BTW, consider this an idea, ask FRpers where were they when the first got the news on this thread as well. Thank-you.
I was having my coffee , had FNC on , and FReeping , when the first plane hit . When the second plane hit we began recording the coverage . We recorded most of the day until we ran out of tapes .
I was at work for the FAA when all this happened. We had a new guy a Marine and it was his second day at work. He asked where he could get a cup of coffee to I took him upstairs to the cafeteria. I was over at a table talking when the the second tower was hit. An Air Traffic Controller walked away greatly disturbed saying to himself how could he hit the tower with 15 mile visibility? It was a long strained day to follow and dragged on for months.
I was at home waiting for a UPS delivery, had the TV on, and caught the attack from the first minutes.
well, I have a story. I was off work for a week, stay-cation, out early doing errands. I think I heard about it on Howard Stern. So I grabbed up my son from school and continued to watch on tv. I cried a little while (I lived in NYC in the eighties) and had two or three rum and cokes.
Then I pulled myself together and drove from Akron to a friends in East Rutherford NJ. I-80 was desolate. I got up in the morning and went to liberty park where they said on the radio that volunteers were gathering. I brought by RN credentials with me and ended up meeting two doctors, one from Detroit(he drove all day like me) and one from NJ.
A boat took us over and we worked setting up medical care.
It wasn’t long till we realized that there were few victims to aid. Mostly I took towels I found, wetted them and took them around to firemen too wipe the soot and dust from their faces as well as food and drink.
I’ll never forget the rude FEMA guy who approached us on the morning of the 13th and said you guys need to leave.
I said to him I think what you meant to say was thank you, we’ve got it from here. He just stared at me.
I’ll never forget all the ash and the shoes.
I’ll never forget the rescue/recovery dogs.
I’ll never forget.
I remember being woken up by my sister (I freeped late) because “a plane crash or something happened in New York”.
I was getting ready for work listening to the news as usual. I stopped getting ready and focused on the news....then I “saw” the second plane hit.
By then it was pretty apparent this was an outright attack on our country. I called my associate who was also watching....we both said it was Ben-Ladin.
Like many, for hours and days later we all watched as things developed....the heroics, the losses, and the day Bush announced at ground Zero....”They’ll be hearing from us very soon”....which for me was the second defining moment. I needed to hear that!
My family and I also agreed that Bush was the man for the hour, as were all those in his administration. We never doubted their ability to “think and determine” what to do regardless how it played out we knew they loved our country.
...I cannot say that to day for the leadership we have...and for that many doubts and fears of all our safety ‘every day’ this Obama administration gives me good reason to be so.
On the morning of September 11, 2001 I had only a vague awareness of the Taliban and had never heard of Osama bin Laden. I couldn’t even spell Afghanistan.
While working from my home office I normally listened to CNBC as background noise. That morning, they cut from business news to a local NYC-TV news feed and reported a fire at the WTC. I posted the news on FR, tried to find more information about the fire, and quickly learned of unconfirmed reports of hijacked planes, terrorists, and a guy named bin Laden. Other Freepers, I quickly discovered, were way ahead of me.
I watched the second plane hit the WTC - live. I freaked out. I ran upstairs where my wife was getting ready for work. Screaming, cussing, I told her NY City was under attack. Something was happening. Terrible. Awful. What the hell was going on?
Fast forward.
I could not work. I watched all of the remaining destruction that day - live. The Pentagon. A plane somewhere over Pennsylvania. Skyscrapers falling into the ground. F-Word! President Bush flying to a military base in LA then Omaha then back to the White House. Bodies falling from the WTC. Papers and dust everywhere. The Pentagon in flames. Zombie people walking the streets of NYC covered in dust and death.
My life changed. My country changed too. I told my daughters that night that liberty and freedom must, from time to time, be defended. We did. And I am proud of each and every patriot who served in Afghanistan, Iraq, and every other swamp we drained in the last 13 years killing the bastards who attacked us that day.
I fear we are perceived to be weaker today than in 2001. Our border is wide open to those who want to do us harm. I now have a granddaughter. I don’t want to explain to her someday that evil exists, or the consequences of American weakness.
Now, I pray for America while celebrating the heroes of 9/11 and those who followed protecting our nation. God Bless Jim and FreeRepublic for archiving that day.
Let’s Roll!