i always wanted to see the world trade center and then when the 2nd hit and then the pentagon i sat there still in my school uniform in shock and worrying about what was going in the world

Many americans died that die but so did us British as we had people working over there at the time

And then we had our on attack on 7/7 in london

It why i always feel USA and UK are very close to each other and hope we stand together for the rest of time

 

[Gabkatt]

Every year I re-post this thread & I am always amazed and blessed at the stories...as always I hope this little bit allows people the opportunity open up, share & most of all...To Never Forget!! Thank you all!!

 

[dimndgal1]

I woke up in my dorm room in MD to see the news about the first plane... then saw a photo of the Pentagon. I frantically tried to call me mom: she had been working overnight at the Pentagon and usually left between 9/930.

As I dialed over and over, I walked out to the quad and realized no one knew what happened. I ran to one of my profs and told him... he didn`t believe me, and then his phone rang: he was from NY and family were understandably stressed.

I kept calling my mom over and over but the lines were reserved for E-personnel. Finally, at 230p, my mom showed up to campus and took me home. She had left 15 minutes before the plane hit. Her coworkers were just moving into offices in the wing that was struck (it just completed rennovations)... luckily they all heard about NY and ran to find a TV. She had been working in a different wing.

My husband was in an ROTC program at the time and when news trickled down, they all knew that they would be graduating and going to war. He said it was a life altering moment: to go from `playing` soldier to knowing you will befighting in combat.

 

[NightStar]

I was on the bus on the way to my high school. I remember the radio was on and the djs were talking about “some idiot who crashed into the wtc”. At this moment of time it was thought to be an accident and the people on the radio were joking about it. During my 1st class all we did was watch the news. We all saw the second plane hit live on tv. I will never forget the raw emotion felt in the classroom, the horror and confusion. They locked our entire school down. So all we did was watch the news the entire day. I am originally from NYC and couldn't get in touch with any of my family out there. The entire phone lines were jammed. We were terrified we couldn't get in touch with my Uncle who worked very close to the WTC. Thankfully, they had shut down all underground transit and he was stuck in the subway. My heart goes out to everyone who has lost someone due to 9/11 and everyone whose lives will never be the same.

 

[disneyfan19712006]

I was at my parents' house, on the phone with my priest, planning my husband's funeral. He had died 2 days before.

I feel very disconnected from the September 11th stuff. I was obviously distracted. I do remember later that day driving the 4 hours from my parents' house to Miami to prepare for the funeral. All the toll roads were open. At the rest stops everyone was like zombies. Flags were at half mast. And it seemed appropriate to me that the entire world should stop to mourn with us. I know that's not what it was, and I know that it's selfish to think that, but there is still no way I can think about September 11th without feeling just a tad bitter about September 9th.

My mom died on Sept 11 2006. Bringing more sadness to an already somber day.

 

[Gabkatt]

Amaizing stories and pictures! We will NEVER FORGET!!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Thanks, Gabkatt.

My wife and I were preparing to celebrate our 30th anniversary on that 9/11. So much changed that day, so much has changed since. We did have a quiet dinner night out some weeks later. Tomorrow we celebrate our 43rd anniversary, along with remembering that 9/11 and the 13 years since that 9/11.

 

[wdwnut4life]

i was starting my senior year of high school in erie IL, it's in my yearbook.


god bless america!

 

[alvernon90]

I was working in D.C. on that day, my office was six blocks from the Capitol but the weather was so pretty that I got off of the Metro one stop early so I could walk from the Capitol to my office. When I arrived a little late, everyone was huddled around a TV. I asked what happened and they said the WTC and Pentagon had been attacked with planes. I said that could not be true, if the Pentagon had been attacked we would be able to see it. Someone said, "Look!" and moved away from the window, so I could see the column of black smoke rising across the river.

