Where Were You On 9/11? Tell us your story!

Personal ^ | Monday September 11, 2007 | Milwaukee_Guy

[Milwaukee_Guy]

Might be a good time to revisit how we all heard about the the attack on 9/11 and how we reacted to the darkest day in American history.

What emotions were strongest for you on that day?

How did you find out? Did you stay at work? Did you go Home? Who did you call?

[ReignOfError]

Correction: Comes the biggest news event in my lifetime — I hope to never see a bigger one — I was asleep.

[jazusamo]

Here on the left coast when I got up and turned the TV on the first tower had already been hit. I was unsure as to the scope of the situation because the reporting was sketchy and there were reports of other possible problems.

I thought at the time something could be going on in an organized manner, I was sure of it when the second tower was hit. I woke my wife and we watched, stunned as the different events unfolded.

I have wondered about your experience many times, Red, knowing you worked pretty close to ground zero. Thanks for relating your experience and for taking the action you did for your employees.

[the OlLine Rebel]

My “know-it-all” boss replied, “Let’s not accuse someone before we know for sure.”

This reminds me of the cautionary statement I got from a co-worker, when I stepped back from the little group watching the TV to the kitchen area.

I was already sure it was Arabs/Moslems (whatever you want to call them), and must’ve made such a comment. The black man with me (he’s very nice, and not 1 you’d think hung up on racial stuff) was scolding me subtley (sp?) saying to the effect, “How do you know it’s not some white guy?”

Oh yeah, sorry, but nothing but “Moslems” creeps into my mind when I see mass butchery.

[AliVeritas]

Real funny.

How about this from Gates of Vienna:

Nobody who reads this blog needs a reminder of what today is.

This time last year I told the story of the other September 11th.

http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2006/09/other-september-11th.html

On this day in 1683 King Jan III Sobieski of Poland arrived at Vienna to break the siege of the Turks and rescue the Christian West from the Hosts of Mohammed. The rout of the Ottoman troops before the gates of Vienna by the Polish hussars gave us a little breathing room, a coffee-and-croissants break that lasted for the next three hundred and eighteen years.

But no longer. From now on in, every day is September 11th.

[pillut48]

We were living in northern California at the time. Sept. 10th had been emotional for me as it was my late sister’s birthday and she had died in April. It was also my in-laws’ anniversary so it had been a busy day. Maya was about 11 months old and a handful, so my in-laws (who are from India and were staying with us at the time)decided to let me sleep in the morning of September 11th.

My first memory is my father-in-law shaking me from my sleep (he’s very old fashioned and NEVER had even been in my bedroom) and shouting at me, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” :*(
I thought something had happened to Maya, but he told me she was fine. His first words were, “The Muslims have attacked the World Trade Center!” -let’s just say my husband and in-laws have little patience for muslims-he was prescient, because he told me this BEFORE the second plane hit!...I immediately rushed down the hall to our study where we had a tv (don’t know why I didn’t check the one in our bedroom in hindsight) and we both watched in horror as the second plane crashed live on tv. :*( What was extremely scary was the fact that my in-laws had been in NYC the week before and had just come back on Sept. 8th—they had almost stayed an extra week with friends out there but had missed Maya too much THANK YOU GOD!! or they might have been in the middle of it all. :*( I called my husband at work, hysterically crying, and asked him if he saw it on tv—he was clueless and apparently so was everyone else on his floor—I yelled at him to turn on a tv, two planes had flown into the WTC towers, and he immediately cursed and said, “Muslims!!!” and hung up to go find a tv...then I called a very dear friend (like a second mother to me) back in Texas and she was crying and I was crying and my father-in-law was crying, and I remember my mother-in-law coming in, holding Maya who silently observed all the adults around her crying their heads off. :*( “What’s happening to my country??!?” I remember asking my friend that day, and there are some days
when I still ask myself that question when I see the horrible directions we’ve taken morally in America. :*(

God bless America, and all those affected by 9/11. My prayers and thoughts are with you all.

