9/11 Experiences

[domtoni]

Guys,

As many of us have expressed our personal experiences with 911, why don't we discuss what we personally experienced. For me it was:

The evening of 911, I went into the gym, bumped into a headhunter friend. While talking to him, his phone rang, and it was one of his colleagues who was in NY. His office was in the WTC, and happened to be in the basement having breakfast when the plane hit. This headhunter was to have flown out the previous day and would have been in the WTC when it happened. The discussion between these two went on, the guy in NY lost his baggage, credit cards etc.

A fellow who worked for me was in the WTC with his family the day before the attack. At the time of the attack, he was in Times Square.

A friend of a friend lost a son in the attack.

I had a few more connections which I can't remember right now.

Please post your experiences.

 

[Damian]

At the time I it happened I was on the phone with a client and my partner (left the stock game soon after) came rushing into my office and hung up the phone on me. I could tell by the look on his face and the tears in his eyes that something was terribly wrong. He just turned my attention to the news and that's when it hit me .... His cousin was in one of the buildings as was several others that we both knew. Two friends made it out but my partners cousin didn't. To say that we were both devastated would be an understatement. He left behind a wife and toddler.

Once the phone calls (remember that the system was overloaded at the time) started I came to find out that several of my other friends were there after the buildings fell as both firemen and police officers. They are still not over the visuals of that day and some have even had brief stints in hospitals. The stories and details that I was told from those first responders was something that just the thought of shakes me to this day.

My best friends building was condemnd from the debris and was was forced to move. Thank GOD he was O.K. as was his fiancee. The pictures that he took of the aftermath were gut wrenching. It isn't something that he ever talks about anymore and TBH I don't blame him as he lost several people aswell.

 

[domtoni]

From a friend in Washington:

I didn't realize that after the disaster at the World Trade Center, A number of large and twisted beams from the fallen towers had been moved to a hangar at JFK airport. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have made available to civic groups that want to use them in local memorials to that fateful day on September 11, 2001.

Our local Fire and Rescue Department applied for two of the beams for a memorial here in Silverdale, an unincorporated town at the end of Dyes Inlet that is an extension of Puget Sound. The memorial was to be at the water front park at the north end of the inlet. We live at the sound end of the inlet. For whatever reasons, the Port Commissioners would not allow the memorial at the water front park.

However, the Fire and Rescue unit was given two, 5,000 pound twisted beams from the Trade Center. It was the first gift of it's kind in Washington State. Local donations raised the money to transport the beams from JFK to Silverdale. That cost was over $12,000. Early this month, the beams were loaded on a flat bed truck at JFK and were draped with a large American flag. A husband/wife drove the truck from New York to Silverdale. At each state lines on the long cross country journey, police units escorted the beams to the next state.

When the beams reached Snoqualmie Pass in the Washington Cascade Mountains, police and over 700 Patriot Guard Riders on motorcycles led the truck carrying the beams to the mall in Silverdale. All along the route were fire trucks with their aerial ladders extended and flying American flags. The beams arrived at the mall with the more than 700 Patriot Guards, police and fire units and several hundred people. There also was a large contingent of Navy and Marine personnel from our five Navel facilities in the area.

The Fire and Rescue unit will use the beams in a memorial to those that died on 9/11 at an as yet undisclosed location in Silverdale. It will be completed by September 11, 2011.

The husband/wife team that drove the truck said it was a very emotional trip across country with the police escorts through all of the states. They were particularly taken by the Patriot Riders escort on the final leg of the journey to Silverdale.

As the memorial takes shape, I will send you pictures. I'm sure that the Port Commissioners wanted to be politically correct. Thank God, the people for the memorial stood up and moved ahead. What do you think of a mosque two blocks from ground zero? When will Obama wake up or be turfed out?

 

[Dalton Veitch]

Thanks for sharing that Domtoni. I had no idea this sort of thing is happening in the US with the beams and memorials. Nothing will bring back the lost ones, but it is very touching that people are showing such respect and patriotism.

Here in Oz I was sitting at a railway station on my way to work when I saw a photo of the damaged twin towers on the front of a newspaper read by a fellow traveller. I just couldn't believe it; had to get several confirmations before I was convinced of the shocking reality. I have a photo I took on Liberty Island many years ago, looking across at the towers.

 

[John]

I was in Wellington NZ and had just got home from work and walked inside when the TV announcer said they were crossing to a special, the screen went blank for a second then there it was live as it happened, i just stood there like a dummy and couldn't believe it was happening, and seeing those poor souls jumping just about did it for me.
I hope to god nothing like that ever happens again anywhere
John

 

[Pat]

I was on active duty on 9/11. A little before 9:00AM, one of the NCOs came to my office at our command’s headquarters and said there had been an aircraft accident in New York and a small plane hit the World Trade Center. So several of us went to one of the large conference rooms with cable access where several officers and NCOs were watching CNN video of the smoking North Tower. There were several army pilots there and all were speculating as to how this type of accident could have occurred and what type plane it might have been. At that moment the second plane hit and it was like an electric shock. Somene yelled "oh sh*t"... We all sat there in stunned silence for a moment and then looked at each other in disbelief. I vividly remember how white the face of the Warrant Officer was sitting next to me. It seemed like minutes but it was probably just moments, then just about every phone in building began to ring and we immediately scurried out and went to lockdown and full alert. And so it began…

 

[Randy V]

Like most of America / World - I sat in front of my Television all day... Totally numb.
I had just flown in from a race weekend at Laguna Seca the previous day.
.
It was my wife's and my 25th wedding anniversary that day (9/11/1976) - What a way to remember that eh?
.
I've also not set foot in another airplane since.
Not that I'm worried that a terrorist would blow up the plane with his shoes or underwear - but because the world has come totally off the hook with the way they are "trying to secure us"..
Meanwhile - I drive or take a train to wherever I need to go. I won't go into it any more in this thread - maybe if someone starts another..

