9/11

[Bob]

OK, this is the 8-year anniversary of the biggest terrorist event in world history. I overlook the "big hole" at "Ground Zero" from my office, and my industry suffered heavy personal tragedy on that day. So I can never really "just forget" about it. On the other hand, I pass through the big hole every day, and with that familiarity, the idea that it was the site of such a disaster wears thin. Most days, I just live in the present and get to work.

In the meantime, construction is now happening in earnest on a number of buildings at the WTC site. When it's all finished, with the skyscrapers, park and memorial, it will be really beautiful.

[Since1982]

They are re-building the World Trade Center?? 2 buildings?? Gosh, it sure doesn't seem like 8 years, seems like 3 years. That was a terrible time in my life too..My mom died 2 years before and I was really raw still. Then that and all that carnage, then all the people that died after from just "breathing"..What a terrible event in American history! When it actually happened, Judy came into my bedroom where I was asleep and told me, my first response was "Bullshìt"...I was wrong of course.

[Uncle Al]

It is hard to 'remember' this event. The day it happened my office co-workers
were astounded, in shock, couldn't believe it happened to us.
The reservations center that I worked at came to an almost complete standstill.
Our fellow employees who lost their lives that day will be remembered by all of us.

In case anyone is un-aware, I retired from American Airlines 30 November 2007,
6 years, 2 months and 19 days after this painful 'event'.

Bob is correct--we continue to live in the present, to get through each
day as best as we can.

Uncle Al

[crfriend]

I recall the day vividly. I was in a "corporate training" event known as "Leadership Is Everyone's Business" on day two (day one having been taken up with ropes and climbing activities that proved more than anything else that 32 feet per-second-per-second isn't just a good idea it's the law here locally). The sun was shining brightly, and most of us wished we were outside again.

News began filtering in through various folks' cell' 'phones and there was quite a lot of speculation as to what was going on. In an interesting testament to how unaware most "modern" folks are of "how things work", I was the one to "hotwire" a television (with a paperclip and a handy power-cord as an antenna) so we could receive a local television station. On a snowy screen we watched the first tower fall, and the horrible nature of what was actually going on sunk in. I was the first to comment on the image seen through the reception-snow and the smoke that "It's not there!" That image, and the memory that goes with it, will go to the grave with me.

Later on, the full horror of the calamity became apparent. The "Leadership" course I was in turned us all loose once it became apparent that all Hell had broken loose. I went back to work, already having a glimmering of what was really going on. I called Sapphire once I got there, she asked that I come home, and I did. We consoled ourselves, I suppose, in much the same ways that families did in December of 1941.

The lead-up to the events of 2001-09-11 are legion, but most are documented. And quite a few trace the smoking muzzle back to the late 1970s and to US foreign policy -- when the Cold War was still "raging" -- of approaching its "enemies" with the philosophy of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". The notion thereof, then, as now, is fallacious, as we are all witness to in this new age. (There is no emoticon that can possibly convey the heaviness of my heart at this time.)

At risk of getting my sorry backside excommunicated as one of the staff here at SkirtCafe (for violating the "No Politics" rule), I'll name one name: Zbigniew Brzezinski. A modicum of research will point up just how badly bad foreign policy can go.

The events of 2001-09-11 were entirely avoidable; we just chose to ignore the possibility that the tack we (the US) were on was wrong.

One cannot "unthink" an idea no matter how hard he tries. Extremism is with us, and will live amongst us from now on -- we cannot make it conveniently "go away" ("unthink it") -- we, as a community, need to find a way to engage it, understand it, and, hopefully, tame it. If we cannot, we cede all power and grace to it. Do we really want to "go there"?

[sapphire]

As a child born in NYC, there will always be a connection. That's why I asked Carl to come home.

It was a brilliant day here in Massachusetts. I was in a classroom at the local community college. The campus police told us to evacuate. Two of the planes had left from Logan airport in Boston and all state places had been closed, including colleges and universities.

