Posted on 09/11/2007 3:54:06 PM PDT by PsyOp
Where Were You On 9-11-2001?
By PsyOp
There are seminal event in history that imprint on peoples minds an indelible mark never to be forgotten.
Pearl Harbor. The Kennedy Assassination. These are events that no adult American who lived through them will ever forget. All can tell you where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. Many of us who were not around then have heard the stories.
9/11/2001 is another such event. We all remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news. But some would have us all forget.
I will never forget the day when a nightmare turned out to be true…
I was asleep in bed that morning. I was having a bad dream.
I was in the midst of a disjointed nightmare about being aboard an airplane that had been hijacked and was out of control (it may sound as if I am making this up, but I am not). The dream was vivid, chaotic, scary.
Was it some freakish coincidence? No. It was the result of having my alarm clock set to a lock talk radio station. When the alarm went off, news of the first plane hitting the towers must have hit my sub-conscience like a jack-hammer.
As I started to wake, as the nightmare began to fade, I thought I must still be dreaming. Hugh Hewitt was talking about a commercial jet that had just slammed into one of the World Trade towers and was speculating that it might be terrorism. A dream within a dream?
It took a moment to realize that I was no longer dreaming, but when it sank in I was instantly awake. I jumped from bed and ran to the TV, turning on FOX news. I was greeted with live footage of one of the trade towers with fire and smoke pouring from a gaping hole in its side. As I sat listening to the commentary, trying to get my mind around what happened, another jet flew in from the side of the TV screen and slammed into the second tower.
I saw it. I knew that it meant we were at war. But it was too surreal. I must still be dreaming. Go back to bed, close your eyes, it will all go away. These and other thoughts flashed in my mind.
The nightmare I had awakened from was real. Granted, I was not actually on an airplane when I awoke, but others were. For them there was no waking up in a warm bed, or the luxury of seeing it all play out from a televised distance. For them there was no option of hitting the snooze button, rolling over, and hoping it would all go away.
Six year later, some in this country would like us all to do just that. To some, that day was just a bad dream we can all roll over and forget.
We must never forget.
Where were you? What were you doing? I’d like to know.
On a small street named Gosnell. A guy came running out of his house ( knew me by sight/aquaintance ) yelling, “ They`re blowing up New York, they`re blowing up New York!”
I thought he was going crazy.
Perhaps, after the many, many stories are collected, they could all be assembled into a single thread by some kind moderator. This is too important!
I write and don't get into my groove until later in the day so I was home when my oldest called to say he was OK. I had no clue what was going on until he told me what just happened across the street from his office.
I turned on the TV and knew immediately that it was terrorists. I told him...'This is an attack, get as far away as you can as fast as you can'.
He hesitated, mesmorized by the scene of jumping/falling bodies that he was describing to me from the street. I knew where he was standing, right at the entrance to Brooks Brothers.
I told him again to get out when the second plane punched through 2WTC from the west and the fireball exploded out the east, right over where he was standing.
I had no time to warn him. I heard the explosion in my ear as he dropped his cell phone and ran. I didn't hear from him again until the afternoon.
At the same time my wife was a few blocks away. She did get away fast and far. She ended up being rescued from the waterfront by a friend (cop) in a private boat as 2WTC fell behind her. She got through to me later too.
At the same time one brother was evacuating his building three blocks north and my other brother was coming up out of the subway and stepping into chaos.
At the same time 12 people I knew were dying.
On the 12th my son and drove side roads into Brooklyn, I walked in from there and made our way down to GZ where we worked the pit until the night of the 13th.
I was working in the law offices. We had several closings lined up, and a pile of stuff from court to go through. I was driving to the corner store to buy coffee, and my cell phone rang. My boss’s son was on a flight that morning out of NYC and we didn’t know what was happening. We’re about 50 mins from NYC.
When I got back to the office my boss looked like death warmed over, we knew there was a crash, and soon we knew it was a terrorist attack. I was busy on phones, screening clients, forwarding family calls, cancelling closings and meetings. All major financial transactions were cancelled pending rerouting through other brokerages.
My brother-in-law works at the state department in DC. We didn’t know he was okay for about 6 hours. Boss’s nephew worked for Cantor Fitzgerald - because cellular and regular phone transmissions were disrupted along the entire mid-atlantic region we didn’t know until after 2pm that he never went to work that day, and when we asked what kept him home he said “I just didn’t go.”
