The Otter Habitat and Wildlife Rehab Center in York Haven, Pennsylvania. Returning home when I flipped on talk radio, almost exactly at the moment the first plane was reported impacting.
My first thought: This is a terrorist attack.
I got home just in time to watch as the first tower came down.
And unlike some, I Know Who The Enemy Is. |
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On September 11th, 2001, I was a stay at home mom with a son almost 3, another almost 1 and I was just beginning the third trimester with son number three. That morning I sat on the floor of our home in Hinesville, GA, reading books to my children while my husband cleaned up after PT and got ready for work. It was almost 9. He was running late. The phone rang. I thought it was giong to be someone from the battalion calling for him but instead it was a friend, Jen. Another army wife. "Turn on the t.v." she almost shouted at me in her thick Jersy accent. We sat, both of us, almost breathless as the Fox news reporters offered conjecture about what had happened. That's when the second plane hit. I screamed. Jen hung up to call home and check on her family and friends, many of whom died that day. My husband came running into the room worried and half dressed in his BDUs. Together we stood silently watching in horror. The incongruity of my little ones playing happily at our feet was such a striking contrast that even in that moment I knew I'd never forget this day. Like the rest of America I felt sick as I watched the nightmare play out. Then it hit me, like it probably did every military wife. I looked at my husband and said, "You're leaving. You're going to war." He looked at me and he knew it, too. He went to the bedroom to get his boots and I shouted through tears, "Oh my God, they've hit the Pentagon." My husband didn't hang around for the replay of that footage. Instead, he kissed me and said, "I've got to go to work." And he did. In Afghanistan in 2002. |
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I was still in college at the time, and I woke up just after the 2nd tower was hit. Several people had sent me instant messages to turn the television on, and once I had, I was riveted. I nearly missed my first class that morning because of the attacks. I remember thinking that we shouldn't have class because we all needed to be watching the news. Not a lot of work was done that day. |
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I arrived late at work five years ago today. Same job, but I was less punctual back then. I remember my boss coming into my office and asking if I was late because what happened and I looked at him shook my head, confused look on my face before I asked, what he meant? Then he told me to sit down, so I did and he told me about American 11 and Untied 175, no one knew the flight numbers, at that time. Then about what happened at the Pentagon. One of my co-workers was in or warehouse, watching a television that had been brought in, tears streaming down his face and we sat there, in a state of shock and disbelief waiting for the next shoe to drop, terrified that it would be Chicago or Saint Louis or Los Angeles. I dorve to Jersey City that night and looked across the Hudson, watching young couples make out int he park across the river from downtown as the smoke billowed from ground zero.
I'm going to blog all about this tomorrow. Today though, Ennuipundit is reserved soley for the memory of Stacey Leigh Summers, who I memorialized for the 2,996 project. |
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I arrived late at work five years ago today. Same job, but I was less punctual back then. I remember my boss coming into my office and asking if I was late because what happened and I looked at him shook my head, confused look on my face before I asked, what he meant? Then he told me to sit down, so I did and he told me about American 11 and Untied 175, no one knew the flight numbers, at that time. Then about what happened at the Pentagon. One of my co-workers was in or warehouse, watching a television that had been brought in, tears streaming down his face and we sat there, in a state of shock and disbelief waiting for the next shoe to drop, terrified that it would be Chicago or Saint Louis or Los Angeles. I dorve to Jersey City that night and looked across the Hudson, watching young couples make out int he park across the river from downtown as the smoke billowed from ground zero.
I'm going to blog all about this tomorrow. Today though, Ennuipundit is reserved soley for the memory of Stacey Leigh Sanders, who I memorialized for the 2,996 project. |
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I was dressed and ready for work and watching the Today show as usual. My wife had just left for her job and my son was in school. I lingered at home for some reason that I cannot remember. A friend and person who I now work with, was to fly out to Mississippi where I live. We were to call on customers in our area. I saw the first report about possibly a small airplane hitting the WTC. Maybe that is why I did not leave at my usual time, who knows. After the second plane hit, I called my friend's cell, he was flying from his home in Las Vegas. He was in the airport with his boarding pass and ready to board his flight. I told him, that he was not going to fly that day and that most flights would be cancelled. I watched TV in Mississippi and reported to him, in the airport what was going on. We were on and off the phone for the next couple of hours. He called his family and I called my wife and office. I remember, I called this our "Pearl Harbor" as I told my wife of the details that were known. The rest of the day was a blur as were the days that followed. It is a day that I will never forget. This morning, five years later, my friend and now my boss called me again to remember that day from his home in Las Vegas. We will never forget! We will never give in! |
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I was on my way to work in Atlanta when the first reports started coming over the radio. At that time, no one really knew what was happening or the scope of the damage. Like that day in New York, it was a beautiful early fall day in Atlanta and my windows and sunroof were open during the commute. Every radio had reports pouring out of New York, but it still hadn't really hit most folks yet. So far, it was just another day with a tragic accident.
