Where were you in 01

[wpeters]

I’d served my country in two war zones, Viet Nam as a Special Forces Medic from Nov 67 through May 69 and on 9/11.  I was on a contract with the Port of Authority of NY & NJ, in their offices,  standing on the 72nd floor looking out  the east side windows towards Kennedy airport  of the North Tower,  thinking what a perfect fall day, “severe clear” in aviation terms, what a great day  when a small dot caught my eye , within a split second it sprouted wings and continues its deadly flight path, I remember thinking it’s too low, it’s not going to clear the building, then it  struck the No1, World Trade Center.
  
The ceiling caved in and everything packed into the ceiling spaces above your head in any modern day office was now piled on top of everyone standing on the floor,  The building rocked  and swayed.  
My Medic Training kicked in and I made my way into the POA’s central office spaces and just listened , it was very still,  I yelled: “does anyone need help?”  through the haze of dust  I could see people starting to push the debris off of them and standing, I started yelling for everyone to move to the stairwell and start down, don’t wait,  I told them a plane hit the building somewhere above us.   One or two people wanted to wait In place for instructions, I remember the February 93 bombing and had decided at that time that I’d be my own decision maker and  I wanted to  get out now.  It took me 97 minutes to  get clear of  the complex and cross over to Broadway when the north tower came down,   the few that waited in place for instructions, were never seen again.

After the first collapse I moved toward a Mount Sini hospital annex on Gold Street and volunteered my medic services,  I spent the remainder of that day washing out people’s eyes and listening to lung sounds for early sings of respiratory distress.   I talked to my wife on a borrowed cell phone and told her I was alright, I loved her and I’d find a way to get home.
That night I caught a ferry that ran between lower Manhattan and my home town of Highlands, NJ where when I stepped off the ferry  was interviewed  by the FBI.  The world had changed and not for the better.  I went home, sat at our kitchen table and cried like a baby in the arms of my wife.

Salute Traveler. 


I think it might be time for a book.   It appears like you have had some experiences that would make a very interesting book

[Rogue9Volt]

I was in college, woke up to see all the dorm room doors open and every tv on.  We watched as the second tower got hit, and then we all went to the chapel.  I can't believe it was almost fifteen years ago...  In 04' my family and I visited ground zero.  I don't think I've ever cried like that since.

<<S>> to all who served that day, and those who gave it all.

[Rogue9Volt]

at the recruit station only to be told I was too old.



semp

I went in the next day with a bunch of guys from school.  I was told that I wouldn't pass the physical with my knee and back injuries.  I cried in the waiting room while my friends signed up.

One of them is still in the army.  He's an army photo journalist, and was in Afghanistan and Iraq.

[Maverick]

I was home shaving and listening to the morning radio show. They broke the news and I went and sat in front of the tv almost all morning long. Since I was retired I had no job to go to at that point. The next day I called my Military advisor number and tried to get back in but they said they were not taking any retirees and certainly had plenty of O-5's anyhow. A few years later when they were taking retiree's back I had already blown 2 disks in my back and they wouldn't let me pass the physical even for some staff puke job just to help out.


I visit this website once a year, on this date. http://attacked911.tripod.com/

[GhostCDB]

3rd Grade, Social Studies

[Swoop]

On vacation in Turkey.  Wandered out of the hotel in the morning to buy cigarettes and every bar I went past had people crowding around TV sets.  Got back to the hotel room and Mrs Swoop said to me "Have you seen the news?!"

[morfiend]

 For some reason I woke up early that day and turned on the TV!

  It was about 5 minutes before the first plane hit and I was watching CNN,for some strange reason I like to read the teletype that scrolls across the bottom. Of course it all unfolded before my eyes.


   I have a good friend who was a first responder,every year he goes to the reunion but he cant make it this year. Because he was a volunteer he received no help for the health issues he has as a result.

  I spoke with him several months ago and he told me he was in the hospital yet again but the rumours of his death werent true!   He was merely having stents put in to help the blood flow around and to his heart. His lungs are all but gone from breathing in all the toxic air,but when I ask him if he'd do it again all he says is "Hell Ya"!