A good friend of mine was a NYC homicide detective. He’d told me he wasn’t going to be working that day, and for whatever reason I wasn’t concerned, but I saw his son online later and asked “Where’s your pop?” He said “He got called in this morning.” I was filled with this terrible dread. It was 2 nights later I was relieved to tears to hear from him.
He was tired, emotional, drained to the bone. His best friend had been a first responder,(ESU) and went missing in the first collapse, and he refused to leave the site for 36 hours until he was ordered home.
I went to the pet store later that week to buy dog food and a new leash. The cashier asked me if I wanted to make a donation to the rescue dogs support fund to buy the rescue/recovery dogs food, crates, boots for walking on sharp debris and eyewash for the constant fog of concrete particles and irritating fumes from the blaze. I gave her $20 and I got all choked up and couldn’t talk anymore.
This is my earlier post but I left out alot.
I have been reading these since you posted this last night and I couldn’t stop reading them. That was such a pivotal day in our Nations History. It was a day that never seemed to end.
I can remember every moment as if it just happened in detail.
I lived in Rockwall, Tx about 20 miles east of Dallas, which is where my husband (dryman) and myself grew up.
I took my daughter who was 6 to school, as I was coming back to the house I commented to myself what a beautiful day it was.
I got home and my husband dryman was ironing and watching Fox. He said some small plane flew into one of the towers.
I sat and watched as everyone was trying to figure out what exactly happened. They weren’t sure if it was a small plane or a larger. As I sat watching the news I watched as another plane flew into the other Trade Center Tower. I was like “oh My God” and screamed to my husband who was getting ready that another “F’n” plane flew into the other tower. He came out and watched with me and said this is no accident.
He had to leave for work so I watched wondering what might happen next. I thought about my neighbor who was a good friend was from Manhattan. I called her but she didn’t answer. I just left a message to come over as fast as she
could because I wasn’t about to leave that kind of message on her phone. She called right back. I told her to come over to my house right now. She didn’t ask why, she just came. When she walked in my living room, I told her what
was going on, not long after she got there we watched the second building come down. We held each other as we cried.
Her son use to work in the towers and was getting ready to
get married. She begged him a month before to move away from there because she had a bad feeling that something was
going to happen. Thank God they moved to Texas before this.
However, Jessica did lose family members that day. They
were firefighters.
I left my daughter at school because I felt it was probably safest there.
The only time I felt comfort was when all the planes were grounded, then I didnt feel like a sitting duck, wondering how in the hell has this happened.
Later that night after I put my daughter to bed. Not saying anything because she was a 1st grader and couldn’t possibly
understand, I went and set outside in my driveway with Jessica and other neighbor moms and looked up at the sky that was still so clear but this time quiet. There were no Airplanes flying to and from DFW. A sight I hope we never have to look at again.
The most surreal and longest day in my life.
634 posted on 09/11/2007 1:40:16 PM CDT by drymans wife (They is nothing like the mind of a TM;’er)
Before my friend Jessica got to my house I fell to my
knees in prayer, quoting the Lords Prayer over and over
and over. I called everyone I knew to tell them, parents
and friends.
After Jessica left my house to try to get in touch with
family members, I drove up to my favorite convient store.
Most of the ones in Texas are owned by Arabs. This one
was owned by an Indian couple, they weren't muslin. When
I got there, an unmarked fed car was outside. When I went
inside the gentleman was leaving. I began at that point
to feel some sort of calm. I knew we were doing everything
we could to stop this. The couple,man and his wife of Hindus that owned the store were in tears as I was. They flew our flag as proud as any of us did.
This is my earlier post but I left out alot.
I have been reading these since you posted this last night and I couldn’t stop reading them. That was such a pivotal day in our Nations History. It was a day that never seemed to end.
I can remember every moment as if it just happened in detail.
I lived in Rockwall, Tx about 20 miles east of Dallas, which is where my husband (dryman) and myself grew up.
I took my daughter who was 6 to school, as I was coming back to the house I commented to myself what a beautiful day it was.
I got home and my husband dryman was ironing and watching Fox. He said some small plane flew into one of the towers.
I sat and watched as everyone was trying to figure out what exactly happened. They weren’t sure if it was a small plane or a larger. As I sat watching the news I watched as another plane flew into the other Trade Center Tower. I was like “oh My God” and screamed to my husband who was getting ready that another “F’n” plane flew into the other tower. He came out and watched with me and said this is no accident.