While I was passing out some training information to my coworkers later that morning, I happened to look up at a TV and see the second plane slice into the Tower. I uttered an expletive and dropped my papers as everybody was glued to the set and dumbstruck by what they had just witnessed. Some of the people that I worked with started to cry as some of them were from New York and had either family or friends who worked in the Towers or had friends who were FDNY. Out of 5 people in a small corner in an office in Atlanta who had connections in New York, only one person had her sister survive. My manager's best friend was a firefighter and was last heard from on the 30th floor of the first tower about 5 minutes before it collapsed. It may have happened in New York and Washington, but the effects of these cowardly acts could be felt all across our country.
The emotions are still elicited when I think about that day. Anger, sickness and deep sadness all rolled into one. Five years later. What has changed? Emotionally, not much. Thank God we have not been hit again.
Wherever you are, please take a moment out of your day to remeber those who were taken from us five years ago. They were heroes and innocent victims. More importantly, they were our neighbors and countrymen; they were husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brothers, sister and moms and dads. If any family members or survivors are reading this, you have been in my thoughts and prayers everyday for five years. That won't stop. God bless. |
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Lingering lazily over coffee and the local paper after a late breakfast. Watching "Good Morning America." I can do things like that because I'm retired.
ABC's reporter Don Dahler was on the street near the Towers when the first one was hit. Dahler's reporting was frantic and conveyed the confusion and horror we all felt.
I watched the video supplied to (or made by) ABC of the first hit. My husband was in another part of the house, and I yelled for him to join me in watching this horrific story unfold.
We were glued to the TV set, watching the beloved Peter Jennings almost all day.
The news made it seem as though we had walked through some evil looking-glass.
We had.
A few weeks later the news media were provided with copies of videos of OBL's and his henchmen's reactions when the Towers collapsed. OBL’s chuckle and delight were unforgettable, unbelievable, unforgivable.
My country will wipe any smile off his hideous face.
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On September 11, 2001, it was a beautiful and bright day in Cleveland, Ohio. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and this kind of day usually put me in a upbeat mood, but this day, I had this awful feeling that something was looming. I couldn't figure it out or shake the feeling. It was 7:00 am.
I usually go to the metro park to spend time in prayer and Bible study, near the Cleveland suburb of Parma. I remember praying before I even got there because I was feeling almost afraid. I didn't know if I thought something was going to happen to me or a loved one.
I was driving down Ridge Rd. listening to morning radio talk shows and on some of these, there is a lot of humor and sarcasm. The person on the radio around 8:55 am came on and stated that a plane or something had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center. He had said this in a tone that didn't strike me as urgent but almost amazingly in a matter-of-fact manner. I was appalled, thinking, where do thess people draw the lines in their attempts to be funny or amusing? I didn't realize this was truly happening. I turned the radio off.
Around 9:10 am , I turned the radio back on, a mile from my destination. On another radio station, the announcement came that another plane has hit the other World Trade Center Tower. I stopped and noticed that everyone in the surrounding automobiles were on cell phones, I mean everyone.
I thought about how I had taken my mother a month ago to New York and we went to the top of one of the Towers. It was her first time and my second time. I skipped the park and went to a nearby friends and marched to the television where he my buddy was already tuned into CNN. He said America is under attack!
I can never fully describe the emotions and disbelief I felt as everything unfolded, the Pentagon was hit, no time to take in earlier events. I was dizzy and developed a horrible headache. It suddently hit me, my God was this what I felt coming this morning? I went on to pray telling God that I knew there were a lot of terrified people out there, some probably already dead and these people needed Him today more than they ever have. America needed Him more than it ever has. Don't abandon us in our time of need, I thought. My faith with feelings of helplessness set in as my friend and I wondered how much more was to come.
