Ninth Anniversary of 9/11

[Guest Spanky]

Today is the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Sometimes it seems like it was so long ago but mostly I remember it so vividly that it seems like it was yesterday. With the rush of daily life it's often easy to forget about the victims and responders who were killed, just like it's easy to forget about or take for granted all the members of the armed forces who spend every day in service to America (whether or not they need to be where they are is not the point of this post). Anyway, I don't know what the point of this is and I am not very eloquent in matters such as these. Maybe this is just to remind everyone that, in the thrill of hunting down your favorite escort, you might take a moment to think about those who died and, if so inclined, even say a little prayer.

 

The Washington Post is doing a "where were you" thing online. Some interesting stories. I'm struck by how many people writing in were in high school when it happened.

 

http://tinyurl.com/3yf8j6q

[leigh.bess.toad]

Thank you Spanky. I'm wearing one of my 9/11 memory t-shirts today. Believe it or not it was just what came out in my hand this morning. I remember clearly. I was at work, and was the first to see the headline about a plane hitting WTC. At that moment, everything stopped, everything changed. I'm not in NYC. But at that moment, we all did become New Yorkers, we all did become one. It was a period like I will never forget, but it is obviously a period I never want to relive again, nor do I want my kids, grandkids or any other progeny to have to relive it. To not only the men and women in the armed services, but any who serve us (police, firefighters, EMS, Coast Guard) every one owes you a debt of gratitude we cannot repay and all we can come up with is a lousy heart felt "Thank You". But it is very heartfelt. Next year's 10th anniversary will be very emotional. On a Sunday. With Church services. I don't know if I'm looking foward to it.

 

Again, thank you Spanky.

[Guest greatness]

I remember the day and it was tragic. RIP.

[NYTomcat]

I will never forget watching the carnage . The bodies falling.. the horror as we saw the second plane. I am thankful everyday to have been a "protected" federal employee. Riding comfortably in an suv out of the carnage as we heard that terrible rumble and saw the cloud of debris and dust overtake the streets and us.

 

I truly doubt that anyone can or will ever forget that day at least not those here in NYC. We lost far to many good people.

[+ Charlie]

My partner was waiting at our home for an airport shuttle to take him to JFK for a flight. The van company called and said that they couldn't pick him up, because the airport was closed. We looked at one another, and said, we better turn on the tv. We did it just in time to see the towers fall--buildings that we had once watched every day being built in the 1960s.

 

Friends lived only a couple of blocks north of the scene, and watched from their living room window as the entire event developed. They needed months of counseling to deal with the psychological trauma. I went to the site five weeks after 9/11, and the smell was still overwhelming. My one consoling thought was that the terrorists had failed in their goal, because the nation was stronger and more united than ever. I guess I was a bit too premature.

[KMEM]

I certainly will never forget 9/11. I have friends who work for UA and AA and they could have been on any of those flights. The actions on UA93 have become one of my refrains about how we should deal with terrorism in this country. As when JFK was assassinated, I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news about 9/11 and what I was doing.

 

I don't look forward to anniversaries of this event at all but I definitely think we should not forget any number of lessons we should have learned from it.

 

Best regards,

KMEM

 

When they allowed general aviation to fly again, some several days after the airlines, I had business up the Hudson River valley. I went into EWR and rented a one way car. On final I could see smoke still lingering in the air and the very obvious gap where the Twin Towers had once stood. A very sad, permanent memory.

[NYTomcat]

No you were not Charlie... like all things nothing lasts forever. But at that moment for a brief time we were all truly united.

[Justice]

I was on my way to work. I was on a PATH train (the subway that connects New York and New Jersey) on a train that originated at the World Trade Center. (I was on my way to Newark Penn Station. It's scary to think that some of my fellow passengers got on at the World Trade Center. I got on in Jersey.) PATH run outside for most of its Newark run and one of my fellow passengers got a call on his cell and announced to the rest of us that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I thought that it was a joke. Especially since everything appeared to be normal when I got off the train. I.E., People were lining up to buy coffee and lottery tickets and NJ Transit and AMTRAK tickets, etc; train service hadn't been suspended; and the AMTRAK, NJ Transit and Port Authority police were acting normally. All of that changed in the five minutes that it took to walk to my office. At the time my cube faced east (towards the city) and just about everyone was on my side of the office watching to unfolding horror. Small groups of people were clustered around two woman (a mother and her daughter) that work with us. It turns out that their son/brother worked in the World Trade Center. He never came home. Neither did the son of our then HR Director. I later learned that several other people that I knew lost someone that they loved on that awful awful day. (I actually had met one of them at Super Bowl party several years before. My sister is still friends with his wife (since the 7th grade!) and we all still attend the same Superbowl Party.) I went to three memorial services. It took me four hours to get home. (A former colleague very kindly drove me most of the way home. We had to head towards the city that everyone was running away from.) Everyone was walking around in some kind of a daze. I'll never forget the never ending sirens. I still get this very uneasy feeling whenever I hear sirens that last longer then normal. I'll never forget the smell of the smoke. It didn't small like the smoke from a normal fire. I'll never forget the missing persons flyers that went up just about everywhere. You couldn't go to the supermarket or wait for a train or bus or get cash from an ATM etc. etc. without seeing the smiling face and description of someone who was missing and the contact information for someone who was desperately hoping against hope that someone they loved was still alive. Many of them were in their 20's. It was horrific. I'll never forget it.

[josephga]

Iv been working on a tribute video. I didn't get a chance too finish it. I'm going to put it aside and put it up next year I want it too be 100% complete

[Guest greatness]

Oh my Joe you are so patriotic! Thank you for doing this. I love all of your videos. They are so good. Kisses and hugs~~~

[Steven_Draker]

Spanky, thank you for starting this thread. It's important to remember those who lost their lives in the 9/11 tragedy. I found the "Where were you" query quite interesting. Everyone seems to remember the place he was and what he was doing on that day 9 years ago. I remember that I was visiting a friend of mine in Brasilia and I was supposed to fly the next day.

[+ purplekow]

I was on my way to Newark Airport for a flight to Las Vegas. I heard the news that a plane had hit the Twin Towers and thought it was a small plane but that all flights would be delayed. I pulled into my office to see if I could get more information and the smell and the smoke, from about 8 miles away as the crow flies was wafting over the office. Living in the town which had the most residents die in the Towers, there are many reminders almost every day. I have know quite a few "late victims". First responders dying years later of mysterious lung and heart disease. These men and women need our support as do the surviving family members and those who escaped the Towers. I have spoken with dozens of people who were in the Towers, every story told with the same tear filled voice.