Where were you in 01

[Brooke]

I was in Germany on a business meeting.  My wife called to tell me.  She was crying.  My first thought, having recently read Snow Crash was, they must have taken over planes using improvised knives, and it must be Bin Laden, as his terror group was the only one with such coordination as its hallmark.

At breakfast in the German hotel, an elderly British man came over to our table.  "Are you Americans?" he asked.  "Yes," I said.  He put his hand on my shoulder and said, "We are with you.  We are with you."

There were a lot of our company's people travelling that day.  Two of them were in the World Trade Center for meetings, but then the meetings were moved directly across the street.  They heard the first plane hit, and were looking out the window when the 2nd plane hit.  They saw falling debris and a little later the falling bodies of people who jumped rather than burn to death.  At that point, they quickly got out of the area.  Most of the people they were in the meeting with didn't and died when the World Trade Center collapsed.  Like many other companies that day, nearly all of that company's people were wiped out.

[Brooke]

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 . . .

Holy cow!  You saved people that day who would not be alive if it weren't for you.  <S> to you, Traveler!  You probably have saved more people, too, being a Special Forces Medic. 

[Randy1]

That day gives us a good idea what it must have been like on December 7th.  The young people that were not old enough to grasp 9/11 on that day will know the date but not the pain just as we know of Pearl Harbor but can't grasp what it really felt like to hear the news.

[Plawranc]

I've been watching it all again on YouTube as well as various documentaries in recent days. Even at a younger age I was considerably more mature than most. (My parents were very big on me reading). I understood it perfectly, but not the gravity of it when I watched.


Watching it again, does anyone else feel this solid wall of unrelenting coldness come over them? Even though it was 13 years ago I just feel as though I was witnessing pure evil in front of me. And this overwhelming commitment to its destruction. 

[Flench]

Please don't bring politics or dissenting comments in this posting.. post your answers here..

RIP to my 343 brothers lost on this day in 2001 and to all those lost in NYC, Shanksville Pa and the Pentagon.

     LawnDart

I remember where I was when it went down . I was working on a 30 thousand dollar fireplace I was building . I remember all the fuel pump's had a line a mile long on the way home .

[Lab Rat 3947]

Back then, I was working ten hour days, 6am to 4:30 at APS in Phoenix. I got there about 10 to 6 as usual. Got my coffee and talked to Fred who came in when I did.. After a few mnutes, he called out and said  a plane hit the WTC. I mentioned plane had once struck the Empire State Building back in the late thrities - early forties.
We went to the breakroom and turned on the TV. We looked at the TV and then at each other, speechless. By this time other people were arriving at work and the break room filled. Some people talking quietly, others not saying anything.
When the 2nd plane hit, a couple of the women screamed in horror, some of us cursed.
Not long after that came the announcement that we could stay and work or charge your normal shift hours, and go home and to be with our families.
When I got back to Mesa, my Dad had brought the extra TV into the family room and was watching two different channels. we talked a bit and I remeber telling him that I felt a rage to lash out at whoever did it.

That was when I asked my Dad, if he had felt the way I was feeling back on Dec 7, 1941.
He slowly turned his head and looked at me, and quietly said "yes", trying to hold back his tears.


LtngRydr

[mike8318]

I was in bed after working night shift,and I remember waking up after the first plane hit. After the second one hit, I told her " that was no accident,we are under attack". Got a call about an hour later from the state defense force friends,and they said that nobody has been called up yet,but stay by the phone. No commercial aircraft flew out of airport for 3 straight day. Didn't get a lot of sleep that week.

[helbent]

I had forgot to throw my laundry in the dryer the night before, so I was going to be late for my carpentry job.  While my clothes were drying I jumped online (warbirds) to fly.  Was flying with fender that morning, his name was yaws here in AH.  Someone jumped on and said a plane hit the WTC.  I responded, "sounds like your flying!"  A regretful statement, but my first thoughts was that it was a private plane.  As the series of events unfolded it was obvious I wasnt going to work.  I would call in and keep the guys posted as to what was happening.  I was still online interacting with the people there.  There was a young player from NY on also, I recall him saying "I can see the smoke from my house, this is the coolest thing ever!"  I lashed out in anger at the statement and days later asked him how many people he knew that died.  He said there was one guy down the street and that he regretted saying it was cool.

When things cooled off that day, I jumped on my motorcycle, went around town and started lowering flags to half staff. 

It was a terrible day and I will never forget.