Shortly thereafter,I received a call from my brother that my Mom had suffered a massive stroke. The stroke had left her with not much time left, but she was in Montana and I was in Massachusetts and the airlines were grounded.

After much work, I managed to get a flight from Boston to Bozeman. The airline charged me double for the flight.

I got into Bozeman and sat next to a gentleman with a rifle while I waited for my brother to pick me up.

Mom recognized me and died 12 hours later. Thanks Mom for dying 24 hours after the day you gave birth to me.

The night of Mom's memorial serivce, there was the most beautiful display of Northern Lights in Mom's favorite color: emerald green.

[Since1982]

I know its probably too late, but whatever Airline that was, should be contacted to see if double charging is normal in emergencies. At least tell us which Airline it was so we can decide whether or not to fly it.

[AMM]

I have mixed emotions about Sept. 11.

On the one hand, it was a really weird experience. My office was 3 blocks away, and I can remember seeing papers blowing around and things falling off the side of the tower (at least, the part we could see through the gaps in the buildings), and realizing that some of those tiny specks that rotated as they fell were human beings. I remember talking to my co-workers and realizing from all the confused stories that nobody, including Yahoo news, had a clue as to what the hell was going on, other than the obvious fact that one tower (and then suddenly two) was on fire. And I remember in the middle of the afternoon (after Metro-North started running again) walking under the Brooklyn Bridge and noticing that on the north side, it wasn't all grey and dusty, it was sunny and people were sitting around and eating outside and enjoying the warm September day. (Of course, the subway wasn't running, so I don't know those people thought they'd get home.)

I remember, while we were still hanging out at a conference room at our office and wondering when the phones would work and how we were going to get home, watching a wide-screen TV with no sound as they showed the same 5 or 6 footages over and over again, and I was very glad that there was no sound, because I couldn't imagine how any TV announcer could say anything that wouldn't sound utterly inane.

But then, almost the next day it seemed, the media talking heads and the politicians started trying to package it up into a product they could make hay off of. (Don't get me started about Giuliani!) Maybe it's just because I'm an incorrigible grouch (see my avatar if you don't believe me), but it seemed like this Cult of Nine Eleven got built up. Somehow this was supposed to be the biggest tragedy and most dastardly deed in the history of the human race, and politicians national and local were busy wrapping themselves in the mantle of Holy Nine Eleven to justify all sorts of nonsense. It's like when you go to a funeral, and the person who is blubbering the most and throwing himself on the coffin is some distant relative who also seems to be showing an awful lot of interest in what's in the will. And if you questioned any of it, you were seen as Desecrating the Holy Martyrs of Nine Eleven.

So I'm kind of glad that, as far as I can tell, people aren't making such a Big Deal over today. At least, not in NYC. They closed most of the streets near my office to vehicles, but there was plenty of traffic Broadway. There was a small group that walked down the sidewalk along Broadway in some kind of protest march about 9/11, I never did figure out what exactly. And a lot of people worked from home.

I didn't know anyone who was killed there, and if anybody I know knew anyone there, they haven't told me. I still wonder occasionally what it was like to be one of the people in the upper floors, when they realized they weren't going to get out. The way I wonder about what it was like for a friend of mine who was walking along a side street here and was hit by a speeding car that didn't stay on the road. Or any of the millions of other people whose deaths never make the media for even one day. I'm glad I can think about them in peace, without people constantly trying to tell me what I'm supposed to think and feel about it.

[alexthebird]

I will always have an ambivalent feeling about 9/11. I had recently left my first wife and was living in an apartment by myself. That morning, I had a doctor's appointment that morning, and all I remember about the morning is that the nurses, doctors, and techs who were supposed to be paying attention to me were paying attention to their computer screens that had this story about a plane crashing into the World Trade Towers. At the time, all I knew was that some wacko private plane smashed into the towers. Eventually, they finished up with me and sent me back to work. All the employees I supervised were watching their computers instead of working, making me even grumpier. Around the middle of the afternoon, the parent company sent us all home.

