• We welcome content that is not political, divisive, or offensive. If we feel your content leans this way or has the potential to, it may be removed at any time. A hot pepper forum is not the place for such content. Thank you for respecting the community!

I WILL NEVER FORGET!!!

RedtailForester

RedtailForester

1150874_10151680966577659_535490686_n.jpg


I will never forget the day of September 11, 2001. I was working at a sawmill in Sullivan County Pennsylvania when everything happened. Normally, I would have been out in the field by that time of the day but for some reason I had more paperwork to do that day. I remember the old owner coming by my desk and asking me if I had heard about what was happening in New York? He said there had be a bad accident and that a plane had somehow crashed into a building. We all walked upstairs to see if see if we could see anything on the news about the accident. When we turned on CNN, it was at the exact moment that the second plane hit the Twin Towers. I immediately knew this WAS NOT an accident. We went into a fever pitch and hoped on the phone to call my brother and father who were both working in downtown Philadelphia at the time to tell them to get out of the city.

We were all in shock just gathered around the television. No one could have ever dreamed of such a thing happening. Around the time the first tower collapsed, I was so visibly disturbed that my employer sent me out to a property I was working on just to get my mind off the tragedy. It didn't work and all I could do was sit there in my truck listening to the radio. All I could do is cry and pray...

God Bless all those affected by this horrible act of terror, God Bless our military men and women who have fought those responsible and God Bless America!!!
 
Very sad day. I remember 3 of us skipped school that day and went to a buddies house. We were outside burning a doob and my buddy ran inside for a second and quickly came back out to tell us what was going on. Eyes were glued to the tv, watched that second plane hit the other tower live. Something I will never forget. Good bless all who were lost and the families that have to deal with their tragic loss.
 
A day that will live in our minds and hearts forever.
 
I was a junior in high school in brooklyn (only 6 miles away) on that fateful day and i can remember the exact spot i was standing in the library when people starting talking about all the planes and where they were hitting (nothing was 100%). By the time we all got confirmation what got hit, the panic kicked in as I had a lot of family and tons of friends in Manhattan and i started calling them but all the cell towers at that time were flooded. Most of the school at that point was let out and i ran home trying to reach my family and got home to watch the news. On the way home i was struct by tons of smoke and fog only to realize it pillowed from WTC, living only about 5 miles away. I luckily got hold of family and some friends, one of which who luckily got fired 1 week before from working in north tower. I proceeded to the roof of my apartment building to see it with my two eyes. 
 
I was able to watch as 7 WTC collapsed in the evening, the images burned into my mind. To this day i still hold paper remnants of what burned from the towers and spread across in the pillow of dust, as a reminder of the most heartless attack on our soil.
 
Days went by with no school and the city was shut down, only wanting to help but not being old enough to do so. Being glued to the TV for days on whats going on, was heart-wrenching.  
 
I worked for almost 3 years down on wall st and would go by the site every few days just because. To this day, I can't see a show about 9/11 without choking up and it bringing up all the emotions again.  
 
To all the families and people who lost their lives, I will never forget - NEVER!
 
I was working in Manhattan at the time and it unbelievable. We had a live feed from Bloomberg in the Datacenter so we saw everything. I was talking to my sister on the phone and we both watched as the second plane hit. When I went to leave it was surreal, I stepped out of the building and smelled smoke, but the worst thing was the silence. Manhattan is never silent, day or night, but then it was. It was like one of these post apocalyptic movies, I felt like I was the last man in the world.
 
I was station at Ft Stewart, GA and the day started just like any other. After PT changed in to duty uniform, grabbed some chow and headed back to the office. As the Training NCO for my unit I didn’t have to make the work call formation and while I was going over the Training Plan for the week I was listening to the radio. That was when they broke in with the report that the first plane had hit. I double timed it out the back door and grabbed the Captain and First Sergeant informing them what had happened.
 