 

[Mark]

my birthday is 9-11-1982.

I went out partying the night before, and slept until noon or so. I got out of bed, hopped in my car (built mazda rx7 turbo), put a CD in the deck, and left to go to school. At the time, I was going to college ~25 miles away from where I was living. I'll never forget how creepy it was driving down the freeway in the middle of the day, in Detroit, and not seeing another car for miles....

 

[Doug S.]

My wife and daughter spent the night in the hotel at the Twin Towers only 8 days before the airplanes took them down. I thought about that on the day that it all happened, thanked God for the grace period of 8 days between their visit and the incident, and hugged them when I got home from work. I never told them what the hugs were about....

When will Obama wake up or be turfed out?

With all due respect to you and the "intent" of this thread, this is not about Obama (as much as you would like to make it so)....he doesn't get to make the decision regarding where the mosque will be built and IMHO he really should not make public his own personal opinion regarding the advisability of placing the mosque at GZ.

He certainly should not be "turfed out" for defending the constitution, THAT is what we should all expect from a POTUS, current or previous.

Cheers from Doug!!

 

[Nick]

deleted

 

[domtoni]

Doug, you misread my last post. I was posting a friend's comments and he is in Washington. Kindly reread it please.

 

[Dave P]

I was standing in front of a CNC lathe at an aerospace machining company. We were working on shroud segments for the M1A1 Abrams tank engines. I could not believe what the radio was saying We all stood around in shock. I made thousands of those segments after that day.

 

[Howard Jones]

I was at a investment manager conference in Savana Georga. It was the opening session and I would guess that there were about 800 investment professions and plan trustees in the room.

The opening speaker was at the lecturn speaking. Then a cell phone went off a few people down from me. Then another......and another accross the room. Then a lady right behind me gets call......."oh my god!......WHAT? WHAT?............wimper. Gets up and leaves the room. Then another a few feet away. And another and another.

Keep in mind that about 75% of these people in the room work in NY and many with offices in the WTC.

Finally the speaker gets a message at the lecturn. He says that there has been a aircraft crash in NY and the world trade center is involved.

The convention center will be placing several TV sets in the hallway outside. Those who would like to watch the coverage may do so. The opening session will be suspended for now.......

Everybody goes outside to watch TV just in time for the second plane to hit. Nobody..........I mean NOBODY said a word for a good 10 sec. Then I hear " we're at war! " I said to no one in particular. "kill em all"

The lady next to me said "who?" and I said "everybody on the list" And I still feel that way.

I was stuck on the east coast for a week.

 

[Doug S.]

Doug, you misread my last post. I was posting a friend's comments and he is in Washington. Kindly reread it please.

Granted, domtoni, I did not catch that it was a second hand account. My apologies for laying the blame at your feet (although, while you were not the author, you did post it).

My point, however, remains.....9/11 was not about Obama any more than whether this mosque is built at GZ is about Obama...he is not responsible for the decision regarding where the mosque should be built and if it is built at GZ he will not be to blame, ergo my assertion that he needs not "wake up" and should not be "turfed out" if the mosque does get built at GZ.

I'll add another personal memory regarding 9/11...I had a phone call from a friend I hadn't seen for years, he was in Houston staying at a hi-rise for the night, and he was inviting me to come have dinner with him. We had been fishing buddies for years so we naturally both ordered fish....none to be had, there were no airplanes to fly in the fresh fish to this posh restaurant. When we left the restaurant we went up to his room, on one of the top floors, and he remarked he wanted a room high up in the hotel so he could get some perspective of the distance that the jumpers had to fall....that would have been a tough choice, to be sure, but in the end I'd rather die in the fall than burn to death. It was a sobering sight.....

The hotel was in the landing pattern for Houston International Airport, and the absence of planes was quite disconcerting.....it was the silence that was most noticable.

Cheers from Doug!!

 

[Al Wohlstrom]

I was living in CT and working as a building GC. I was doing a job for a NYC fireman when he came outside and said that a plane had just hit one of the WTC towers. As we were watching the second plane hit the other tower. That afternoon a client's mother called to say that her daughter and granddaughter (close friends) had been on the second plane and the daughter's best friend that my brother was dating was on the first plane. There weren't any bodies, no closure. Then I saw all the news clips of lots of people cheering in the streets, and 9 years later I am still not very happy with these people.

 

[Damian]

This may be a repost but today was the first time that I have ever seen this. It's a tribute from Budweiser only aired once. YouTube - 9/11 Bud Commercial - AIRED ONLY ONCE

 

[domtoni]

Granted, domtoni, I did not catch that it was a second hand account. My apologies for laying the blame at your feet (although, while you were not the author, you did post it).

My point, however, remains.....9/11 was not about Obama any more than whether this mosque is built at GZ is about Obama...he is not responsible for the decision regarding where the mosque should be built and if it is built at GZ he will not be to blame, ergo my assertion that he needs not "wake up" and should not be "turfed out" if the mosque does get built at GZ.

In itself, this thread has nothing to do with BHO. I am afraid that we have had too many thread drift in the past. But I did state in the opening that it was from a friend, and it was not edited. Perhaps the concluding sentence was not really in place, but that was his opinion. But the final statement does have to do with sensitivity on the part of the mosque/community center supporters vs those who don't want it there.