Later, I called my mother to tell her how much I loved her and she was in shock unable to grasp, that her and I were atop one of those towers that were, by that time, no more but collapsed tons of rubble. Tears came to my eyes as I told her, Mom, if we were there today, at least we would have been together right up to the end. |
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My two kids (both in high school at the time) and I lived in an apartment. I had gotten them off to school and taken the dog for a walk. Just as I was walking back into the aparment, my phone rang. It was my mother (in MI) asking if I had the TV on. Well, her asking told me I ought to have it on, so I reached for the remote, told her I was just turning it on, and asked what network she was watching. I turned to the same one.
Just then, I saw the 2nd plane fly right into the tower. I sat down hard. I couldn't believe it. Mom filled me in on the rest that she'd heard before calling me. I had a notion to go to my kids' school and bring them home. But, since they had driven themselves, I decided not to. I didn't go into work at all. I just sat in front of the TV trying to learn what I could.
Later that afternoon when my kids came home from school, and I told them that I had been tempted to go get them, they told me they were actually glad I hadn't. They were able to talk about it all in each of their classes, and deal with it.
I was divorced in 1999 after 23 years of marriage. September 11, 2001 would have been our 25th wedding anniversary. |
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I was living in Phoenix at the time via New York. I grew up living in Brooklyn, Quenns and Manhattan. I remember as a kid, watching the buildings going up. You could see the progress since they were so tall. I even was at the scene when Dino DeLaurentis asked people to be in the end scene of his King Kong.
I loved those buildings. I would have lunch with friends there in the plaza since I worked nearby at Drexel Lambert.
An old girlfriend called me that morning and told me to turn on the television. SHe said that the towers "were gone". They're gone, Alan...they're gone....
At first, I did'nt understand. I could'nt wrap my head around the idea. I turned on the T.V. and it was showing the second plane hitting the North Tower. Then it showed the towers coming down. I called my brother, John right away. He's an EMS and I knew he would be there.
It took me days to reach my brother and in the end, yes, he was on the site for a couple of days, but was alright.
I still cannot fathom it. I cannot belive that they are gone. They were so big. So majestic. How could they fall like that?
I have signed a petition for the rebiulding of the towers. I do not want the so called "Freedom Tower" built. If it is built they have won some in some measure. But if two like towers rise again, they will become a beacon once again of how we are the best nation ever. That very act of rebuilding those magnificent towers will be an incredible defeat to the terrorists.
I hope and pray that the rise like a Phoenix from the ashes of terror.
Alan Davidson |
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On Sept. 11, 2001, I had an office on the 24th floor of a 30-story building in downtown Phoenix, complete with floor-length picture windows. It's the third-highest building in the city, although nothing near the scale of the WTC. Yet, after Sept. 11, I never again felt safe in that office or that building, particularly when bomb threats were called, helicopters got a little too close, or we had to participate in drills in which we ran down all flights of stairs to the ground. I watched my coworkers, and felt myself, shuddering whenever we glimpsed a plane on the horizon. It seems ridiculous to have this kind of fear in such a small building, but I think it gave us a taste of what the victims were feeling that day, and it was frightening.
My hope is that for this Sept. 11 and others to come, is that we can set aside politics and grousing. Perhaps this person or that person acted (or didn't act) in what you believe to be the wrong way in response to the attacks. Great. But this isn't the time. Remember instead that nearly 3,000 innocent people died at the hands of terrorists. This is their time, their day. Leave your politics, whatever they may be, for another time. This is the only way to honor their memories. Anything less is tantamount to spitting on the graves of more than 2,000 souls.
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It was 7:30 AM and I was heading off to work. I turned on NPR, lit my cigarette, rolled down my window and pulled out of my driveway. NPR had a reporter talking about a building in flames, people running and screaming, etc. I thought, "How odd NPR would be talking about the Oklahoma bombing in September?” My cell phone was ringing. I cursed the size of my phone because I could never find it in my huge purse and of course I didn’t find it on time and it went to voice mail. When I found it, I noticed the missed call was my mother. I knew something was wrong and I felt a pit in my stomach. I recalled the only time my mom has called me early in the mornings was when something bad happened, like when my sister was in bad car accident.