[newnhdad]

I was living in Arlington VA at the time, about two miles from the Pentagon. I went for a jog around the Marine Corp Memorial and thought it would be a nice day for golf. The air was so crisp and clear, you could practically see the people in the planes as they came into DCA. For that region, it was an exceptional day. I drove to work past the Pentagon on 110 into Alexandria. After the towers were hit one of my coworkers was spooked and wanted a ride home so we left around 9:45. I heard that there was an explosion at a heliport near the Pentagon and I remembered that there was a small helipad on Ft Myers about 200 yards from my apt. I was driving home on Washington Blvd and saw the Pentagon on fire.
I was able to get back to my apt, grabbed my stuff and headed to my friend’s place and stayed there with her and her daughter until things settled down. That smell will never leave me. It smelled like a wet campfire for weeks.
The whir of f-15’a lasted a few months.

[Thrownatbirth]

I was waiting for a bus in front of the Pentagon, totally unaware of the Trade Centers, when the plane hit. I still caught the DoD bus back to the Navy Yard as the black cloud was rising. The driver wanted to get out of the parking lot before the emergency equipment arrived.

Nobody I visited that morning over in the NRO spaces survived. I chugged three vodka miniatures for my friends and have not had a drink since.

[Guenevere]

You & I were in the same town on that day.

In a hotel close to LAX I was struck at the strange quiet when they shut down the airport and no planes were constantly arriving and departing.

Two days before I had been at church and afterwards attended the church picnic.
It was a lovely day.

The church was a good outreach to the many young folks living & working in LA...

..the next Sunday, after 9/11, the church was packed with these young folks, quite a few of them in the entertainment business...

..and who fully realized...maybe for the first time... life can be fragile and fleeting.

The pastor's sermon was awesome!

[xp38]

I posted here on FR twice that fateful morning at 10:51 am and 10:57 am on this thread at posts 18 and 23

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/520310/posts

The prayers are still coming for America

[Sue Perkick]

Thanks for this thread. It’s needed today.

[Pyro7480]

I woke up about before 10 am that day. I was in my last year at the University of Delaware. At that time, I had a desktop computer that had a cable-TV card in it, so I could watch TV on my monitor (it was also space-saving measure in my smallish dorm room). Unfortunately, it was in the shop, so I had no idea what was going on.

I had a class in the 10 am hour, and when I woke up, I realized I was behind schedule, so I rushed to get ready. I went down the steps from my second-floor dorm room, and had barely made way out the door when I saw a floormate and friend of mine coming back. It was an unusual time for him to be coming back, since everyone has classes. He had a very dour look on his face. I asked him what was wrong, and he said we were under attack.

It didn't immediately register what he meant, so we went to his dorm room and turned on his TV. By that point, both towers of the WTC had been struck, and one had collapsed. The video was being replayed over-and-over.

I didn't know how react. I was numb. After watching it for a while, I decided it would be a good thing to go to the Catholic chapel on campus for Mass at noon. There were many people in attendance.

After Mass, I went to one of the student centers on campus, and had lunch. By that point, they had set up the projection TV in the lounge/restaurant, and were attempting to connect the P.A. and the audio feed from the cable. I watched the replays again, as well as the rest of the news coverage. I still felt numb.

That night, that was a large candlelight vigil led by the religious leaders on campus. Thousands attended. Many of the students who attend the university come from the NYC metro area, so it was particularly devastating to many there.

The next morning, I got up early and bought copies of all of the major newspapers, and the local paper. I also stopped by at the computer lab to read the latest news. It was at that point while I was in the computer lab that I almost broke down and cried. I had to compose myself.

One of the leftist student activists on campus, who knew me since I was one of the conservative activists on campus, approached me and asked if I would sign a petition calling for a "peaceful" response to the terrorist attacks. As politely as I could at that point, I refused to sign it.

That pretty much sums up my remembrance of 9/11 and the 24 hours following. The only postscript I have is that the father of the friend whom I've known the longest in my life was injured at the Pentagon on 9/11 when the plane struck. Thank God he survived.

[Between the Lines]

I still cry. Especially tonight.

I am a man that was never given over to emotions. The typical strong silent type. If something was highly emotional I might shed a single tear, but nothing more.

That all changed on 9-11. I was watching at home on TV and I was very mad that this was happening. Then the first tower fell and I cried. No, I actually wept and I cried for most of that day watching it all unfold.

Now I cry all the time. I watch a chick flick - I cry. At my daughters wedding - I cried. When our grandchildren were born - I cried. Anything patriotic - makes me cry. In church - I cry. Just nearly any sentimentality makes me cry.

Many people say that something inside of them died that day, but for me something came to life. I no longer am emotionless. I tell my family every day how I feel. I express my love and make no apologies for doing so.