By the time we got back to the front again the phone rang from Battalion, we were on full lock down and initiating pre-deployment procedures. So, in the next 10 minutes all phones but mine the First Sergeant’s and the Commanders were disconnected, the 2 soldiers that worked for me drew their weapons and initial ammo and were placed at the front and rear entrance to the office and I had a full on Operations Center established.  We had a TV that we used for training videos and the Commo NCO and I set up a quick field expedient antenna and had video just in time for all of us to see the second plane hit. That kind of drew all the attention in the room for a minute and then everyone was back in the game. The rest of the day is still kind of a blur. Everything that happened from then on with the unit was coordinated through the Operations Center so I was kept on the move. In a rapid deployment unit you have time lines for when everything happens all the way to wheels up on the planes and we were meeting our times and exceeding the standards that everything had to meet. After 48 hours we received the order to stand down and everyone was released to go home to families that had been kept in the dark except for the quick phone call that we were allowed to make saying that we wouldn’t be home for a while.
 
The one thing that stands out to me when I think back on that time was the same thing I saw when my unit was notified we were deploying to Operation Desert Storm. Soldiers take their jobs seriously, we may have fun and joke around a bit while doing it but we know that it’s serious business. That day even the most lax soldier was on the ball. Checking and rechecking everything, weapons cleaned with more attention to detail than normal, vehicles checked for even the most minor details, etc… I have heard it referred to as our darkest hour but in some ways, for some of us it was also our finest hour. We had no idea what was to come but we were ready for it whatever it was.
 
God bless all those who stand in harms way today as he did for us when it was our time and those who have made the Ultimate sacrifice.
 
I was on the phone at work, helping an employee who previously had a stroke work out a problem with the SSA. I was so focused on resolving the problem, it didn't dawn on me at first that the large room I was working in (a large area with short cubes) had gone quiet, as everyone had left to watch what was happening on a TV in a conference room. They returned, for the most part, just before I hung up the phone, and the noise level returned to normal. My department secretary came to drop something at my desk just as I put the phone down, and she had the still-shocked look on her face. I asked her what was going on, and she looked at me wide-eyed and said "you don't know!" I asked "know what? I've just finished a conference call." She said "come here", took my hand, and lead me to the now empty conference room where the TV was still going, then she left. I stool there, alone, watching and listening with horror at what was happening. 
 
And then, after both buildings collapsed, it occurred to me that I knew someone in one of those towers; a vendor contact I did work with several times a week. I did not have a cell phone number at the time, only an office number to a phone that was now buried in rubble. I waited a few daysI found another office for the company in a different state, and they gave me another number to call. When I called it, they told me they had a list of employees whom they had identified as safe, but this person's name was not on the list. They asked that I wait a few more days and call back, which I did. This time he was on the list, and they gave me his number.
 
When I called to ask how he was doing and to let him know I was so glad he was ok, he told me all he could really remember. He was in the building when the plane struck, and everyone started running. His best friend also worked there, and they were running together. Then his friend was gone. They were running side-by-side at first, then he lost sight of his friend. He did stop and look around momentarily, but not finding him, continued to run to get out of the building. All he could say to me after that point was "I don't know what happened to him... we were together. We were together."
 
To all who were impacted that fateful day, my heart is with you. God bless us all! 
 
I had been working in New Jersey on a construction project for months & had flown home from Laguardia on 9/10 on a flight leaving at 09:00 AM. The last day we were there, on 09/09, the head guy from the construction company (my counterpart), myself and my lead went to Liberty Park in New Jersey to drink a celebratory beer for a project nearing completion.

We sat on a park bench looking across the river at the Statue of Liberty & of course the twin towers dominated the skyline.

On 9/11 my phone rang early. Ungodly early considering the jetlag - it was my g/f, who was also on the flight. She just said, "you'd better turn on the television". I got out of bed, stumbled to the TV & 5 seconds later the 2nd tower was hit.

A friend of mine of about 20 years worked in the WTC, and died there.

I will never forget.

And i will never be ok with an attack on our freedom by external forces to be used as a means to destroy it by internal forces.
 
I was at home that morning, and got a call from my father telling me to turn on the TV because something bad had happened. That was moments after the first plane hit. I saw the second plane hit live and remember thinking to myself that war was about to start.
 
Most of the news channels were initially saying it was the Palestinians.
 