I listened more carefully to the radio as I dialed my mom in the hopes of avoiding a busy signal. My mom finally told me that planes were crashing into buildings. I knew we had been attacked by muslim terrorists and heart started racing and I was overwhelmed. I couldn’t even cry because I was so stunned. Mom tried convincing my husband and I that we should stay home because they’d come for Microsoft or the Space Needle next. I kept calling my husband until he picked up the phone. I asked him to turn on the TV and tell me what was happening. It was awful.
The one thing I remember was crying and praying out loud on the drive to work. I was looking at other people driving their cars and no one seemed to even notice. I tried seeing if anyone else was as affected by this as I was. I couldn’t connect to one driver and I badly wanted to. Was this affecting anyone else? Would these terror attacks only wake some of us up? That really frightened me.
All day my office mates and I tried refreshing news websites to find out more details until finally we set up a TV in the conference room. I could not stop watching. I was not sad, but really angry and determined. I made myself read almost every article, watch every show, every picture of 9/11, no matter how gruesome, heroic, disgusting, sad-I wanted to remember.
About 1 week later I was in Safeway buying cigarettes. I looked at the cover of TIME magazine and saw the planes hitting the World Trade Center. I felt like someone kicked me in the stomach and my eyes welled up with tears. I still feel that same way when I remember September 11th.
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...after a very long time of beginning my day with morning coffee and Good Morning America, I decided that day I would not get exercised mentally jarring with the morning news ever again, so I did not turn it on.
I got in my car to go to work and turned on the radio to hear the D.J. say that "Today, September 11, 2006 will live in infamy." I thought to myself that nothing signifigant has happened in our history on this date, so I thought him ignorant and turned him off too.
I arrived at work, operating a cafe inside the Texas Christian University Bookstore. What was usually a fast paced, caffeined induced atmosphere was replaced with absolute silence. I bet half the student body and faculty were there watching Mr. Jennings on an 19" t.v. All the tears, all the people, and no sound except for the t.v., not even phones.
GOD bless the Mighty American Armed Forces and Godspeed. |
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I was on my way out the door for my second day of Grad school when I put on my walkman and heard Howard Stern talking about how a plane hit one of the towers. I stepped into my local deli, where they had the TV on and I watched as the second plane hit. Realizing that I wouldn't be able to get into Manhattan for school I went home and tried to call the families of people I knew who worked at the WTC (they were all unharmed). I remember sitting on my stoop and watching F-16s flying over almost constantly and watching as the roads into NYC near me were blocked off by the NYPD. |
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Sitting at my desk at work in Omaha. I was reading a forum board. I think it was the Straight Dope. I saw someone posted that a plane had crashed into the WTC. I went into the break room and all these people were just standing and looking at the TV. I think I was pretty much in shock. The room was silent except for the TV. Can't remember how long I stood and watched. I seem to remember the second plane hitting. Never did any work that day. Just searched for live feeds on my computer. Kept thinking I should just go home, but couldn't even do that...
Today.. All I feel is anger. |
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My daughter & I were driving to go work out when we heard the news on talk radio. I immediately called my husband (he was home sleeping - 9/11 is his birthday). I told him it seems we were under attack - he turned on the TV. We kept calling back & forth. At the gym no one could workout - all were glued to the TV. We were on the way home, when my husband called and said he was being called in - emergency response - he is Phoenix PD. I came home watched TV - saw everything. I cried a lot, prayed a lot - such a horrific day. A little over a year later our son & daughter became firefighters in AZ - & now are paramedics. They followed their Dad's footsteps to serve their community. May God continue to comfort the survivors. We will never forget!! We will defeat these cowards!! |
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I was just at work. A typical day. I don't remember how I found out, I think my husband called me because he was still home and saw it on the news. I logged on and watched the towers collapse. I worked in the Pentagon up until 1999. I knew so many of the people in the wing that was hit. I watched it all again today. I cried as if it were September 11, 2001 all over again. It felt the same. I wondered why we have not been allowed to be reminded of the profound effects since. I really believe the memories have been suppressed by the those that are afraid we as Americans might just rise up in a huge, mighty protest and just take them all out-with good reason. Why don't we just send our President to take care of our interests and make sure our way of life is preserved? Sure we could do better as a people, but we at least don't look to take out entire civilizations in expectation of 72 virgins (or whatever the number) in our search for salvation. I watched the ABC miniseries last night. I am much more afraid today, not because of the failures of the politicians and their lackeys, but because of the nature of the enemy and our collective failure to recognize it and resolve to defend ourselves. On 9/11 I did not appreciate just how evil the enemy is. I did not fully appreciate those brave men and women who have gone to protect us from this truly inspired and evil enemy. I do now. Thanks to those who serve, humble apologies for my failure to remember to remember and thank them, and God bless them. We doubt from ignorance. Somehow we must muster faith and trust. Surely our President has our best interests at heart - for him to have any other motive would be as evil as those that attacked us. I feel that must be true because if Mr. Bush had other than honorable intentions, his wife would not stand at his side. Laura Bush supports her husband from a point of honor and love, quite unlike the previous first wife. |
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I think I turned on my clock radio before getting out of bed and heard the announcer talking about the first tower being hit by an airliner. I got up and listened some more on another radio. Then my brother called me to see if I had heard about it. I may have already started watching TV coverage by then. My sister called me and asked if I saw "what's happening to my country." I was unemployed, so I spent the day watching all the channels exhaustively. I was sufficiently angry and depressed.