Some family and friends have suggested that I seek psychricatic help, that I cry too much. Call me a wussy if you will. I do not care. I think that God has blessed me through this in many ways. I also know that every time I cry that I will remember why - I know that as long as I still cry that I will never forget.

.

[WV Mountain Mama]

I had a 4 week old baby (my first) and had been up about 5 times the night before. I was sleeping at the time and everyone knew not to call our home in the morning. When the phone rang before 9, I was ticked, then I thought something was wrong because my family knew not to call. When I answered, my husband was saying something about the trade centers, terrorists and fires. It took a minute to understand, as I wasn’t quite awake from the long night.

I went downstairs, turned on the tv, got on FR (I was still a lurker at the time), called my sisters and parents and cried and hugged my baby nonstop for the next week.

[the OlLine Rebel]

‘“The Muslims have attacked the World Trade Center!” -let’s just say my husband and in-laws have little patience for muslims-he was prescient, because he told me this BEFORE the second plane hit!
‘... two planes had flown into the WTC towers, and he immediately cursed and said, “Muslims!!!”’

Must be nice to be from a culture that doesn’t have PC hang-ups! :-\ When we white people say that, we’re racist! Too bad we were all correct!

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

NEVER FORGET

.

The 2001 WEEK That Was:

Sunday, 9/9/2007 = ALOHA RONNIE’s 82 year old father passes on.

Tuesday, 9/11/2007 = ALOHA RONNIE Co-Narrates the Attacks of 9/11/ LIVE on The BOB DORNAN National Talk Radio Show.

Wednesday, 9/12/2007 = Witnesses FoX New Channel TV Guest, Terrorism Expert MONSOOR IJAZ, tell the American People that the previous day’s Attacks could all have been prevented ..if only President CLINTON hadn’t refused the 3 free offers he had brokered with the Sudan during the 1990’s to ..give us OSAMA bin LADEN on a silver platter before he could hit us real hard here at home.

Friday, 9/14/07 = ALOHA RONNIE buried his World War II Veteran father in a Veterans Cemetary.

Saturday, 9/15/07 = ALOHA RONNIE woke up to the news posted on http://www.lzxray.com that our fellow Battle of IA DRANG-1965 Veteran RICK RESCORLA was missing at the World Trade Center.

An enraged ALOHA RONNIE then called into The Judicial Watch Report National Talk Radio Show to scream out:

“My fellow Americans, don’t you dare LET THE CLINTONS TO GET AWAY WITH THIS ONE..!!”

http://www.RickRescorla.com

http://www.RickRescorla.com/The%20Statue.htm

http://www.ArmchairGeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24361

.

NEVER FORGET

[ConservatismNow]

I was stationed in Monterrey, CA. We had just finished formation at about 7:00am PST. I needed to get a new room key. We had room keys like hotels give out and you have to replace them every few months after they wear out. I was walking down the hall to Supply and passed about a dozen people watching the big screen. They just showed the video of the 1st tower on fire. They then announced that the second tower had been hit.

[pillut48]

“...tears don’t flow the same in space...”

Oh, God. :*(

[the OlLine Rebel]

“Some family and friends have suggested that I seek psychricatic help, that I cry too much. Call me a wussy if you will. I do not care. I think that God has blessed me through this in many ways. I also know that every time I cry that I will remember why - I know that as long as I still cry that I will never forget.”

Wow, that’s something. And frankly, as long as you’re not crying over somebody allegedly doing something “wrong” to you (I’ve experienced this kind of person; she was truly nuts), I don’t think you need to go to a psych!

[Ditter]

My husband and I were sitting in bed drinking coffee and watching Fox news while they talked about the first plane hitting the building. Then we were watching as the second plane hit the other building.

The skin all over my body got cold and goose bumpy as I realized this was NOT an accident. A new world dawned in those few minutes. The other attacks by terrorist had not really affected us but this was different.

[the OlLine Rebel]

“That evening our daughters went to a special meeting of their church youth group, at which several of the people seemed convinced this was all the US’ fault and we deserved it”

You know, this absolutely sickens me. Yours is just 1 of the last such references I’ve seen on this thread. I’m sorry, but I’m sick of these disgusting liberals who hate this country so much. I really wish they’d get the hell out if they hate it so much. Maybe they’d help the enemies pull the trigger? I wish we could trade them all for a bunch of poor foreigners who would LOVE to be here and don’t go for the socialist crap they pontificate, to boot.