I had to go to my university to sell a used textbook that morning, so I rode my bike and it seemed nobody knew anything had happened. The kid I sold the textbook to was dark skinned (maybe Arab, maybe Indian, maybe Latino) and I asked him if he heard what happened in New York. He said no, and I told him two planes had hit the WTC and another one was supposed to be heading right for the White House. He looked at me like I was crazy.
 
I still wonder to this day, if that kid remembers me because I was the first person who told him anything about 9/11.
 
Thanks for this thread...
 
I was stationed on a ship which was in a civilian drydock in Aransas Pass, TX. We had small trailers that we worked out of and we were all called in to gather around the one TV that we had available. 90 Sailors crowded into that tiny space to watch it all unfold. New force protection measures came down requiring us to arm up and man small boats to ensure the ships safety while she was helpless in the drydock. I was the only qualified small boat coaxswain onboard at the time...I spent the next 72 hours in a 14.5ft Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat and during that time qualified 3 more Sailors in the job.
 
Above all else, I remember the anger I felt that day...and still feel today. A few years ago I went to my daughters high school because she was having problems with her history teacher. He told me that every soldier and Sailor serving this country had been "tricked" into doing so by our government. I tried to explain that I joined years before 9/11, but he just didn't care. He insited in the principals office that "9/11 was an inside job!"
 
We as Americans have such short memories...but I will never forget.
 
I was at work this day and went into a nearby shop when someone said a small plane has hit the WTC. I think we were glued to that tv for hours and hours! Shocking, yet hard to grasp as reality. Thankfully the world moves forward, maybe not to a better world with all that has been and will be, but even the physical scars are being healed. No one should never ever forget the history, the past! Because the past is what defines the present.
 
http://www.dbtv.no/?vid=2665214190001 
 
One thing that I can never shake from those terrible events:  I flew a cross-country flight on a similar plane that left the same airport, at about the same time 24 hours earlier. In project management schedules change all the time. I was originally supposed to fly out on 09/14, but we wrapped up some critical issues much faster than expected, so we changed our flights. We wanted to fly out on 09/09, but our agent couldn't get us on a plane at a time that made sense that day, so we took the 09/10 flight. We could have very easily been on board one of those planes. 
 
And since that day I don't take much for granted any more. I consider every day a gift, and realize that tomorrow is no guarantee. It sucks that it took something so horrific to open my eyes to that, but I'm glad it did. 
 
I know that u guys will think my post here is a bit weird but all of the reactions above get me emotional again!
 
Personally I wasent at the location at that particular moment, but it affected my life as it did affect a lot of people's lives.
At that time I was working for Storm telecom and Storm had alot of business going on in the WTC.
Storm had installed optical fiber in the WTC and also had offices there and conference rooms (leased from AON plc (inrurance, reinsurance and risk management)) (AON casualties = 175...) (south tower floor 99 we were).
So for me being a fiber optical networks engineer I had to be present (as an instructor) for educational purposes from august till end of october,
luckily for me my birthday is in october and I refused the job.
Unfortunateley another collegue (and a close personal friend...) had to take the job and payed for it with his life... Could have been me...
I still have pictures from inside WTC in the conference room, some of the persons on that picture (which died....) are faded on the  photo's I personally
made... Really strange...
After the incident our company went broke and they had to let me go (cause being the destruction of the WTC and loosing venues).
From that time on I never had a descent job ever again....
Nowadays I'm just a simple truck driver (hauling fuel & additives).
 
Every 9/11 ever scince brings me tear in my eyes just thinking of the events (read : disaster) happened.
 
All my condolances and very most scincere toughts go out towards the affected people...
 
U are not allone, other people (even not USA people) are thinking of U, sharing thoughts and keep mourning even after 12 years!
 
All of my respect goes out to ALL people who are affected by this disaster
 
RESPECT and  LOVE to all who are affected and everybody else.
 
God bless all people!
 
Most scincere greetings from BELGIUM,
 
Olivier Spiliers
Kasteelstraat 41
9308 Hofstade-Aalst (O-VL)
Belgium
 
 
EDIT--- WE WILL NEVER FORGET!!!!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top