Sept. 11th

[Dwilah]

I dunno, I guess I feel like I should say something.

The day it happened, I came downstairs for breakfast and my mom told me a plane had hit one of the towers. When I walked down to school I told my first period teacher and she turned on the TV. The entire day, every class had the TV on in class, except my government teacher, who talked to us about what this meant for the nation and stuff. I remember I gave myself a migraine from being upset over it and when I went down to the health room to get my migraine med, there were so many kids in there sick from worry. They had parents in New York, working the towers, whatever. I went to a huge high school and so the world was a lot smaller all of a sudden.

The next year when I was in college and living in the dorm, I remembered a ton of us girls sitting around in the lounge downstairs watching the address he gave declaring war on Iraq. I remember being scared to death of the idea, of being afraid because I didn't really understand the reasons behind it. I remember being scared because there was a time after I graduated from high school when I had seriously considered joining the reserves and I didn't know how I felt when they started talking about units being deployed overseas in the following weeks.

Now, Katrina's just happened and it seems like it's even bigger than Sept. 11th, at least as far as what companies are doing and people are doing to try and offer aid. At least from what I remember. My dad said it's because Katrina's so much bigger, and Sept. 11th was localized and even though it killed people, it destroyed a workplace and not people's homes.

I was driving home from work last week and I felt really affected for the first time by any of all this kind of stuff. There was a really large military convoy on the interstate. All the guys driving the trucks had on full gear...helmets, guns, goggles, the works. There was bottled water hanging out of the tops of some of the trucks.

I'm hearing people still talk about Katrina and what they want to do to help out daily....volunteering or charity. It makes me feel really spoiled. I've changed a lot since Sept. 11, 2001. I can't say that I've changed because of it, but the world we live in has changed from it and from my point of view, at least, a lot of things have just moved faster just in the world around me.

I still wonder when I see things on the news and hear from people who are about to join the military, or who work overseas, what my life would have been like if I had ended up joining the reserves and how I'd be different for it if at all, if I'm doing enough now to make a difference and if I'd be brave enough to do whatever it would be that I would be doing those, you know, days the country called on you.

Anyway, there's no real way to pinpoint what I'm feeling about all this right now or how I've been feeling about it lately. Days come and go pretty often without anyone taking notice of some kinds of things. Sometimes it's good to stop and think about them for a minute or two, even if you can't reach any conclusion.

As for why I've posted this all on a public forum, I guess it's just a weird way to grieve for a few moments out of this anniversary day. All this seemed connected and affects us, not just as Americans but as humans.

Anyway, thanks for bearing with me guys.

[warsloth]

Nice.

Today I watched several different rememberance programs, reenactments and ceremonies. It brought back a lot of feelings that I felt that day. Especially when my wife and I recounted our experiences of those days.

I was in the commons of a tech school when we heard about the first plane. They had it on the bigscreen there in the cafeteria, and as we were standing around talking and watching, the second plane hit. A good friend turned and asked me, "What does this mean dude, are we going to war."

I just said, "I don't know."

Shortly afterward we went back to class. Everyone was talking about it, and our psych professor had made it the subject of the day. It was a small class.
Generally we were just confused, thoughts of war hadn't even really sunk in.
After that class I got in my truck and headed home, called my mom once underway, and listened to the radio. My mother told me what the TV was now showing of the towers. The radio was filled with mixed reports of attacks. False reports of attacks everywhere it seemed. I remeber hearing that a helicopter or plane had hit the pentagon, and that people were reporting a car bombing outside another building. I got home in time to see the second tower fall. By this time I was angry, and thirsty for an anouncement of revenge.

What happened on 9/11 in my eyes is the highest form of cowardice possible. There is no honor in "suicide" attacks on anyone. As a matter of fact I view suicide as an act of cowardice in itself.

Soldiers who fight without fear of death, and these "terrorists" are two completely seperate things. A soldier is ready to go toe to toe with and adversary. This tactic used on 9/11 is as far from this as possible, attacking innocent people and not sticking around for the consequences.