The worst part was deciding what to do while we did not know what had happened to Flight 93. Everyone surmised that it was headed for the Capitol, and we knew the fighters would never let that plane hit its target -- they would shoot it down first. We all wondered if we should stay inside, or head for home and risk flaming wreckage falling on us. We finally all decided to leave, and thank goodness it worked out for us. My friends and I stayed safe that day because the passengers on that plane fought back. I won't forget that.

 

[Gabkatt]

God Bless America!!!

 

[MaleficentRN]

I'm sorry. I have to say this as it bothers me when people do this every year.It doesn't matter where we were on 9/11/01. It only matters where they were on 9/11/01:

 

[DopeyDame]

In the Uk i was just finishing school and came home and put BBC news on and it was talking about the 1st plane i stood there shocked as i always wanted to see the world trade center and then when the 2nd hit and then the pentagon i sat there still in my school uniform in shock and worrying about what was going in the world

Many americans died that die but so did us British as we had people working over there at the time

And then we had our on attack on 7/7 in london

It why i always feel USA and UK are very close to each other and hope we stand together for the rest of time

Several years after 9/11 I was in grad school taking a class about Military Space Policy. We had as a guest speaker a colonel in the Air Force. He talked about the Air Force response on 9/11, and one thing that has always truck me was his description of the Royal Air Force. He said that within minutes of the second plane hitting, he got a call from his colleague in the RAF. The whole point of the call was to say "We're here for you. Tell us what you need. Everything we have and everything we can do is yours." Of course he was appreciative of his colleague and his support (though freely admitted that in those immediate minutes and hours he had no clue at all as to what we would end up needing.) As the weeks followed, he talked to his other USAF colleagues and virtually every single one of them had gotten a similar call from their partners in the RAF. That's when he realized it wasn't just his friend, but a deeply ingrained response from the RAF to their friends in the USAF.
As he said, there is no amount of money or military might that can possibly be as valuable as having such a loyal and dedicated friend and ally as the British.

 

[Gabkatt]

We Will Never Forget!!!

 

[Communicore1991]

God Bless America and all those who gave their lives on that tragic day 14 years ago.

 

[Magpie]

I'm sorry. I have to say this as it bothers me when people do this every year.It doesn't matter where we were on 9/11/01. It only matters where they were on 9/11/01:

It all matters. Their stories matter, but so do yours. And ours. People do this every year as a way of marking the moment in history and reaffirming the shared meaning of the event, which affected so many of us, so deeply and personally, all around the world. It's about human connection.

Your feelings are, of course, completely legitimate. But so are the feelings of all the people who want and need to tell their stories. Every voice, every life, matters. Both yours and theirs.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I'm sorry. I have to say this as it bothers me when people do this every year.It doesn't matter where we were on 9/11/01. It only matters where they were on 9/11/01:

its been 14 years but already people are forgetting. How can we remember and honour those who lost their lives without sharing OUR personal experiences of that day and the days that followed? Already there are teenagers who don't have personal memories. How are they and all the babies born after 2001 to understand the huge world wide affect and how the world stood still and watched in real time the events of that day?? How can they understand without hearing the stories from EVERYONE who remembers that day,no matter where they were were or what they were doing? It in no way diminishes or disrespects the people who lost their lives at Ground Zero, in fact it shows that their deaths and the events surrounding their deaths changed the whole world.

 

[Magpie]

I'm Canadian, but I was born in the US. For me, the strongest memory of this day centers around my children. They were enrolled in afternoon kindergarten at the time, so that morning I was on the computer checking on a parenting board I regularly participated in, while the children played nearby.

Someone posted what I can only describe as an incoherent wail, so I clicked over to CNN. I was greeted with a splash page, put up because the site had crashed. I must have made some sound, because instantly my five year old was at my elbow reading the page and asking questions. "What happened? Did a plane crash into the CN Tower? Did the CN Tower fall down?" (She misunderstood the CNN logo.)

Both kids were getting upset, so I pulled myself together and did my best to explain what little I knew. I defined "terrorist" for them. We pulled out the big North America map and I showed them where New York City was. I assured them we were safe. My husband called and we agreed the kids should go to school as normal, but that I should avoid going downtown for the next while. My mother called, in tears, but couldn't stay on the phone because she was desperately trying to reach people she knew in New York.

