Sometime today, take a few moments out of your life and remember the innocent people that died in the senseless attack on the World Trade Center. We all hooked together in brotherhood on that day. Perhaps, if we take the time to remember, we can stay that way. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44451545#44451545
Sadly, 9/11, for me was also an education in how lacking education is here in Missouri and in human nature. I was in 9'th grade, and when I heard about a plane crashing into the WTC I thought of some small office building in some city with the tail-end of some single engine plane sticking out the side. My class mates were all making jokes and not knowing any better, I did too. It wasn't until the teacher turned on the classroom TV and I saw New York and two sky scrapers that I had seen in movies and pictures of the New York skyline and from a distance in the news previously. Seeing the smoke billowing out, I felt cold inside, and then seeing a second Air Liner hit the other tower... I went numb. Finally the classroom went silent and many of us started crying... a couple of "bad-asses" snickered and said "big deal" and the teacher told them to shut their mouths. All day every TV had the news on. The next day the wasn't any school. I remember that when the towers fell there were a couple of students that cheered... the same student that got suspended a lot. I remember thinking on that day "How could I not know what the World Trade Center was or where it was and why in a school of 1500 - 2000 students in a city of around 40,000 did none us "students" know... and then to take it so lightly that the first thing we do is start joking about it until we see the pictures and the video footage... how... why.?." I just couldn't understand.
Probably one of the few times in life you will remember where and what you were doing at that exact moment in time...Thoughts and prayers for those who lost loved ones.
I was working at a hospital that day and my colleague said that a plane crashed into the WTC... I thought he was joking... How unrealistic that was... I wish all the relatives and friends of the victims all strength and hope this will never happen again, wherever in the world...
I had just gotton off work at the San Francisco airport at 5 00 am California time the day the war on terror began. On the way home ( I lived in Oakland at that time ) , crossing the Bay Bridge I had KCBS on the car radio to listen to the traffic reports but the top of the hour news had mentioned a plane had crashed into the WTC. I didnt think much of it, since im sum 3000 miles west of New York City. I had gotton home, turned the webtv on and then the Tv set. As I changed the channles to channel 3, I was like wtf, this is on every friggin channel, thats when I left it on KRON channel 4 in San Francisco , which had turned to NBC national news feed, just in time to see the 2nd plane crash into the other building. I got a call about an hour later saying not to come into work. The FAA had grounded all flights , no plane could take off from any airport across the states without risking being shot down by the US military. All planes in the air was ordered to land wherever they were. And stay there. No international flights were allowed into the US. In the end I was forced to take almost a month off until the FAA air ban was lifted. The plane that had taken off from San Francisco to New York hours earlier was diverted to somewhere in Canada , we contracted out with commercial flights to deliver our goods. My Tv set stayed on all day and nioght for the next 2 weeks. I still have my poster of the WTC , draped in the US flag, " Forever in our Hearts ". It was weird, I bought this poster when I was in Sydney Australia in the first week of October.
I was at work managing my crew at the PetSmart distribution center here in Newnan. Our GM received calls from his wife and others telling him about the happenings. We had only been in operation about 6 mos at that location and they brought a tv in and fashioned an antenna to pickup/monitor local news. Talk about Atlanta being a possible target, Atlanta evacuation as a possibility. It was startling news, we kept our people working through the shift and relayed news as we heard it to them. Everyone complied and although we were all concerned about the events unfolding, we went ahead with our scheduled activities. Newnan had a remembrence ceremony this morning on the historic west court square. Chief Buster Douglas(Police), Asst Chief Todd Moore(Fire), and Rev Dwight Mooty among others spoke about the heroic actions of so many during that tragic time. Color guard, a lot of our local first responders in neatly pressed dress uniforms. This has been a yearly event since the attack occurred. At 1PM there will be bell ringing and sirens, and at 3PM a walk from our Veterans Memorial Park into downtown. I heard this week that there have been 1200 additional deaths of first responders since 2001. They need to be especially remembered as well, like Chief Moore said they chose, did not hesitate, to climb 80 floors with rescue gear to attempt to save lives, and tirelessly worked for weeks afterward in the rubble saving additional lives. A high school classmate, Ken McBrayer, son of our principal, was killed in the attack in one of the towers. http://www.9-11heroes.us/v/Kenneth_M_McBrayer.php
I was at home getting ready for work when I first heard of the attacks. Wife and kids had just left for work and school, hearing only the initial reports of the first plane. Turned on the TV...... Like 'X' and Forever27, I too saw the second plane hit 'live' - couldn't believe what I was seeing...... My job duties were flexible that day, so I just stayed home and watched the events unfold. Later that evening we went to our church, hugged and prayed - a lot. In retrospect, I don't have anything really profound to say. I didn't know anyone personally who perished (or had family/friends who did...). I will say that I think we've all been changed by the events that transpired. Hopefully we're more, rather than less, open to to helping one another. Hopefully, we're more open to a dialogue with those whose beliefs are different. Hopefully, we're more open to pitching in, rather than choosing to let someone else do it. Draw your family close, give thanks to your God, then say hello to your neighbor..........and fly your flag.
Amen. KK. Amen. I didn't mention it earlier but my friend, Marshal, a truck driver at the time, was up there in NYC to visit a close friend of his and they were at work, in one of the towers.