The fools that attacked us burn in hell. Whoever sent them will get theirs too.

[Skorixor]

I try not to talk about 9/11...in fact I avoid it at all costs

the fact is though that I cannot...

I work in an industry where we talk about it EVERY DAY...you may say, "BS you don't talk about it every day"

the fact is we pilots do...maybe not aloud, but I think about it or see something about it everyday...maybe its a security memo about another way they're trying to get into the flightdeck, maybe it's someone's "remember 9/11" sticker on their kit bag, maybe it's the suspicious middle eastern guy boarding my plane...

I lost 2 years of my career (when I was laid off) because of 9/11, my whole industry is still in jeopardy, and I almost lost my marriage too...and I know that's nothing compared to the ones that lost their lives, or family or friends of those that did...

and though my life is going better now, 9/11 is a dark ominous cloud that hangs over me every day...I cannot think of a punishment suitable for Osama that would quench my thirst for vengeance...

--------------------------------------------------------------

so I guess here's my story for those that don't know...

I was based in Boston, flying for American Eagle, the regional for AA. By chance, I had 9/11 off, and had just commuted back home to Indiana the night before...(if I got done late 9/10 I might have been commuting home on that flight from Boston on 9/11)

that morning my wife was at work, and my phone kept ringing over and over...I kept letting the machine get it in the other room, but it just kept ringing...so I finally pick up the phone all pissed off, cuz I was trying to sleep

it was the secretary from the flight school I had just left, crying like crazy, thanking god for being alive...and I'm going, "uh yeah, what's the problem?"

she tells me to turn on the tv, and thats when I watched with everyone else in the world what was happening, and started receiving phone calls from people who all they heard was an AA plane from boston hit the twin towers, and since I worked for AA and out of boston, they were calling to make sure...finally I started to call people to stop the tidal wave of people calling me...actually was talking to X'an when the first tower fell...

the aftermath...the FAA had ordered all planes to land at the closest airport...crews were stranded everywhere, and trying to get it all in order was a mess, but by the end of the week they were calling me to start moving planes back, and start flying lines again...I can't even remember how many empty planes i flew those days...but it started to pick back up a bit, even had some middle eastern men on board once, and the company told us we couldn't kick them off...that was fun...

passengers were still stupid in those days too...I saw one guy complaining that they wouldn't let him bring his shovel on board...yes, a big shovel...

then there were the security measures, where the pilots were getting more thoroughly searched than the passengers, because it was pilots who flew the planes into the buildings...I would be patted down every fucking stop and all my bags searched through, while other passengers walked through no big deal...they would never find anything, and I learned how to hide things they were looking for (i gotta have nail clippers, jeez) and then we started putting stuff into our bags for them to find...hustler mags, condoms full of hand lotion, etc etc

and there's other things I can't discuss, because it was from the government marked "for your eyes only"

I always thought that was fake until I saw it for real

------------------------------------------------------------

anyway, that's my experience, and what I deal with...if you have any questions, lemme know...

[Jabe Adaks]

((This one could be a hard read.. Just warning ya.))

I heard about the first plane while driving. I was driving home after spending the night with my then girlfriend (now my wife). I usually stayed over, went home in the morning got ready for work and then went to work. I was listenign to Mancow who was just freaking out about it and there was still a naive confusion about the plane just losing its way or something.

When I got home, I sat down and watched on my Tivo. I was watching a live newscast when I saw the second plane hit right before my eyes. I set the tivo to save and record two major networks the entire day. After being very late I went to work anyway.

At work, I received a call from my mom, who informed me a cousin who I knew very well when I was younger, but had lost touch with over the past 10 years used to work for Cantor-Fitzgerald. Cantor-Fitz rented the top floors of Trade 1. Her husband, Tom who she met there along with all her friends, and other people in her wedding party (basically most of the people she knew at all since moving to New York) were at work.