On the way to the bus stop, the streets eerily empty, my five year old asked nonstop questions. She wanted to know why we couldn't just talk to the terrorists. If they knew we were nice people, they wouldn't want to hurt us, right? My 3 year old son was silent, as he'd been for most of the morning. At the bus stop, he disappeared into the bushes, then reappeared a moment later with a stick in his hand. "Don't be sad, mommy," he said. "If the bad men come here, I'll poke them!"

That just about did me in, but I managed to get them on the school bus with a smile. Then I went home, turned on the TV, and had myself a good cry.

 

[abyrd86]

I remember 9/11 as clear as clear could ever be. I was a high school freshman at the time. I was sitting in my class when there was an announcement made for us to turn on our tv's in the classroom. I remember my stomach sinking and the lump in my throat rising when I realized the full impact of what was happening. I have ALWAYS loved visiting NYC and seeing what was happening there broke my heart...all the death, fear, and uncertainty. When the plane struck the Pentagon, I was in the lunch room. We were all quiet and somber. That's when my I saw my Mom walk into the lunch room. I knew that this day was bad for sure when I saw her walk in to get me. I left with her holding my hand and I remember so VIVIDLY my Mom looking at the sky looking for anything out of the ordinary...we live in North Carolina, very close to all the military bases, and with the plane hitting the Pentagon...we were scared. Was something coming our way? We watched TV all day and into the night...

Now I am a 28 year old mother of two children, ages 10 and 9, and I still feel my stomach drop when this day arrives. I hope to instill in my children the sheer impact of 9/11 and to make sure that this day is never forgotten in my household. I still continue to pray for all the families who lost their loved one on that day and the first responders who were there sacrificing their lives to help. I cannot imagine the impact on the ones who have to live with the pain. God Bless America and NEVER FORGET 9/11/2001.

 

[5kidsmommy]

We were living in San Francisco, away from all our family. I had woken up early with morning sickness and my little one. I remember being happy to sit for a bit and watch the news before the other ones were up. I turned on the TV at a little before 6am pacific time, I remember being happy I was up early enough to catch a little bit of Fox & Friends live and saw the images of the first tower. I listened for a few minutes to the confusion of the reporters. I went in to wake up my husband so he could see and turned on the tv in our bedroom. We watch as the second plane hit live. I just remember the tears, the sadness, the fear.

I remember saying to my husband how much I wished we were back home in Cleveland because I would have felt safe there instead of being right outside of a huge city. It was a surreal day, my husband didn't want to drive into work in the city, we didn't want to take our little one to kindergarten, we just wanted to sit and watch the coverage while feeling so helpless, but life had to carry on because we had children and that's what you do.

So now each year I speak to my children, I teach them what happened, I tell them the stories, only my oldest has fleeting memories of that day but I want the others to remember and understand the significance of 9/11/01 forever. It's important to teach our children so that they understand what was lost, so they remember those that died and those that sacrificed their lives to help other, but I do hope that they never experience such a horrible event.

 

[xxDisneyDancerxx]

I was so young at the time. I was in 4th grade when the attacks happened. Our teachers were called down to the office for a brief meeting. Some coming back misty eyed. They never told us what happened, just that there was something big happening with the country. Which I feel was the right thing, let our parents explain it to us. Some kids went home early. After school my mom picked me us and we went to get new dance shoes because dance started that week. Nothing was said. My mom told me when we got home but it didn't register, not even when I caught a glimpse of the news. I knew it was bad, but I never really understood just how bad until the 10 year anniversary. I was in college and decided to watch all the special about that day, and it broke my heart. I can't imagine how people who have lost loved ones felt on that day or even every day and year after that. This is something that will be mentioned on the news every year. I agree it needs to be remembered, but why should they have to live through this over again every year?

My heart goes out to anyone and everyone that was affected on this day.