Never Forget (9-11-2001)

[T.G.]

Did you lose anyone? Where were you on that tragic day?

[Redondo]

I didn't know anyone involved in that tragic event

I can remember watching the TV in disbelief

Sad day for all of America

Perseverance and strength brought out the best in people to overcome

 

[Jay]

I was in the shower when the first plane hit, my wife came into the bathroom and told me.

I was watching the TV as the second plane hit.

 

[T.G.]

I stood in my bedroom getting ready for work, watching with my wife. I remember Sharon Tay saying "Oh my God" over and over.

When I got to work, they sent us home...

Edited September 11, 2021 by True Grich

[Chuck]

What was your memory of that sad, dark day? Did you know anyone who died or was impacted by those tragic events? Please share your story! 

I just remember being in disbelief as I watched the news and the footage all day long. Just an eerie, sick feeling in my stomach. 

[Lou]

@Brandon?

[tdawg87]

I was a freshman in High School during shop class. It was the 3rd or 4th day of school. 

The teacher was a subby and was incredibly stupid. Started talking about how Nostradamus predicted this and how cool that was. We didn't quite grasp it at the time but that was incredibly disrespectful. No thought to the people in that building and on those planes. Just a bunch of BS about a "prediction" that never actually happened.

Also, my aunt took the same flight out of Boston to LAX the week before. Literally 9/4. 

[mmc]

I feel fortunate that I was only 1 at the time, witnessing something like this would definitely sicken me for a long time.  Just thinking about it does of course

[ukyah]

it was a horrible experience. it was like watching pearl harbor live on TV. i remember telling my wife that we were going to war. when the towers fell, i said that 50,000 people may have just died. in all the horror of that day and the significant loss of life after that day, we are very lucky that significantly more people didn't die on the spot.

it's terrible and the memories really haven't dulled at all in twenty years.

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, Lou said:

@Brandon?

lol.

Someone would just delete it again. It was tragic and altered the country, but it's like Al Bundy and his four touchdowns at this point.

[GalericX]

I was at Fort Benning waiting on my Ranger school to start when i was woken up by my room mate.  My first thought was why is Peter Jennings on ESPN? I had fallen asleep watching ESPN apparently.  Then it went into anger, and sadness.  The sad part is, i am EOD and i know lots about explosions.  Knowing it was planes and fuel, Fire + liquid against steel is not a good combo, i had a horrible feeling that those towers would collapse.  Then we heard about the pentagon, a building I have visited multiple times and knew some that worked there, I couldn't help but wonder if they were ok.  We had been called for muster so we immediately got dressed and assembled.  Within 30 mins i was on a plane back to Grafenwoehr Germany to rejoin my unit.  We spent almost the whole flight glued to com's getting every bit of information we could, no one slept, the adrenaline was high and every one was pumped we wanted pay back.

[tdawg87]

54 minutes ago, mmc said:

I feel fortunate that I was only 1 at the time, witnessing something like this would definitely sicken me for a long time.  Just thinking about it does of course

Holy shit I didn't realize you were that young.

[fanfromday1]

Back on Sept. 11, 2001 I was still teaching school. I was watching the news on TV that morning and was just about to leave home when the first, and then the second plane hit the Twin Towers. I gradually realized that this was developing into one of those historic events that everyone would remember for years to come. Kind of like Pearl Harbor or the JFK assassination. So I put a video tape in the recorder and set it for eight hours of recording time. Then I grabbed the second TV out of the den and took it to school so my students and I could watch it in the the classroom. (back then you didn't need a cable box to watch TV).

During the day my classroom was full of not only students, but also other teachers who came in on their free period to watch and get up-dates on the disaster. Many of the office staff, including the Principal and Deans stopped by as well. They all lined up against the back wall. Apparently, outside of the library, I had the only TV on campus that day.

I made it a point, in each class, to ask all in attendance (students as well as the adults) for their thoughts at that current moment. Most of the answers I got back were just the expected prayers of sadness or how this event just instantly tore families apart. But some of the answers I got back were answers that I didn't even expect. Some of the replies were that they feared that there were still planes in the air that were headed to the Los Angeles area (our location) to strike more targets. Several of the students had relatives, or friends, who lived in the New York area and they were worried about them. Many questions were about whether or not we would be going to War with whoever committed this horrible attack. There were also several debates as to whether they themselves would jump out of a window or wait for possible rescue if they were trapped in the towers. I was so glad that there were other adults in my classroom that day, because there was no way that I was prepared for some of the questions or replies that were being thrown at me. I was just as confused at some of the happenings of that day as everyone else.

I have visited both of the 9/11 and Pearl Harbor Memorials over the last several years. Maybe, because it was more of a current event, the 9/11 Memorial seemed like a much more somber or reverent site. But visitors at both locations were highly respectful and thoughtful, many leaving flowers or other mementos. Oh yea, remember that eight hour VHS tape that I said that I tossed in the recorder that morning before I left for school? I still have it, but to this day (20 years) I have never watched it.

[Chuck]

Merged the thread in the Hangout forum with this one @True Grich. 

 

[T.G.]

@GalericX, thank you for your service.

[T.G.]

I’ve been watching programming about 9/11 all day and the stories are still gut wrenching and heart breaking. They’re also inspiring.

“Never forget” isn’t just a catchy phrase. It means something and thinking and talking about that day, no matter how many years have passed is the point of “never forget.” 

Edited September 12, 2021 by True Grich

[ScottT]

I forgot.

I really have little memory of that day... in regards to myself.

[eligrba]

I don’t know anyone who wasn’t directly affected either by the event or the subsequent events. I suspect most people can say the same thing.  I actually am not sure what was worse, 9/11 or everything afterwards.