I never met him. It did hit me hard though, especially seeing my mother, aunts, uncles and grandmother who did know him get so upset. The days that followed she called our house a couple times just to talk to someone. In a few more days she finally gave in and had a funeral with an empty casket. Six months later she got the first call identifying a body part. They would actually call and say "we found a chin", etc... You had to ask to be put on a do not call list to stop getting those calls.

On September 12th, I cloned the hard drive from my Tivo and stored away the original. It still sits put away since 9/12/2001. When my kids are old enough, I will re-install it and they will be able to see the day unfold exactly as I did.

Jabe

[Keer]

For those that lost so much that day and continue to deal with it, I think that the most valuable and crucial honor that we can pay to them is to commit as much as we can to prevent another episode like that. No one place can be made impregnable, but at least if it does happen again we can say "We did the best we could to prevent it."

The company that I worked for on 9/11 is the same that I work for now. We contract with the city to manage a private airport. There and at other airports that I travel through I'm amazed to see so many people being uncooperative with just the minimum security measures. Looking at them you'd think nothing ever happenned. Before even getting to any practices that could be called intrusive, some folks do their best to make it hard on the process. There was about 3-4 months after 9/11 of near universal commitment to be more secure in airports, but after that it was sliding back to the same old attitudes of "me first".

Personally, I'm willing to wait the extra time it takes if it increases the chance that I'll survive the trip. But from someone who sees this daily, there are some airports where I could sneak a baby elephant onto the premises. Still, after everything has gone on. After people have tried to get bombs on planes in their shoes.

The purpose of the example is not to rail on the current system. It's so that those who did die and suffer from 9/11/01 might rest knowing that we make their killers try alot harder than they had to the first time. It's not just airports, there are other vulnerable places. But it needs to start somewhere. Start and stay with the sacrifice.

[Illbleed]

I remember the day quite clearly. It's seared into my memory forever. I was on my way driving to work and as usual tradition I would turn on the infamous Mancow show and smoke cigarettes on the way. I was almost to work when I heard Mancow prattling on about planes hitting the World Trade Center. At first, I dismissed this out of hand. Mancow is known for his over the top, cavalier attitudes on everything. The strangest thing happened, he was quiet and you could hear the emotion in his voice as he announced that they were going off the air.

When I finally got to work, I stood outside dumbfounded chain smoking cigarette after another trying to push this as far from my mind as possible. A million thoughts rushed through my mind. Are we at war? Is this the beginning of an invasion? I picked up the phone and dialed my parents and confirm they were okay.

There were a group of us outside just smoking in silence. When the building finally opened and they let us in we just stood there transfixed by the television.

[Zannon]

Ok, my turn.

At the time I was working pretty close to home. I had gotten up my normal time and had just finished getting dressed for work when I turned on the TV to find out what the wheather was going to be like because I wanted to mow my lawn after work. I turned on the TV and saw the results of the first plane hitting. I stood there a few minutes thinking that it was just some sort of accident. I then watched in horror as the second plane hit the building and a wave of realization struck me. I got to the office and we all just sat around my radio listening to the reports coming in. When they announced that they were grounding all flights, I walked out of my office and looked out the window. I could see all the planes circling and lining up on their way into O'Hare Airport, it looked like something you'd see in old footage from WWII, where all the B-17's were coming back from a bombing run. I went back to my office and called our corporate office to find out what the status of our funding department in New York was because they were located somewhere in Tower 2. I really didn't get any answers and when I got off the phone, I sent everyone in the office home for the day.

It was all so hard to believe or imagine. To this day, everything I did and saw that day seems very surreal and I have very disembodied memories of the whole day.

It's funny how much that day effects each of us from day to day. About a year ago, my office at a new company was looking for a new office space and we found a really nice suite on the 20th floor of a high rise in OakBrook, IL. When we sent it up to be consisdered, it kept getting shot down without any reason (it was about 50% of the cost of similar suites in the area). Finally, someone at corp told us that our parent company will not Ok any offices in a building that was more than 10 storys tall. We thought this was weird until we got another call from someone that actually worked at our parent company that told us they lost two whole departments with the exception of 2 people that called in sick on Sept 11, and that was why the policy was in place.

