9/11 Ten Years ago

[rrowan]

Hi Folks

Been thinking a lot of the lost souls and and the brave Fireman and Police that tried to help. I remember I was at work (at the time I was the Supervisor of the locksmith shop) and one of my guys told me we were under attack. I quickly called my wife and to found out what she knew and what if I should come home to help her get our kids out of school. My brother in-law works in NYC and his building was right next to the world trade buildings. My sister was not able to get hold of him all day and did not know if he was alive until he got home that night, he had to walk back to NJ. A lot of people on their street did not come home.

343

Rick R.

[trekster]

I remember that morning.  I was almost to work when they said on the radio a plane had crashed into one of the towers.  I thought it was probably a cesna plane and the pilot had a heart attack or something.  Not long after that I arrived at work and we turned on the TV.  All we could at work was huddle around the TV and watch the whole thing happen.  I am over a thousand miles away and was safe but my heart was crushed at the magnitude of the destruction that was taking place.  It was truly a sad day in America.

Ron

[smartcontrols]

I also remember that people did not hesitate to help one another and in that moment, it was not terror that people experienced, it was camaraderie and compassion that emerged. The terrorists were unable to dent the character of the American people.

My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of all those who died in the attacks in New York, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania.

May God Bless America.

[RJ]

It is always when the worst happens that we set aside thoughts of our petty differences and in that moment the best in humanity shines though. I believe in America because of the fuel of our freedoms, it shines brightest.

Freedoms make it possible for an owner of an ICE plant in the middle of the night to load his trucks up with as much ice as they could carry. Then drive all night to reach 3 states away. This because he turned on the news to see a hurricane left some of his fellow Americans without power, limited water, and no fuel. Looking at this and knowing he could help even some of them was enough. He did not think of the cost to him. Luckily he did not need approval of his government to do so. This is what is different about America that most of us forget all to easy.   

It does not even need to be our own people to see this. What other nation response faster or stronger when people in other lands fall victims of tragedy? Even while we are deep in debt and even after they speak so ill of us just prior to the event, we spare little to help.

But when others attack us we pull together tightest. It is only a shame we can not put these petty differences aside each and every day, think of the accomplishments we could do if each and every day Americans where as firm in our resolve as "One Nation Under God" as we were 10 years ago today.

A few days after 9/11 I watch as our president toured ground zero and the workers desperately looking for trapped survivors. I did not see republicans and democrats, black or white, young or old, I saw everyone covered in gray. I saw just one people working for one goal united and indivisible. This is what America is about and for a short time it could be seen in every face.   

God bless all who have suffered so much because of 9/11 and God bless our great country!

RJ

[tng5737]

Well said, RJ
My memories are of huddling around a tv at work while the second plane hit.  We had terrible reception so I went to our local Radio Shack and purchased a small tv antenna and set  it up in our conference room so all could watch.   I remember most how kind everyone seemed to be to each other  - even on the highways.  Instead of cutting each other off - people were pausing to let others change lanes.  And the quiet mood AND skies.  I lived near a busy airport and the absence of planes in the skies and the overall quiet was amazing.   Lastly, I remember the churches being packed even at mid-day.   In God WE Trust was more than just some words on our currency...

[rrowan]

Thats right, the sky was quiet. We are in the flight path of Philadelphia International Airport

Rick R.

[WWNF911]

I had planned on an early day. I was in the middle of an installation of a new fluoro room at Carson Tahoe Hospital in Carson City Nevada. I wanted to get to work by 6:00AM and was driving when the 1st plane hit the north tower. I remember hearing about it on the radio and thinking it was just a single engine plane and how odd it must have been for a pilot to hit something so big and not be able to avoid it. Once I got to the hospital and walked into the ER, everyone there was glued to the suspended TV in the corner. Then I could see the tower enveloped in fire and smoke on the television. As I got to work I remember someone coming in and telling me within just a few minutes that the south tower had now also been hit. "This is no accident" I thought. Not being able to return to work now, I pretty much was fixated to the reports coming in and remember rhetorically asking the room as the report came in the the Pentagon was hit, "Exactly how long do we let this go on before we start shooting planes down?" I remember that moment vividly as it was just so not me but rather something said during a desperate time. As the morning unfolded, I remember feeling guilty that only the east coast had been affected and my thoughts turned to my family and I had nagging feeling that I needed to call to make sure that everyone in my family was OK... and thats what I did.

Leon

(Also posted @ DIYC)

I agree with RJ in the sense that for the 1st time in a long time we were "Americans" and not so polarized. It was a bitter sweet time.

[loveroflife96]

I had arrived at work early that day, some other associates came in and told me about the first tower being hit and I went to our electronics department and turned on the television.  I was immediately filled with a sense of anxiety when the second tour was hit.  Then when word of the Pentagon being hit as well.  I grew up in the military, and had a couple of friends that worked at the Pentagon.  My company had made the decision to stay open that day despite the national tragedy that was unfolding.  I opened my store as normal and moved televisions to each of the exits so customers and employees could follow what was occuring during the day.  Having been only an hour and a half away from the OKC bombing, it wasn't too much to understand that many people in my store had close emotional attachments to these situations. 

I can remember being concerned for all my friends in the military and wondering what our response to this violent act on our nation would be.  I finally reached my friends in the Pentagon to learn that both were safe and okay and that they didn't have much time to talk due to the events still unfolding.  I can remember a sense of pride starting to fall over me as I realized that I lived in a country that when hit with a tragedy our response is always to pull together.  For the first time in my generation, we as young Americans had a sense of national pride, a sense of what it meant like to pull together behind something.  As RJ said, there wasn't a black, a white, a hispanic, an elderly, a rich man, a poor man, it was everyone pulling together to pray for our nation and provide what assistance we could. 

Having lived around the world, I'm proud to live in a nation which is free, which when the rubber hits the road, we get it done.  I continually pray for our military during these times, and the family and friends that they have left behind here.  I always think back to those that have lost their lives serving our great country every time I see a soldier in uniform.  Please, if you see a soldier, thank them for their service and dedication to our country. 

Duane