9/11 - fifteen years ago

[75Grandville]

I was just thinking about 15 years ago today. I got to work in downtown DC, and someone told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I was imagining a little private propeller plane. Then the second one hit. Then the Pentagon got hit, right across the Potomac River. Just a few miles from my office. My co-workers all went up to the roof of our building, because you could see the smoke from the Pentagon more clearly.

War is not a spectator sport - I headed in the other direction.

I left the office, somehow found a taxi, and began the slow exodus from DC. Traffic was at a crawl. I got a good look at the smoke from the Pentagon as I crossed the Potomac back into VA.

It took 2+ hours to get home, a ride that usually took 30 minutes with no traffic. Wife and parents were in tears, as I didn't have a cell phone with me that day, and there was so much confusion as to what targets had been attacked where.

I wanted to share that memory, and offer prayers/remembrance/thoughts/condolences for those who lost their lives, lost their loved ones, were one of the many first responders on the scene, the brave passengers of Flight 93, and all those affected from that day to today.

Please feel free to add your memories, thoughts, etc. Save the blame/anger/finger pointing for another day.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

For some reason, I got up earlier than usual that day. As I was getting ready for work, I turned on the TV, which was also unusual for me. CNN was broadcasting the attack live, and I watched it play out pretty much in real time. The first plane had struck the first tower, I watched as the second plane hit, then as the two towers collapsed. It was unbelievable and almost impossible to get your head around what was happening at the moment.

 

[blackbrandt]

I don't remember what happened that day, due to the fact I was only about 3 years old. My dad always tells us about how he was in NY at the time, and he was in JFK airport at the time, about to catch his plane home. The gate agent picked up the phone, and immediately started sobbing. She said "the WTC was just hit by a plane". My dad watched out the window, and after a while, they watched the second plane hit the tower. My dad then proceeded to get a car and drive the 10 hour drive home.

I still remember seeing a memorial video a few days later. I didn't undertsand what it was, or what had happened. It was only after several years that I *started* to realize the true extent of what had occurred.

 

[JJSR]

I was 4.75 miles away, as the crow fly's due west from the towers. Working on building concrete forms for rail road bridge 100' up in an airel lift. As usual starting to get hungry for break time at 9am, I call down to my partner if he sees the coffee truck yet ?? when I look back up something catches my eye east, its smoke billowing from the north tower. I yell back to my partner, HEY the Trade building is on fire!! He yells come down and get me I can't see. by the time I boom down and pick him up and we get up in the air. The rest of the guys we were working with are below us saying its coffee time the roach coach is here come down. I point towards NY by now its really burning, the smoke is flowing south past and the south tower, what could have caused such a big fire, I mean with out NYFD not being able to get a handle on it fast enough? when all of a sudden a plane comes out of the smoke trail and hits the south tower! HOLY SH*T what the F**K!! Huge fire ball explodes out of the other side of the tower. "WTF" We all saw that,, foreman tells me come down, we're being attacked!!! he has the radio on in one of the trucks,,, we get on the ground and start listening to radio reports. now the company I'm working for has called and said for everyone to go home. We get our tools put away and I head for home.
I get on the NJ turnpike (690,000 cars and trucks use this road a day) going south and I find I'm about the only person on the road going south. Going north its a parking lot everyone heading into NY that morning was being turned away by this time.
From this highway, for most of the northern section you can see the NY sky line and most prominent the TRADE buildings. This is where I see the south tower fall, I just happened to turn my head to see it collapse.
After that all I could see is smoke and dust the rest of the way home.
I'll never forget the plane coming out of the smoke and hitting the tower!!! For many weeks after, being I work outside, when a plane would came over head I had to look up at it just to be sure where its going.

this is an AP photo but is about the view I had

 

[H_Rocket]

Some well written comments from a colleague who was at work with me that day. We both work at Yale-New Haven Hospital, which is the closest Level 1 Trauma Center to the disaster.

Link to Facebook

 

[Cabernut]

I was working at a warehouse as a supervisor, wondering why the heck my guys were late. Then one came in the door and said "Hey did you hear what happened?" We went into the office where the ladies there were all gathered around a TV and watched with them. We all assumed it was a crazy accident. That is until the second plane hit. Then we knew we were being attacked. We even knew who did it. Sometimes people forget that their first attempt was in 1993. This time they succeeded. We spent the day glued to the TV, no work got done but everyone understood. The drive home later that day, everyone on the road was courteous, it was strange but understandable.

The scary part was after the Pentagon was hit, we didnt know how many more targets were going to be hit. Asking "How big is this attack going to be?" while looking nervously in the air.

 

[CzTeacherMan]

I was in college... Went to the frat house that morning and the big screen was on. I watched the first tower burning thinking, "huh!"... Just as I turned to leave for my 9:30 class, I watched the second plane hit. I was in a kind of daze wondering what the hell was going on... My professor just sat silently until class time then announced that we should all go home for the day, that a dear friend of his worked in the North tower, that today was a day we'll want to remember, to call our families and loved ones... I'll never forget the way the skies were silent for days... I knew that day that the world has shifted, and not fit the better.

 

[GregGleason]

Another Facebook post from someone who was in NYC next to the Twin Towers when the event happened. An amazing story of survival.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/jennifer-graves/my-account-11-september-2001/10150381985049289

Greg

 

[cwbullet]

I was in Germany and watched in my clinic as work was letting up.

