Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Aubrey C. Sanders, Jr. on September 11, 2008 at 7:43

First, Thank you Haynesville for this posting. You are a great American.

I was at home in Phoenix when my youngest daughter called and frantically said turn TV on. I did so in time to see 2nd plane hit building. Initially I thought first crash was an accident. But, when 2nd one hit I realized what was happening. After that my TV was on continuosly for days.

The images of those poor people trying to escape are forever inscribed in my mind.
It was millions of times worse than a nightmare. The heroism by all those brave persons who came to the rescue was incredible. Truly American heroes who are all too often taken for granted. I sometimes feel that many citizens have forgotten this
happening. I never will. I think Neil summed up a lot of my feelings (above).

God Bless America. Please never forget those who gave their all.

Permalink Reply by CR on September 11, 2008 at 7:48

I don't remember exactly where I was when the first plane hit, just that I was working. By the time the second plane hit the other tower we were all gathered around the TV set. When the second one hit we knew it was no accident. That evening when I got home my wife was staring at the TV with tears in her eyes. We both prayed for the people and we talked about the violation of our country, our security, and our freedom. In the nights that followed, I remember going out and looking up at the trillions of stars. The night sky was quiet. No planes were flying over like usual. It seemed as if the heavens themselves were mourning with us. Those were certainly not the best of times.

Permalink Reply by Larry Hearn on September 11, 2008 at 7:59

I was attending a breakfast kick-off for "Day of Careing" which is the day each year when local businesses help local non-aprofit organizations on projects that normally can't be authorized in their budgets. Primarily cosmetically improving their external appearance and other small projects needed for them to provide their services. I knew something was wrong when the numerous cell phones and pagers sounded during the key note speaker's presentation. When I left the dining hall I heard the news on the car radio. Of course, I found it unbelievable until The second building crash report. That's where I was and will never forget.

Permalink Reply by Shelley " Harris" Underhill on September 11, 2008 at 9:17

I was teaching High School in South Mississippi ~ right next to a small airport... The students had no idea why all of the staff were moving around like ants..... All of us, searching for information on what had happen...

We were so limited to outside Media at the school.... We had bits and pieces of information coming in... Cell phones ? (not) many people had them and if you did have one, reception was not good at all.

For many hours it felt like the school was very quiet, in a state of shock and slow motion, perhaps.

A few months earlier, my son had entered the United States Air Force. I was paralyzed with fear instantly.............

It did not take a genius to figure out that, IT WAS ON... An, thus it was.........


God Bless America........... Land of the Free "HOME" of the Brave


My prayer is for peace .... My sorrow is for "All" that have suffered.

Permalink Reply by C P George on September 11, 2008 at 10:22

It's really been a day for memories and always is on 911. I was at the computer in my home office when the first plane hit the WTC. My husband called from work and told me to turn on the tv. By the time I had sat back down and heard what was happening and where, I had noticed that a friend of mine name Mary was on my AOL Buddy List. She lives and works in NYC for a large group of attorneys. I sent her an instant message saying "Mary - are you ok?". Her reply was almost immediate. "Please tell us what is going on?" - told her a plane had hit the WTC and they didn't know if it was accident or not. About that time the other plane hit.
I sent her an IM saying that another plane had hit and asked how close she was. She said that she was about 1/2 mile from the WTC and that they "heard an explosion - we are in the dark petrified. The only communication has been you - thanks - no phones - no electricity except for computer backup power"
Then she stated that they had been asked to evacuated the area.

About an hour and half later, she came back on line saying that they were not able to get out of their building yet so had come back upstairs. They still had no news except the internet and office was still dark. They did evacuate the building a little later and she had to walk miles to get home.

I printed out the IM and still look back at it occasionally, especially on days like today when we pause to remember those that did not make it out and those that suffered from the lose of family and friends.

Every year, we always say a special "hello" and remember the time that I was sitting here in La. telling her and her fellow office workers what was happening in NY!

Permalink Reply by Keith Mauck (Site Publisher) on September 11, 2008 at 13:50

Wow.

Permalink Reply by jffree1 on September 11, 2008 at 10:57

I was at work, it was break time and several of us were listening to the radio and drinking coffee like we did every morning. We heard the announcement about the first plane and everyone was sorta of looking around and asking,"Did you guys hear what I heard?". No one really believed it until later when they announced that a second plane had crashed. It was hard to work the rest of the day. I know I'll never forget.

