9/11

[BLUE DEVIL]

First off don't mean to be a killjoy. That said, I am 53 and this event in history hit at a time in my life which is very vivid to me in terms of real life experience converging. I I had just reconciled with my first wife and purchased my first home, 1.5 years earlier, in a nice blue collar suburban Chicago area with a good school district. My daughter had just started 1st grade. My career trajectory was just starting to be launching.

Then it happened, I watched as it occurred , minute by minute.....hour by hour........and I realized how insignificant my life and foundation was when measured against what had just occurred. I had reservist friends with family called up to active duty. Had reservist friends without family stepping up and in for fellow reservists with family. I personally began to question my responsibilities to my family, career, friends, & country. Should I be serving? Was I stepping up for my country, and more even deeper personal soul searching.

I realize that some here are younger and may not have experienced or understand the experience as I do.......but every 9/11 I cry......and remember back to a time before 9/11 ....when things seemed much simpler.....in soooooo many respects. It is hard to explain, and I don't know how to personally explain or express this. Anybody else understand?? It makes me sad that my kids and so many didn't and won't know or understand the United States pre-9/11.

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[Vettel-ish]

I joined the fire department 6 months after. Say what you want about the events, it made us better Americans. We stood together and fought for something together.

I share the same feelings as you do.

Tomorrow I will wake up and honor the fallen. Police. Fire. City. EMS all of them. Something this country needs to do every year.

 

[Sivi70980]

I'm currently 40 and when this happened I was young and self centered and going through a lot of firsts in my life. My mom called me on the day to ask if I was okay and I didn't even know what she was talking about. In complete honesty, it didn't hit me till many years later. Seems like a completely different life back then and eons in time. Fast forward through a failed marriage and bad life choices and young adult shenanigans to when I have debt from said marriage after a divorce and we arrive at 2009 when I'm interviewing for General Dynamics (current employer) and the interviewee asked only a few questions, the main one being how I feel about camping. Got hired and promised more money than I'd ever made before so I was excited. 30ish days later having never left my home state except a few months for another failed relationship (young and stupid!) I was in Kuwait on a base in the sand around a bunch of dirty humans civilian and army sleeping on a cot in a tent. It was August and the most heat and humidity I'd ever experienced. Life sucked, but I was on an adventure. 3ish weeks after that I was in Iraq and experiencing getting shot at indirectly for the first time. Looking back I'm proud of my experiences. I stuck it out and allowed my "shell" to be removed and made some great friends that are more like family to this day. It took about a month into Iraq after adapting to the culture and environmental shocks when it hit me. Why we're there, what the goals might be if there are any. Then it hit me even harder, why the hell aren't we shooting back at these people shooting at us?!?! Instant hate not to a race or culture, or any general group of people, but the specific people shooting at us! After my year in Iraq I'd seen a lot of war at least from a civilian stuck on a base perspective. I traveled in country to some smaller bases via Blackhawks and Chinooks and even saw a human face that wasn't on a human, the rest of that human was on the ground a few yards away. Reminder kids, you can never un see things. After Iraq I did about 9 months in Afghanistan. From 2013 forward I've been in a different business unit issuing vehicles and BII to soldiers. I take pride in doing what I do and I like to think my work reflects it. I do my part every day to make sure our soldiers get the best we can offer so if/when they deploy, they can come back home as well.

Currently 9/11, while more than just a day to me, still isn't as impactful as many others. Dumb luck or sheer coincidence is why I have my current job but it wouldn't exist to the extent that it does without the happenings of 9/11 and other events. As I've aged, my patriotism has grown. As I've worked around former and current military my feelings towards them and their opposition is obviously biased as well. This particular day is a tragic part in our history like many others. Always remember.

Thank you for your post OP. I've spent the last hour working, reflecting, and writing this. Many emotions are felt for sure.

 

[Bikeman315]

Thank you for writing this Greg. Each year the memory fades just a bit then someone writes something like you did and it 's like a smack in the head.

That morning I was just walking out my front door on the way to Newark Airport for a flight to McAllen, Texas. I lived in North New Jersey at the time. The phone rang, my wife was calling from the bank. She told me and I quote, "I do not think you're going to Texas today". I remember those words as if it were yesterday. She told me to turn on the TV, that a plane had just crashed into the WTC. I turned on the TV in the family room and just stood there. My wife came home an hour later and found me in the exact same spot. I couldn't move. I was frozen.

By this point all phones were down so calling work to tell them I did not make my flight was impossible. No one knew anything at the time and a number of teammates were afraid I was on one of the planes.

Putting that day into words is impossible. I was fortunate that no one in my family lost anyone on that day. I had friends that did so I did/do my best to console them. I also had two customers in downtown NY, J&R Music World and Century 21. My friends there had lots of pictures of that day. Many were not publishable, they were just too terrible. Just writing this brings back some horrible memories.

That weekend, my wife and I drove down to Jersey City and stood at the edge of the Hudson River directly across the WTC. All I remember is the smoke. That and some tourists who looked like they were having a good time. Anyway I never visited the "pit", just couldn't bring myself to do it. My younger daughter went but we never discussed it, ever.