   

[tmetal]

In class at TSTC Waco, TX.  we were held in class for a short while then somebody remembered that President Bush regularly used the airstrip at TSTC to land airforce one when he would visit his ranch here in Texas.  The faculty figured that the school (or more likely the airstrip) could be a target for attack and we were told to vacate campus.

[Gman]

Traveler - thanks for sharing that, all I can say is, wow, I guess.  You're the first person I've heard tell a story like that, having actually seen the plane come in from the building itself.  I don't think anyone will have a better, or rather more important post here than that.  It's incredible to me to think and know that you had the front row seat to such a terrible and life changing even in world history.  I agree, a book, or certainly an article would be great if you ever wanted to do it.  Props to you for your prior service and for stepping up and doing what you did 13 years ago today.

I was on the highway driving home to Calgary through the mountains from Vancouver.  In the mountains FM radio doesn't work that great, so it happened to be on an AM talk/news show.   Heard the news on the radio of the 1st plane, and talking with the 3 people I was driving with, and all of us agreeing that it was very odd, a strange accident in daylight and good weather.  Literally seconds after one of us brought up the idea of it being a deliberate act, remembering the previous truck bomb attack, news of plane 2 hit the airwaves, and pretty much settled that.

The one thing I still remember is seeing so many faces in other cars that we passed by. The driver was a Calgary police officer, we were returning from a rifle competition at Ft Lewis in the USA the previous week, and had driven there from Calgary through Vancouver, and he was doing about 150km/h and passing everything in sight.   It seemed every face I looked at was mirroring what we all felt - anger, sadness, confusion, a lot of shaking heads in disbelief, just as many stoic faces with tears streaming down.  It is something I'll never forget, just seeing all these other travelers, without being able to speak to them or hear them, yet looks on faces saying more than words ever could anyway.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

But the real question is where is John Titor now?

[shotgunneeley]

6th grade middle school, 1st period music. Before class even really started the teacher wheeled in a TV and said something was happening in New York. We saw what the first plane had caused, most New Yorkers seemed to be just viewing the destruction believing it was a horrible accident. Both towers were in the camera view with smoke and debris raining out of the first one. We watched the second plane appear from behind and send a massive fireball out of the second tower. After that it was mass hysteria in the streets of NY. We stayed on our course schedule throughout the day, but we kept up with the news on wall mounted TVs.

[Volron]

I was at work in San Antonio (Security Hill). We all monitored our JWICS terminals watching the intelligence reports come in.  About 1200, the boss told everyone to go home to be with their families.

I was in San Antonio, at technical school when this happened.  I remember that people in the school started getting panic-y and excited.  I paid it no mind until someone came into the classroom I was in and said we were under attack.  About an hour after that, they told us to go home.

[kilo2]

I was a freshman at Fort Knox High School. I was in welding class and had a welding helmet I didn't notice everyone had went to the classroom to watch the news. My friend came and grabbed me and was telling me how they thought it may have been an accident. About that time the second plane hit.

The base went on lock-down no one on, no one off. Students whose families lived off post got stuck for a couple days.

It's crazy to think but in those days you could just drive on a military base, there was no checkpoints then.

[SoonerMP]

I was at Ft. Leonardwood, MO conducting our final day of testing for MP school. We thought it was part of an exercise worked into the testing at first. There were some guys working post detail in our parking lot and they had the radio going listening to the updates. Then our Drill Sergeants began taking turns using the phones and we knew something must be wrong. After we were done that morning there was a formation called to tell us the official news. Talk about a dose of reality being thrown at you. We didn't see the footage until the next day when we were allowed to go to the PX. We were stunned to say the least.
I still have that certificate framed and on the wall dated 11-September-2001.

[Molsman]

Was Working Daywork at Buck's County Medic 154 when I was sleeping on the chair and my partner woke up yelling Holy Bleep and then the rest of us stood there in shock, Chief on the phone trying to get people together to send up to NYC to help out and all. Traveler <Salute> to you Sir.  A day in history I will never Forget RIP 343 and to everyone who lost loved ones that day.