re: Where Were You on 9/11?

This was a post I made on 9/11/08 and reposted it over the years. It was the day after my 50th birthday and today, the day after my 65th birthday, I still get a queezy feeling when I think of the events 15 years ago:



re: In rememberance...(Posted on 9/11/08 at 5:34 pm to dukke v)

September 10, 2001 was my 50th birthday. I spent the evening with friends and we were discussing the fact that we were thrilled that our kids did not have to grow up as we did, worrying about the USSR and a possible nuclear threat; remembering the Cuban Missile Crisis; watching people being shot trying to escape from East Germany by trying to scale the Berlin Wall, etc. The Cold War was over and we had won it. Life seemed good.

On the morning of September 11, 2001 I received a telephone call from my secretary at about 7:00 am. She said that she thought that she screwed up and that I had two mediations in the District of Columbia Superior Court that morning. I asked her if this was a bad “day after 50th birthday” joke. I said that I was pretty sure that the mediations were on the 12th. She said that she would check and call me back. I hopped into the shower and when I got out she called and told me that I was correct and that they were on the 12th. I told her that I was going to wait out rush hour traffic and that I’d leave for the office around 10:00 am.

I was at the computer answering some emails (this was before I ever knew about Tiger Droppings). While at the computer, I heard on the Fox Morning Show that a plane had just hit one of the World Trade Center towers in NYC. The New Yorker in me did not even look up at the TV, I just thought, “Who is the idiot in the small plane that got too close to the WTC?” Shortly thereafter, I heard that the second tower was hit. At that point, like everyone else, I sat in horror watching the TV. Certainly, this was no accident.

About a half hour later, I heard a “BOOM”. At the time I lived a couple of miles or so from The Pentagon, as the crow flies. I went outside and saw the black smoke billowing from the direction of The Pentagon. It was so strange because it was a beautiful day. All I could hear were sirens (I had not heard so many sirens in D.C. since the Air Florida crash) and the sound of fighter jets overheard.

I tried to make some calls on my cell phone, but could not. I tried on a land line and it was still no use. I drove over to a 7-11 and used a pay phone to call some folks. I heard from my Mom that one of my sisters was supposed to have a matter in the Supreme Court in Manhattan that morning and was going to visit a friend at the WTC before her court appearance. We were both very frightened for my sister and wondered if she was OK.

I went into the 7-11 after making my calls and the rumors were running rampant. Some people were saying that the White House and Washington Monument had been hit. Some were saying that The Capitol had been blown up. I did not know whether or not any of what was being said was true.

I-395 was closed down and so I could not get into the office. I went over to Army-Navy Country Club to visit some friends. I was told that the American Airlines Flight 77 flew over the Club’s driving range at an altitude of about 250 feet on its way to The Pentagon.

At about 6:00 pm I decided that I needed to go to the office to get the files for the next day’s mediations. As I approached the 14th Street Bridge, I saw The Pentagon live for the first time that day. The smoke was still rising from the building and it was a horrible sight to see. All I could think was, “If this is what it is like here, what must it be like in Manhattan?”

As I crossed the 14th Street Bridge it was eerie not to see air traffic going up and down the Potomac. It was almost as eerie as when I saw the first jet landing at Reagan National after a few weeks of no air traffic.

When I got into D.C., I saw Humvees at each corner with manned .50 caliber machine guns. There were also armed soldiers on the streets.

After getting my files, I drove back to Alexandria and smoke was still rising from The Pentagon.

Prior to 9/11/01, the only building that I ever turned to look at in D.C. was The White House. Since 9/11, the only building that I turn to look at every time I pass it is The Pentagon. It saddens me every time I pass it and see the area that was struck.

Having grown up on Staten Island, I remember the NYC skyline before there was a WTC, and while the Towers were going up. I will never forget the day that they came down. I knew people who were killed in the Towers and the obituaries ran in the Staten Island Advance for months. A complete company of Staten Island Firefighters were killed in the collapse.

I had only been in the WTC once, for a dinner dance at the restaurant, Windows on the World (the top floor of the North Tower). Being afraid of heights, I did not like going to the windows (that went from ceiling to floor) and looking down. I cannot imagine what it took for some of those poor people to bring themselves to jump. I suppose in their minds it was better than burning to death. Nice choice.

Every time I go back to NY to visit family I tear up a bit when I see the Tower-less skyline.

Since that date, I have never prouder to be an American and a native New Yorker. I am saddened by the fact that it seems that a lot of people seem to have forgotten that there are people out there who mean us harm. We should all do anything that we can do to never forget that fact and the events of 9/11/01.

We owe a debt of gratitude that we can never repay to the men and women in our Armed Forces who are out fighting the good fight to keep us safe and to arrange a meeting with the Maker for all those who mean us harm. We also owe a debt to gratitude that we can never repay to those nameless people in our Intelligence Community who have dedicated their lives to thwarting subsequent attacks. It is not be coincidence that there has not been an attack on American shores has since 9/11/01.

9/11/01 -- Never Forget!

I had just woken up to get ready for work, and immediately received a phone call from my mom about a plane hitting the WTC in NYC. She worked at a travel agency back then.

The first rumor was that it was a small private aircraft, then I saw the smoke on TV. The media was fumbling and giving off misinformation. Then reports started coming in about a missing airliner. I thought about the improbability of a commercial jet crashing by hitting the tower on a clear day. Soon it was confirmed to be a jetliner. A little while later, United 175 struck the south tower.

Needless to say, no one did any work all day.

I was getting ready to attend a sales meeting. I stopped at albertsons to pick up some fruit - npr had just announced it. As I was getting out of the car I was hoping that it was a single engine plane that had crashed into one of the wtc. When I returned to the car I was trying to process the whole situation

LSU Purchasing office in T. Boyd hall. I was a student worker there. Everybody stopped what they were doing that morning and were huddled around the radio listening to the news.

I was working nights. I usually slept until about 11 AM, but for some reason I woke up early and turned on the TV a few minutes after the plane had hit the first tower. My GF at the time had family in NY and DC, so I called her and spent the next few days trying to talk her down.

I was in college at Southern Miss, oversleeping and missing my first class of the day. My roommate came running into my room and said "we are under attack!" She turned my tv on and the second tower had been hit. She was trying to explain what all had transpired but she was so freaked out I was just getting more confused. She packed her bags and drove home to her parents right after that. I sat in bed watching until the towers fell, crying. Eventually made it to one of my later classes. Not many ppl in the class that day. I stared out the window the whole time watching for planes, wondering what would happen next.

CEBA is where I was.

I was a freshman in HS.

I had wellness first period but during the season they let the football players work out in the weight room instead to get in our lift for the day.

I was last one out, washing up, when I walked through the weight room on the way out for class when I heard Tom Brokaw's voice on the radio. Which was odd because it was on rap the minute before.

That's when it hit me that something serious had happened.

I was at work issue and out animal at Fort Bliss Texas. There was not one commercial for three days of non-stop coverage I don't believe I've ever seen 3 days of not one commercial before

I was laying on the couch with CNN on at my apt on Louisa St in Thibodaux right behind Thib High football stadium and right across the street from this ghetto store called Nora's Superette, after working late that night before bartending @ this local Mexican joint called La Casa, and was about to head to class, was a Fr @ Nicholls State where I did my first 30ish hours of schooling.