When I got home (a loft apartment in an old three story Victorian house in a neighborhood of Boston), the first thing I noticed was that the door of my parakeet cage was ajar and that both of my parakeets were missing. This was a hot September and my windows were open, so I feared the worst. Eventually, I found both little birds (one under the bed, the other hiding behind a stack of books in a bookcase) and got them back in their cage. This may seem trivial, but these birds once belonged to my grandmother (who had recently died) and were one of the only touchstones to my personal history over which I had some contact. It was a HUGE relief to me to have them chattering in their cage.

I watched CNN for a few minutes, and recognized that this was a little more important than I first thought. I called my mother, and even though this was about 5pm in the afternoon, she was incoherently drunk (she had a drinking problem that was made worse in times of stress). Politely signing off the call, I walked downstairs to see if my landlord was in.

He was a watching the news, and I heard Peter Jenning's voice recapping the days events while I watched the planes repeatedly smash into the towers. Whatever station it was kept showing the crash over and over and over again while Peter Jennings kept saying something that just never registered in my head.

The reason it never registered is that my landlord was cradling his ten day old baby in his arms, stroking its head while studiously ignoring the TV images. I will never, ever, forget the picture of him caressing his newborn baby in front of a TV showing an endless loop of the plane crashing into the towers.

And that picture of him with his new baby, and the sound of my two precious parakeets chirping in their cage were affirmations of miracles in the face of inconceivable horror. And the memory of my mother's slurred incoherence was a reminder that for everyone who is NOT stricken by the disaster, life goes on anyway.

[imadube]

Well -
I was active duty army on Ft Campbell, KY at the time. Needless to say on post - All Hell broke out. Locking down gates and traffic. As it happend at the time between moging physical training and the days duty hour the phone lines on post got jammed really fast. Most commanders and supervisors where back on post after changing from physical training uniforms and everyone was ordered to call thier people and get them back fast.
Well fast soon became very very slowly as all the gates on post where then closed but one and every vehicle had to stop and physically verify identity before being allowed to enter. Well with the tousands of duty personel and the hundreds of civiiians wanting on post it was very slow. Some people didn't get to report to duty until after 5 p.m.
For the next week it was all the same. Several times I finally got to work in time to go home. Imagine spending 10 hours driving 5 miles. Was like that actually about 3 weeks. Could not get a real handle on traffic as each day was different so getting to work on time was a luck of the draw.

I was moved by all this to start a website - 11 Sep 2001 Where Were You Org but since had to let it go in 2003 as I went broke and I couldn't keep it up with out donations which no one would donate.
However I did manage to get a poem and two songs published and still hope they will make thier way to radio.
Interested in hearing them go to - http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... ndID=99628

As a matter of fact 9112001 can be called the day my army career ended. As soon after that it was determinded by the doctor that I needed to be medically evaluated for further service. I had been limited in several abilities for a few years and with the "going to war" actions I got caught up the termoil of the army getting fit to fight. Being a limited abilities soldier I could not go to war and eventually it was decided I needed to be discharged. As things were before I could have been placed in a lighter duty position and retired but not any more. So I was then discharged without retirement at 10% disability at 18 years and 9 months of active duty service. I had been army contracted for over 21 years, but reserve duties do not count for retirement.