He had to leave for work so I watched wondering what might happen next. I thought about my neighbor who was a good friend was from Manhattan. I called her but she didn’t answer. I just left a message to come over as fast as she
could because I wasn’t about to leave that kind of message on her phone. She called right back. I told her to come over to my house right now. She didn’t ask why, she just came. When she walked in my living room, I told her what
was going on, not long after she got there we watched the second building come down. We held each other as we cried.
Her son use to work in the towers and was getting ready to
get married. She begged him a month before to move away from there because she had a bad feeling that something was
going to happen. Thank God they moved to Texas before this.
However, Jessica did lose family members that day. They
were firefighters.
I left my daughter at school because I felt it was probably safest there.
The only time I felt comfort was when all the planes were grounded, then I didnt feel like a sitting duck, wondering how in the hell has this happened.
Later that night after I put my daughter to bed. Not saying anything because she was a 1st grader and couldn’t possibly
understand, I went and set outside in my driveway with Jessica and other neighbor moms and looked up at the sky that was still so clear but this time quiet. There were no Airplanes flying to and from DFW. A sight I hope we never have to look at again.
The most surreal and longest day in my life.
634 posted on 09/11/2007 1:40:16 PM CDT by drymans wife (They is nothing like the mind of a TM;’er)
Before my friend Jessica got to my house I fell to my
knees in prayer, quoting the Lords Prayer over and over
and over. I called everyone I knew to tell them, parents
and friends.
After Jessica left my house to try to get in touch with
family members, I drove up to my favorite convient store.
Most of the ones in Texas are owned by Arabs. This one
was owned by an Indian couple, they weren't muslin. When
I got there, an unmarked fed car was outside. When I went
inside the gentleman was leaving. I began at that point
to feel some sort of calm. I knew we were doing everything
we could to stop this. The couple,man and his wife of Hindus that owned the store were in tears as I was. They flew our flag as proud as any of us did.
I was in midtown Manhattan dialing over and over my wife’s phone number in WTC 7. Finally got in touch with her around 2 p.m. — She managed to ping my cell phone from a payphone off the FDR drive.
When it happened, she was getting coffee on the 45th floor. She heard the thud of plane one and saw debris falling. She headed straight for the exits and a walk down 45 floors. Once on the street, she wouldn’t look at the towers. A friend she met at the exit told her not to because bodies were falling.
I remember my office mate telling me it was terrorism after the first plane hit. I told him he was nuts — then the second plane hit.
“seminal”
heh heh heh he said “seminal” heh heh heh
Ok, seriously, I was in my office and my best friend called and said “MICHELLE- I was watching the Today show and a plane flew into the World Trade Center” and I said “OH MY GOD!!!” She said “NO, I was watching and ANOTHER ONE FLEW IN!!” We (the office staff) immediately brought the TV downstairs, I debated going to get my kids from school, deciding none would really care to hit a small rural town in Georgia, but was still unnerved. Called my Mama and we comforted each other.
That song by Alan Jackson really got to me (still does) because he was right on target. I did 99% of the things he lists.
Also, something I noted that day, NOONE SMILED. It was like NIght of the Living Dead on my drive home. Literally EVERONE was wearing a somber expression. That was the creepiest part of all.
Was making breakfast for my two daughters and was called by a friend who said turn on the news... I asked why and she said “just turn on the news” I turned it on in time to see the second plane hit the building. Right then I knew... I called my brother and spouted some anti muzzie verbage and then was shocked and stunned...Just a sad day...
They both rest in God's hands. I did not know Mike, but I still miss Barbara.
I made an earlier mistake on this thread, freeper BCM's name was, John Moran, not Mike.
BKO was the freeper name of Barbara K. Olson, a great conservative voice, who died in the Pentagon plane crash.
RIP, they were among the first deaths in the American war against terrorism.
Good evening, PsyOp...
9/11 after 6 am in California, I was up getting ready for my brother and sister who were flying in that day to take over packing up our parents’ home. We had flown them to Texas about 2 weeks earlier and moved them into residence in an assisted living complex near Dallas.
The phone rang. “You missed your flight?” I answered, figuring it was my brother. His voice was strained and he said that his flight not coming. He knew what was happening, and told me. He had noticed no planes in the sky as he drove up to DFW and as an airline employee, he was able quickly to find out that it was an AA plane that had gone into the WTC.