 

[Mushtang]

Just north of Atlanta here. Watched it on TV after hearing about it like most people. Being so far away it seemed more detached than the folks in NYC I'm sure. I was downtown that morning at a meeting, unusual for me, and as I was leaving to head back to the suburbs where my office was the traffic was like 4pm on a Friday, but this was 11am early in the week. Very strange feeling.

There was a bit of overreaction (which I'm sure was better to be safe than sorry) when they closed a road over a dam between where I worked and lived. The Buford dam was probably as far down on the list of possible places that terrorists would hit as you can get, but they closed the road anyway. There were probably lots of similar closures all over the country.

 

[dford]

Sophomore in high school art class. In Utah. Every class room had the TV set to watch from the first tower being hit.

Today we have NFL players showing open disrespect on 9/11. Sad. I for one am not watching the NFL. Period.

9/11 Never Forgotten.

 

[Bat-mite]

I drove in to work, and I was trying to find some classic rock on the radio, but all I could get was news. I couldn't figure out what was going on at first; then I heard one of the stations saying a plane had hit one of the WTC towers. I assumed it was a small plane and pilot error. Horrible, but I had no idea how horrible.

I parked and went into the building, and everyone was gathered in the break rooms at the TVs. One of the VPs came in and said that anyone who wanted/needed to leave could have the day off. So I went home and watched it on the news. I thought it was the most tragic thing I had ever seen, until the second plane hit....

A member of my church at that time was killed in the Pentagon hit. He was actually famous for being the last US soldier to leave Viet Nam. https://articles.latimes.com/2001/sep/16/news/mn-46461

 

[dr wogz]

I was in Vancouver, BC introducing my wife (then girlfriend) to my mum & sister. I remember leaving to drive my mum to work that morning, so that I could have the car, about 10 minutes away. I thought it a little odd, that the radio wasn't playing any music. It was turned down as we were talking the whole way to her work, so it wasn't obvious. But no discernible beat change or 'thump thump thump you'd get fro a radio turned low.. I droped her off, smiles, "see you later!" Then I got in the driver seat, adjust stuff, and turned up the radio. "We are live, the World trade center has been.. We go live to... " I sat for about 10 minutes in awe, listening.. I then got the courage to drive to work, focused solely on the radio & the broadcast. I park the car, and ran up her apartment, and went to asked her husband (my stepdad) if he heard. As soon as I was about to speak, he just pointed at the TV.. We sat for about 15 minutes, watching, the replay, watching some more, another replay, more comments. I went to wake my wife, and tell her..

Not an easy day. Doubley so when we heard that all flights were grounded. We were to head home (Montreal QC) in about 6 days... We went on to enjoy our vacation, the best we could. I remember it weird not seeing planes flying overhead. Something we all are used to these days.. Needless to say, they finally allowed planes to fly again, and we were allowed to fly home as intended the following day. Mind you, we all knew things were to be forever different.

 

[mpitfield]

I was uptown Toronto, at a staff meeting in the boardroom in my office when someone came in and said a small plane just hit one of the towers. We had a big screen and turned it into CNN and were only watching for a few min when the second plane hit. Up to that point we just figured it was a small plane with an inexperienced pilot that somehow managed to hit a really big building, but once we saw the second pane hit it was obvious this was something very different.

We literally dropped everything we were doing and watched it unfold in horror until we all had this compelling thought to forget about work and get home to our families. It was so surreal going home as everyone everywhere was quiet, some people were crying, some looked scared even though this was in NY and we were in TO. I would characterize my headspace and everyone else I saw as shock, literally just a numb shock with panic slowly settling in.

I think Torontonians feel close to NYC, not just geographically but in a lot of ways as Toronto is generally regarded as similar to NYC.

Tying rocketry into 911, because I am a recent BAR, 4ish years now, I was wondering what if any impact 911 had on the hobby, were any restrictions, temporary or otherwise put in place? I am assuming some launches were cancelled but I am talking more at an admin/governmental agency level?

 

[dr wogz]

Tying rocketry into 911, because I am a recent BAR, 4ish years now, I was wondering what if any impact 911 had on the hobby, were any restrictions, temporary or otherwise put in place? I am assuming some launches were cancelled but I am talking more at an admin/governmental agency level?

I do know that the R/C plane industry was somewhat hit.. Anyone not Caucasian / American / known / etc... buying an R/C plane was subjected to a few extra questions.. Especially "new" flyers..

 

[NJRick]

I was working from home that morning here in NJ...out side Trenton..I did not have the TV on or anything..I had a case in court down in Camden that was scheduled for 11 am....I get in the car, around 9:30 -10 am...turn on the radio and Howard Stern said one of the Towers had just gone down..no idea what he was talking about until he said it was one of the Trade Center towers...at which point I turn on the news talk station...I remember trying to call my wife and there was no cell phone signal at all....I get to Camden and my judge at the time was a WWII vet, 101st Airborne Division....he went into Normandy on D-Day in a glider...landed in Nijmegan (Bridge too far) and was captured in the Battle of the Bulge...(he was a .30 cal machine gunner) I looked at him and said Judge, I never thought I would see my Pearl Harbor....and he immediately replied "Rick I fought that war hoping that someone like you would never have to see it."

People from where I live (outside Trenton) would take the train up the NYC...we lost 53 people from my community that day...I used to go to court in Jersey City which is right across the river from the Towers...you could see them as clear as day. When I drove up there it just sobering to look and see that they were gone. God Bless those people and their families.