What a way to wake up! |
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when the principal went on the intercom and told all the teachers to read their email. This had happened a couple of times before (bad storm in the area, suspicious individual lurking right outside of school grounds, etc.). I wandered over to the computer to find that two planes had hit the twin towers. That day and the next couple were just surreal and everyone seemed to be glued to a TV. |
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I was driving from Zagreb, Croatia to Bihac, Bosnia to pick up some information from an acquaintance about radical activity in the area. The Hrvatska radio ran the news and mentioned an aircraft had hit a building in NYC. My friend and I began shifting channels to get more info. and heard a second plan, a small one had struck the World Trade Center and that about 45 minutes earlier an airline had hit the other tower. At this point it was clear it was the terrorist attack we'd been thinking might be coming soon. Because of a phone call from the acquaintance, I bypassed Bihac and drove on to Zadar. Turning on the TV in my hotel room I watched the replay of the tower(s) falling. I was so angry. Once again the US had been 'surprised'. I knew we had been in a war with radical islam for more than two decades but somehow no one at the top gave much credence to it. A few days later in Bihac, some men came up to me as I was taking photos and they demanded to know if I was taking pictures for targets. Ignoring them I kept on until one guy tried to grab my camera. It was a nice release to unload that anger on him. His friends backed off and I told them, I'd be back soon. A week later, amid threats against the embassy in Sarajevo, the Wahhabi foundation in Bosnia was shut down. Via other channels the funds and Wahhabi hate preachers continue to pour in. The terrorist training camp in the mountains outside of Mostar is gone now. The US has now decided Bosnia is stable and so we've virtually pulled out and are no longer interested in what is going on there. When we do get hit or when our facilities in Europe get hit, it will likely come through the Balkans. In Schoder, Albania a document factory turns out Brazilian, Ecuadorian, Peruvian, Venezuelan and Mexican papers and passports. Students from Tirana spend a year in NYC to improve and perfect there American accents. They spend time with some radical friends from the mosque across from 51 Kavalles Rruga ( street )who are adept at working the black markets. They talk passionately about Greater Albania and 'freeing' Kosovo. Syrian 260mm rockets are hidden in caches in the mountains northwest of Tetovo, Macedonia. Hopefully, the increase in EU stabilization forces will hold things together until a solution can be negotiated in Vienna. Even so, we'll be hearing form the Balkans again. |
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I am in the Air Force and had just gotten off duty during a deployment/sustainment exercise preparing for a headquarters inspection. I was watching Sportscenter when my mother called to let tell me that we'd been attacked. I thought she was joking but, she told me to turn on the news. About 20 seconds after I turned on the news the first tower fell. I immediately hung up with mom and went back into work. We had to convert from training assets to live munitions, to ensure we were ready if called on. We were and have been since that day. |
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On the evening of Sep 10th I flew into Montreal from Chicago for a biz meeting on the 11th. That morning prior to the meeting I happened to go through a break room which had a tv on and I saw one of the towers in flames. I asked one of the workers that was watching at the time, "what movie is that"? He then told me it wasn't a movie and that a plane just flew into it. I went and told my meeting particpants what was going on and by the time we went back to watch the second plane had already hit the 2nd tower. Needless to say - there was no meeting as we all sat around watching and praying for those poor souls. Took three days before I could get back into the U.S. I'll never forget. |
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