Permalink Reply by Jackie Smith on September 11, 2008 at 11:19

I was on my way to sign back in from leave at my Reserve Center in KC. I had just returned from a tour in Bosnia. I was met by the CO and imediately was put on orders to help begin the mobilization of our Reserve units to begin securing our airports and other facilities. We all watched in horror as those moments ticked bye not know what was next. A year later I was in Germany helping plan the attack on Iraq, and subsequent years in Iraq. This is the first year back in the states at this time of year. It is still hard to look at those pictures and listen to the stories, but it is with great honor that I remember all those who gave their lives to save others that day and to those men and women still in harms way defending our way of life. We must never forget, we must never give up on the chase to bring those responsible to justice. God bless those who defend us and God bless the USA.

Attachments:

• STG_HZ_AmmoDump_451p.zip, 2.3 MB

Permalink Reply by John Lieberman on September 11, 2008 at 13:27

I was in Topeka, KS at the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) Solo (AutoX) Nationals. It was the first day of our four-day competition and we had already started running the first cars on both courses at 7:00 Central Time that morning. It was well after 8:00 before we ever got the first word that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. When we got that word, we were all thinking something little -- like a Cessna or a Piper Cub. It wasn't until much later in the morning that we finally got the definitive word that it wasn't a little plane -- it was a jetliner. And it wasn't just one.

Since we were running our event at Forbes Field -- which is an active National Guard base -- we were told that we were going to have to evacuate the base immediately. Somehow or another -- in about 45 minutes -- we were able to completely clear the site of more than 1000 drivers plus all of their race cars, trailers, tow vehicles, equipment, and support crew. I was a major player in the effort to get everybody off the base as quickly as possible and parked in an orderly fashion at the new SCCA National Headquarters site just down the road from the event site. I have never, in all of my 60-year life, seen such a large bunch of Type-A personalities be so cooperative and so willing to do what I told them to do.

Once we were finally able to get everything lashed down at the site -- and go back to our hotels -- I was astounded to see the long lines that had formed at every gas station in Topeka. People had been lined up at the pumps since mid-morning -- fearful that the terrorist attacks on our country would lead to an immediate gas shortage.

By that time of the day -- and after all that I'd been through prior to that point -- I was ready to grab a six-pack of that pop with the foam on top and head back to my hotel room. But I couldn't get into any of the convenience stores that were co-located with the gas stations along my route back to the hotel because the lines at the pumps were so long. I finally found one station that wasn't totally swamped and was able to carry out what I had originally set out to do. However, instead of grabbing a six-pack, I grabbed a whole case -- just to make sure that I wouldn't have to put up with that same kind of mess in the days ahead.

9-11 is forever burned into my memory because of the massive impact that it had on our country. But it's also burned into my memory because of the collective positive attitude that I saw displayed by so many people on that day.

John

Permalink Reply by Ashley on September 11, 2008 at 14:03

I was sitting in English Lit at ULM when the first plane hit. I remember seeing a guy in our class using his hand to make like a plane was flying through the air. I had know idea what he was doing. Later that day my cousin and I went to eat at El Chico in the mall. The televisions were on CBS and the news was reporting what had happened. I got chills and was devestated. I could not believe that this had happened in America. We were attacked on our own soil. Also got scared because the mall is close to Monroe Airport. While driving home from school every radio station was talking of the attack. The gas stations were full with cars backed up the road. Very scary. God bless the survivors, the families of the victims, the firefighters and emergency crews, everyone! God Bless America!

Permalink Reply by Mickster on September 11, 2008 at 15:56

My husband had taken me on my first trip to NYC about 3 weeks before 9/11 and we crammed as much sightseeing as we could within a few days. On the last day, we had a few hours before flying out and he asked if there was anything more I'd like to see within that short time. It had begun to drizzle and it was tempting to just sit around the hotel lounge until time to go but, I decided that I'd like to grab a cab and see the World Trade Center.

Being an architecture geek, I ambled around the lobby taking in all the design points. We rode the elevator up to the top floor of tower 2 and bought some souvenirs from the gift shop...among them an NYPD coffee mug and a Christmas ornament of Santa "flying" over the towers (haunting choices in retrospect). I stood up inside one of those tall skinny window frames (the ones we saw weeks later, twisted among smoking ruins) to take pics of the buildings below (some of them did not survive). While we stood there, a few dozen terrorists were somewhere plotting the last details of the upcoming attacks.

My husband called that morning of 9/11 and told me to turn on the TV...a plane had hit the towers. I did so and saw the second plane hit (first thought I was seeing a replay). Fell to my knees, tearfully praying for God to hear the cries of all those souls. I could still remember the faces of some of them from earlier that month...the smiling lady who worked in the top floor gift shop, the young man who directed us onto the elevator, the throngs of suited men and women bustling to their offices.

We hang that little WTC Christmas ornament every year with much reverance.

Permalink Reply by griiker on September 11, 2008 at 16:33

I had just finished First Officer training and waiting for an assignment with my airline,the same airline that took Atta from Portland to Boston. I ended up flying the Portland to Boston flight.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next ›
• Page