Before the attacks, my wife and I were trying to have our first child. After the attacks, I struggled for months trying to decide if I really was brave enough to raise a child in the world we live in. I've never felt so torn, but the resolve and the nature of good people that came out of the Sept 11th attacks showed me that the world we live in really is a good place. I've never regretted having a child and I'm proud to raise him in the United States. For all our faults, it truely is the gratest country in the world.

[Sai'nu]

I was at my local community college between classes. This was my first semester out of the military and I'd just had an off summer. I remember walking by the rec room by the cafeteria and seeing everyone in the entire vecinity glued to the television. I'm a bit slow at times... so, it wasn't until I noticed class had already started and my professor for Film History was standing there too that I finally took notice.

What really hit me was I was wearing my B.D.U.s and everyone kinda of gave me this look... it's hard to describe. The kind of look when a complete stranger is worried for you and not about you.

All kinds of things still run through my head when I think about that day and the days that came shortly after that are still affecting us today. Something in me has to remind myself everyday that ,"these things happen..." but that doesn't make them alright by any means.

However, for myself, the world has seemed a bit disillusioned and disenchanted since that day. I can only really pray for anyone affected by these tragedies and hope they can find the strength to carry on.

::moment of silence::

[E-bo Obi]

My unit was preparing to deploy to Kosovo. I had some impacted wisdom teeth and took the day off to go get them pulled by a civilian dentist. I had heard my dad's stories of having a Colonel standing on his chest yanking his out before he went to Vietnam. I didn't want to enjoy that experience. I remember making the appointment for Sept 11th because it was also my birthday and they didn't want to do it then. But I said it was actually the best day on their schedule.

I was drugged in the surgeons office when they announced the first plane hit. I didn't think anything of it. Figured it was an accident. Besides I wasn't in my right mind anyway. Right before I went under for the surgery a nurse broke in and started telling the surgeon about a second plane and terrorists and war...

I woke up and that was all I was thinking about. I made my wife rush home so I could call in to work. They told me to not come in because I wouldn't be leaving and they didn't want me there in my condition. So I took my wife to her parents just in case and I passed out for the rest of the day. Yeah. I'll never forget that experience. Just like I won't ever forget watching the two shuttles explode.

[Ekade]

For me that day was kind of unreal.. It did not become real until I scooped up my daughter. She had no clue what was going on, but I could not help but cry.

The event really hit home for me when I was in New York some months after. Seeing the people who were personally affected, putting flowers in the fences around ground zero and obviously displaying emotion (some bawling their eyes out).. That is when it really sunk in with me.

Hearing about the event from people who were there blew me away completely.

[Oniss]

I remeber that day and will never forget... I was only 10 years old, sitting there staring at the tv at home. Me and my dad sat down and talked about for awhile while it was still on tv. The rest of that day i was mostly quiet. At school the next day nearly no one talked about it until are teacher decided to talk about. We all wrote a paper explaining are feelings and one of the things i wrote was "I wish i was old enough to join the army". Then i heard about the flight that was intended to hit the pentagon. I asked my dad why it never got there and he said that the crew wouldnt let that happen. Still today I swear ill never let myself forget these words. "Lets Roll"

[Orph@N]

Well for me that day i was up and about playing CS online. Got a phonecall from my wife ( who was in cali at the time ) she told me to turn on the tv and i proceded to watch it the rest of the day. I dun really like to think about it much cause my father used to be a Gov police off. at the pentagon when we still lived in DC.

[xyryn]

I was home sick. Mom was out and called to say that a plane had hit one of the towers. I told her it had to be sabotage. Turned on the TV about 3 minutes before the second one hit.

Dad arrived home about a half hour after the hit on the Pentagon. I asked him if we were at war. He said, "Not yet, but we will be as soon as we find out who did this."

It took us a full day to find out that my cousin was still alive and had watched the whole 2 towers drama from her apartment window...she saw the first plane hit.