At the time I was working in a mall, they're like a small town you know. I had heard a bit about a plane crash on the radio, then a friend came in and told me more about it and that Radio Shack had all their TVs turned on the news. Like most folks I closed the store for a bit and went down to Radio Shack. It was amazing the crowd that was forming watching the TVs. Like KK I didn't lose any body close to me that day but I did lose something. But more closer to home was the confusion at the airport. I live a 25 mins away when the call went out to open our homes to take in stranded travellers like most folks we talked it over and decided to help. By the time hubby got home from work he said they where now asking folks to stay clear of the airport. It was mass confusion. Between folks showing up to take travellers to their homes, buses trying to get in to transport folks to whatever building that could accommindate, to local folks who had been at the airport to take a flight out but know couldn't...it was to say the least hectic. But you know everyone would do it again if needed. That day sure made our world a smaller place in many ways.
I was boarding an airplane and our flight was short circuited. We had no idea what was happening other than just as we were boarding we'd heard that an airplane had hit the first tower. No flight staff came out once we were in the air and the copilot came on the radio and said that due to severe weather conditions we were going to be heading to the nearest large airport and landing and no flight staff were to risk getting up to assist passengers. Then, nothing. We were on the plane for about an hour and twenty minutes. When we landed we were asked to depart the airplane as quickly as possible, taking our possessions with us, and nothing more was said. It was only as we emerged in to the airport we heard the news that planes were being crashed in to buildings including the towers, the Pentagon, and that we could not expect to fly on to our destinations for "several hours". The city I landed in was close to my mothers town, so I was able to go visit her for three days while the folks at home office figured out how to get me home. Our firm lost employees and clients in the towers and we all felt the pain of their families in one way or another. And everything changed for us and how we traveled. That day left an imprint on my heart that will last with me for the rest of my life. I remember the days the Kennedy's were assassinated, the day man landed on the moon, but nothing, ever, will leave the marks that this day did.
september 11th 2001. i was getting ready to walk out the door to drive my mother to work... i was excited as hell, my mom,aunt, and grandma were taking a once in a lifetime trip to italy for 2 weeks. 2 weeks that i would have a townhouse, and a 98 buick regal gs supercharged at my disposal!! i was 21 at the time and had planned on using the 2 weeks driving my moms buick to fix my rusty old jeep. well as we were literally walking out the door, my grandma calls. all i see is a look of suprise come over my mother as she says "ill call you back" to my gram. "whats up" i said casually .. to which my mom responded (while turning on the TV) "we are being attacked" ...i sat in stunned silence as we saw the world trade center tower smoking ....as we sat there watching in live horror...as the second plane hit. i was scared...never had i been so scared in my life. i was 21 and didn't care about politics, world events etc etc. i wanted to hang out with my friends and drink. that all changed that day. never again would i be oblivious to my surroundings. i will never forget when the towers came down....thinking to myself...all those people inside...my god! then flight 93 that flew over my house 10 min before it crashed! went to shanksville today...
My wife and I were talking over dinner tonight.... I got to thinking about the ways our country has changed since 9/11/01. There are those obvious things - travel security for one. More importantly, our overall sense of well-being, on a national scale, was severely damaged. It's as if you were held up at gunpoint and are struggling to make sense of it all, trying to carry on a normal life but nothing's the same any more. Now transpose that state of mind to our national consciousness. Trying to put a word to it, America lost its 'positiveness'. We need to get that back - right away. I'm tired of all the talk of a 'sick' economy. I'm tired of all the politicians blaming whoever they can for the state we are in. I'm tired of all the talk of 'stimulus programs' that are planned, but then by the time they get down to street level where they're needed, they're too little, too late. If we alll are going to pull out of this 10 year funk we've been in, we're going to have to do it ourselves. - Stop blaming the government. Doesn't solve anything - If you're in charge of a company, Lighten up a little bit. Even if it's not in your budget, hire somebody. I'm sure with all the cutbacks everybodys been affected by, there is something at your company that is not being done, and other people getting overstressed by doing two (or three) person's jobs. Thank your employees - sincerely. Heck - throw a party. - If you're unemployed, my sincere best wishes. I've been there. Perhaps your field is difficult to find employment in . Consider retraining in another field (look for grants to pay for it). Start your own business. DO SOMETHING..... - If you are 'worrying' about things, STOP. It doesn't solve anything by worrying. Take positive action instead, if required. I know, I'm rambling a bit.... What I'm trying to say by all of this is this. America was a VERY POSITIVE place 10 years ago. We've GOT to get back to that place again....... Marshall
I work for American Airlines, and was off that day. I was watching a morning show, probably GMA, and they were showing the WTC buildings with a fire. They didn't quite know what was going on, and then, as I was watching, the second plane hit. I couldn't believe my eyes. It still seems unreal, when I think back to that stunning sight. The very first victims of 9/11 were my own co-workers. They were just going about their work like any other day, and they were slaughtered. The first of thousands to die that tragic day. I haven't been able to watch any of the footage they insist on showing every 30 seconds for the last 3 days. I did watch a video of Paul Simon singing "The Sound of Silence". It was beautiful. I cried. David
"woke up, fell out of bed dragged a comb across my head" .... I wasnt scheduled to work that day and I had just gotten up. Since I had free time and a 30-day "cooling off" period behind me, I had decided to spend the biggest part of the day composing and sending a scathing letter to American Airlines concerning a horrendous flight I experienced a month earlier to Memphis. I turned on the tube to the newsflash of the first plane hitting the twin towers and, as others, I saw the second hit live ... I choose to not write that letter.