[arch stanton]

It was at the very end of my first gig in Saudi at Kind Khaled Air Base, which is in the Asir region and turned out to be the origin of 11 of the 19. Our contract was set to expire on Sep 30. I was just finishing up a job with some trainees and one of the few Americans with a cell phone at that time was getting updates from his wife. The company sent a bus out to pick up everyone that was still on the base. We didn't work the next day. Once we returned the names had bee released and it was pretty tense on both sides. My trainees were apologetic and protective of me and my partner. I've actually remained in contact with some of them throughout the years. For the many westerners who worked in the area and sill work in the area it changed things pretty drastically. No more large gatherings, very limited visitation on the compounds, much less outside interaction. I can say now that 20 years on it's mostly forgotten among the Saudi military and most of the Americans here weren't around back then to see the differences

[HanfordGuy]

I don’t know anyone personally that was affected but their was someone from near my hometown that was working at the Pentagon and lost his life that day. The community named a section of the freeway in remembrance. I was getting out of the shower when I heard the Today Show hosts talking when it was still time for the local affiliate. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I had jury duty that day so I drove my wife at the time to work and waited in jury room listening to someone’s portable radio that could only get a local rock station clearly. The DJs were way over their head giving reports and updates as they trickled in. Two of the three members of that morning show eventually went on to conservative talk radio. I just remember the fear and anxiety as we got closer to the east coast times and speculation rose that the nearby naval air station would become a target of terrorism. Eventually officials allowed us to leave since they were going to close all government buildings with credit for serving jury duty. A sad day for America.

[Second Base]

The way a lot of Americans behave now, they say, "never forget", but that's just a cliche tagline. It's pretty evident they forgot, and have likely never sacrificed for freedom. 

I was in high school, every teacher had the TV on and no one taught. I didn't feel like watching the same clip over and over again the whole day, so I ditched. The school never said anything. I think what I remember most were...

1. When an elderly person (likely WWII era) stopped me on the street and asked me if I knew what had happened. I nodded. They knew it meant was, even if the rest of us didn't.

2. The first time I saw an airplane in the sky above during football practice a week or two later. We all just kind of stopped and looked up for a moment. That's when life began to return to normal.

3. The American flags on every car, and every person being united in their common belief in freedom. It was cool while it lasted. 

4. Going into the recruiters office, and the Marines being the only ones willing to tell the truth. If you enlisted, you're going to war. If you want to fight and think you have what it takes, try to be a Marine (you have to earn the title, you can't just sign up). The Army, Navy and Air Force recruiters had a line out the door. The Marines never had more than one kid. I chose the Marines because they were honest, and because the other recruiters looked soft. They got too comfortable behind the desk. You could tell it never sat well with these Marines. I'm still friends with my recruiter to this day. And he didn't lie. We deployed, early and often, and I don't regret it. 

It sucks that it took such a horrific event to wake people up. But for a while there, I'd never seen a nation so strong, united and laser focused on preserving freedom and eradicating terror. I think we had lost our way before that, or maybe we got too comfortable, I don't know. And I think we've lost our way again, unfortunately. 

 

[PattyD22]

I was working that day and our dispatch center put out an ALERT tone stating that a national disaster was unfolding in New York City and that all off going shift personnel were to remain on duty and not go home.  This was around 530am, so I got out of bed in our dorm and went to the TV.  There were already guys coming in to relieve us, and no one was saying a word.  Not a word.  16 guys just staring at the TV, just in time to see the 2nd jet hit the 2nd tower.  That’s when I knew we were in deep shit.  We watched from our firehouse in LA, not knowing if we were next.  Rumors were flying around that Downtown LA was a target and be ready.  Then the first tower fell…..then the 2nd.

Being a member of our Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team, we knew after we got clearance from our Terrorism Unit that we were clear, we set off for NYC and “the pile”.  I stayed at the pile for 17 days, working day and night.  What I saw will never, ever leave my mind.  Ever.  I don’t talk about it much, and anniversaries like this stir up a lot of anger and emotions.  Yesterday was a tough day at work, but the tributes and sporting events help keep the mind occupied.

Unfortunately, I will never forget, because I can’t ever forget.  I will live with what I saw for the rest of my life, and not a day goes by that I don’t think of 343 firefighters dying, and 3,000 plus innocent lives lost.  
 

I echo the thoughts of @Second Basepost above mine.  We were so strong and United back then.  I hope someday we can get back to those days.

[jsnpritchett]

16 minutes ago, PattyD22 said:

I echo the thoughts of @Second Basepost above mine.  We were so strong and United back then.  I hope someday we can get back to those days.

Maybe we can try this approach:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Architects_of_Fear

...but, seriously, we should all hope that we can be "united" in something other than revenge, war, hatred of an enemy, etc.  Over thousands of years, we've seen what that gets us: more war, more hatred, etc.

[Taylor]

The way we united to care for the victims of the attacks and honor their lives, as well as support the recovery efforts in NYC, was great.

The way we united in fear and played into the hands of government officials who were eager to profit off an endless war and chip away at our individual rights and privacy ... was not great.

[Second Base]

35 minutes ago, Taylor said:

The way we united to care for the victims of the attacks and honor their lives, as well as support the recovery efforts in NYC, was great.

The way we united in fear and played into the hands of government officials who were eager to profit off an endless war and chip away at our individual rights and privacy ... was not great.

I believe you are right. I think that's going to be the legacy (long term view) of this era and its administrations. Sort of the way we tend to combine JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford and Carter as all the same general era, so too will we combine W, Obama, Trump and Biden. All different, one moderate, two very liberal, one extremely conservative, but the end result is still the same. Little by little, individual rights and privacy (what I call freedoms but the nomenclature doesn't matter) have been chipped away, and a select group of people and companies have profited from it. 

There, I think I said one political post that hopefully offended no one.