[r1g0r]

i was working for a now-defunct company that provided intra-city phone service, and my position was in switch alarm surveillance.

my wife and i were off that day and we had just picked up some videos to watch and had stepped into a restaurant to grab some coffee & pastries to begin a lazy day. the restaurant had several tv's in it, all tuned to the same really cheezy-looking disaster film and the sound was muted.

i looked around the restaurant and noticed that nobody was reading papers or talking. they were all just watching this truly cheap-looking movie.

then the on-screen logo of some tv station came on, along with the info that this was live coverage of the twin towers where a plane had collided with one of them. as i watched, suddenly realizing that this WASN'T some cheap film, a plane suddenly hit the second tower.

my company had a switch across the street from the towers. this lost all communications, power, water, and breathable air when the towers collapsed. the voice traffic that switch was handling was automatically re-routed to our 2nd NY switch, which failed within seconds. the domino effect was more like an avalanche, as each switch that froze under the immense sudden traffic increase dropped IT'S traffic as well onto the next available switch.

within minutes my company had lost 2 NY switches, 2 NJ switches, 1 DC switch, and 1 Philadelphia switch.

my job, which was monitoring 26 nationwide switches became almost impossible as the network monitoring was suddenly flooded with more alarm messages than it was intended for. previously, a typical 12-hour shift had about 30,000 alarms (mostly minor or just informational) to be handled by a 2-man crew. now it consisted of 100,000-150,000 alarms, mostly critical or major.

my company's stock went from $53 a share to about $.12 a share.

the company was crippled, fatally so.

i know people that lost jobs, retirement funds, relatives. all because somebody has a miss-guided idea of the teachings of the koran.
...............................................................................................................................


it may be morbid, but every once in a while i look up the videos of that day (and subsequent ones, like taliban captives being forced to wait for their lives to be ended by somebody too cowardly to show their faces), just to maintain my anger at the people responsible for these events. i NEVER want to lose my outrage, my anger, my feeling of wanting full retribution.

it's a good thing i am no longer in military service. i would not be able to restrain myself, if placed in that part of the world again.

[flarob]

On 9-11, My wife and I were on vacation. We were on the Island of Tobago. (Trinidad & Tobago). We had been awake for about 20 minutes when the resort office called. He said ' You are American - turn on CNN NOW. and hung up. We saw the second plane hit the tower. there was a lot of commotion around the resort. Folks would come and express their thoughts. Then we found out that - since we used a small airline to get there from Miami - We couldn't get back home, since that airline didn't qualify as one of the " qualified " airlines that were allowed to land in the US.

We were due to leave the next day and the resort said that not to worry, there would be no charges for any extra nights, because we couldn't get home. They said you cant get home - others cant get here from the states either. Next day I called the consulate to let them know that we were there and stuck. They said to call American Airlines. They didn't usually fly to Trinidad but were making special trips to collect Americans. I called and AA said that they had two seats on a flight for the next day but they were 1st class. I explained that I had seats on another ailrile but couldn't use them and that 1st class seats were something I couldn't afford at that moment. Two minutes later she came back on the phone and said ' You are confirmed to Miami and on to Philadelphia for COACH fare". I said Thank you. I sent a very nice letter of thanks to AA the next week.

[Ray]

I was in the US 16 days ago - for the first time since mid 2001. I visited the site of the WTC. It was an intensely moving moment, and my girlfriend and I were both overwhelmed by emotion at separate times. A very humbling and thought provoking visit.

I'm not really bothered about whether or not this was the biggest terrorist event ever (nor, I suspect, were the victims); it was simply an atrocity on a grand scale, and like many others around the world, we must learn, understand, and work towards the prevention of such things happening again. How that is achieved, of course, is probably not a debate for this forum.

[Sarongman]

I was house sitting my sister's house, while she underwent surgery and consequent radiation therapy for breast cancer. She rang and told me to turn on the television!!! I think everybody in the developed world, old enough to know what was happening, knew where they were on that fateful day. My wife was at home back in Queensland and, encountered an inadvertant trespasser with an American accent. (We had a mountain behind us and people often became disoriented on the climb down) When Barbara told him what had happened, he went white and, saying his parents worked in the towers, left in a hurry for his car.

I am angry that anyone can so callously disregard human life that they plot to kill as many innocent and unaware people as they possibly can.