I broke into uncontrolled sobbing immediately, knowing that the world had shifted on its orbit, that many people were dead or dying, that we were at war, that most of the lovely programs President Bush had wanted to implement were going to be shelved, just like Lincoln had not been able to do what he had wanted, but had gone into a terrible war instead.
I turned on the TV and watched in shock, even though my husband and I had predicted this day would come way back in 1992. They didn’t know where President Bush was then and I waited hoping to hear something definitive. Finally I called my husband. He was at his mother’s because she had just had surgery. I thought carefully about what I was going to say because I knew she would be answering the phone.
I told her I was sorry to call so early, but that something had happened — that our family was fine, but I needed to speak to my husband. I had thought about saying to him “We’re at war,” but instead I said that I thought President Bush was okay, but he should turn on the TV, any channel.
Then I was back zombie-like in front of the TV.
My sister called from a payphone at her airport. She said she had been on her plane waiting to take off and then they had gone back to the terminal. Nobody knew why. As I told her, she turned after each sentence and repeated the news to the other passengers behind her in line for the pay phone. “Terrorists have hijacked planes and have been flying them into buildings. The World Trade Center has been hit. One tower is totally destroyed, one is half destroyed. The Pentagon has been hit.”
Not long after, the second tower came down, too.
I called my parents. I told my mother that her two children were okay, they had not gotten into the air. They hadn’t turned on the TV yet, but they did after my call.
Then I was alone in an almost empty house for 6 days. My flight back had been scheduled for Thursday. I went home on Monday. I was the only woman passenger on the plane, and everyone on the plane looked like they would tackled and kill the first person to make a false move.
Off topic for this thread, but since the Admin Moderator posted the link to the FreeRepublic Memorial Wall, I noticed my pal and hard-core FReeper JUDYB1938 isn't listed here. Her pictures are posted at 157 on her memorial thread.
I’m very sorry. We have now added Judy’s picture to our Memorial Wall.
Thanks,
Jim
I was sleeping. My best friend called me and told me to get the TV on immediately. I asked why, she said how the first tower had just been hit, so I had Fox on when the 2nd tower got hit. I had called her when Princess Di had been in the auto accident, to turn on her TV. She definitely made the more important call when she let me know about the attack on the Twin Towers. I was glued to the TV from that point on.
I called into work and said I wasn’t coming in that day, as I worked right near downtown Chicago, and the commentators on TV were saying that the Sears Tower in Chicago was one of the possible sites to be hit. Figured it was not the day to go to work in the city. Besides which, you couldn’t have peeled me off from viewing the TV set with a paring knife.
When I did go back to work at the University, an interesting event took place. I worked directly for the Head in a very large math department where many students were from foreign countries (math picks up a lot of foreign students as U.S. students don’t like math). Two of our dept. staff members were walking out of the building directly behind two of our Arab graduate students (one of whom was a part-time staff member himself that I had some contact with). The one student turned to the other and said (he had a camera) paraphrasing, I’m going to take a picture of the Sears Tower while it’s still there, and they both laughed. Our two staff members walking behind them reported them to me to tell the Dept. Head, and they ended up having to apologize in writing for what happened. Made for an uneasy working relationship, to say the least.
Wow! I too was asleep when it was all going on. I was in Grand Junction, Colorado at the time. I had a very similar dream as well. I don’t talk much about this, but I had a dream I was on a plane that was in a very steep dive. I was sitting on the floor of the aisle with several other people. People were screaming, and the plane was shaking and rattling as it was on the way down. There were also some passengers who were already dead, and I recall being confused in the dream why they were dead before the plane had gone down. It didn’t last very long, was just a flash and then I woke up. I know it sounds far fetched, but I really did have that dream.
I woke up to my clock radio as well, Limbaugh was on. I laid in my bed for several minutes, listening to this montague of audio bytes, several different people describing all the different things that had happened. I was half asleep, thinking I was listening to a radio ad for some action film. That is, until the guest host for Rush came on, announced he had just spoken to Rush, that his plane had been grounded, and that he was at an airport and was ok. That’s when I realized this was real, I leaped out of my bed, flipped on the tv. An old friend of mine’s mother was in one of the Towers and didn’t make it out. I will never forget either.
Except for a few family members, I had not told people about having that dream either until I decided to post it here. I thought perhaps others might have experienced something similar. It's amazing how the sub-conscience mind can be influenced by what we my hear when we are asleep. But in this case it was kind of freaky.
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