A few years later I went to a book signing in lower Manhattan. The PATH station had just opened. I took the train from Hoboken and got off in what used to be an underground station. I was now out in the open. Everyone who got off that train was in tears, everyone in the station was in tears. I will never forget that day either.

Thanks again Greg. Just writing this was cathartic. I'm going to go get a box of tissues now.

 

[el-guapin]

 

[Bikeman315]

I joined the fire department 6 months after. Say what you want about the events, it made us better Americans. We stood together and fought for something together.

I share the same feelings as you do.

Tomorrow I will wake up and honor the fallen. Police. Fire. City. EMS all of them. Something this country needs to do every year.

 

[XS]

I was a junior in High School at the time. We had just gotten to school when the first news reports started coming in. The school had TVs in the cafeterias and you were not allowed to touch them. The school tried putting on some school-related TV show but as channel by channel was interrupted by the news reports the school turned off the TVs and made us go to class. I had a friend at the time who was from NYC and still had family there. Her dad had actually worked in the WTC before they moved to Colorado. She was beside herself in tears. We were in our first class and the teacher wouldn't turn the TV on to see what was going on even as my friend was in tears begging the teacher and the rest of the class was yelling at the teacher. Since this was post-Columbine Colorado you got in BIG trouble if you walked out of class but my friend and I up and walked straight out of there and went to the local 7-11 to watch the events unfold on their TV. By the time we went back to the school that afternoon the entire school was assembled in the cafeteria watching the TVs. We did not get in trouble for leaving, though. It's still hard to watch that footage after all these years. The politicization of it gives me chills. You mention 9/11 around many people these days and opinions barf out like an 18 year old fraternity pledge the first night of college. I would rather remember it as a deeply painful time in our country where we all came together to push through.

 

[BluePonyGT]

I'm on the west coast, so this was going down while many people here were just getting up in the morning. I used to jog in the early mornings before work, and was stretching out while I watched the news. I turned the TV on just in time to see the news that they thought a random plane had hit the first tower and thought it was an accident...so I was glued to the floor watching.

Then I saw a plane hit the 2nd tower live on TV. Silence.

That was probably one of the most horrifying and surreal moments I can remember in my 47 years. I mean forget a lot of the other things I've seen in my life - I will NEVER forget seeing that.

Then there was after, the collapse of the towers, and the aftermath that went on and on....and on.

If you get the chance visit the National September 11 Memorial in NY. Just go there and walk around. Make sure to check out the railings at the pools.

As a nation if we ever forget this and what it means we're in serious trouble.

 

[18usc371]

I was on business trip to 26 Federal Plaza on the 9th. I checked into the World Trade Center Marriott, which was 22-stories but still completely dwarfed by the Twin Towers on ether side.

I smoked at the time, but never in my hotel rooms. I stepped out the back of the hotel, into Tobin Plaza, around 1AM for one last smoke that night.

Looking up, I remember being in awe as both towers seemed to almost bend toward each other when you stand between them. It was eerily quiet, as this was the business district late at night. Much quieter than you might expect for NYC. It was peaceful scene.

I flew back to Miami on the 10th. Two days later I was assigned to the JTTF and have been hunting our enemies ever since. Never Forget.

 

[Matti777]

I certainly look back fondly to the years when the world seemed a little simpler and a little more sane. Perhaps it was just a time when we were less informed. I don't know.

 

[Stage_3]

 

[Bikeman315]

 

[Twin Turbo]

As you may know, I'm English. However, whilst I've only ever visited the US on about 6 occasions, it's a place that feels like home to me. Growing up watching American TV programs initiated my love of the country and the cars. The UK and America share similar values and I believe in the American Dream. A country that welcomes all, and those that work hard will be rewarded.

September 11th, 2001. I was actually on holiday (vacation) with my wife in a beautiful part of England called the Lake District. We were visiting a candle factory (funny how this event makes other insignificant facts stand out). We wondered why the staff were nowhere to be seen.......turns out they were watching the news on TV. We got back in our car and turned on the radio. A plane had hit the tower. In my mind, I pictured a light aircraft in perhaps poor visibility. I mean, the thought that anyone would or could deliberately fly a plane into a building just didn't register. We made it back to the hotel and spent the rest of the day watching a tragedy unfold. It seemed like I was watching a disaster movie. Here we were in one of the most beautiful scenic parts of Britain, watching utter devastation in a country I love.

Know that millions of my fellow countrymen (and woman) mourn the everyday heroes that died that day. You are not alone.

For me, part of that American dream died that day too. America, one of the biggest and strongest nations on earth was hurting. A certain innocence was lost. Wars are usually fought in foreign lands, not in metropolitan areas in our cities. That changed that day. Not just in the US, but your allies in Europe.

You'll be aware of smaller scale suicide missions that we've experienced in Europe. Lorries being used to kill people in German Christmas markets. Hostages taken and then killed in French shops. Cars being used to kill people in central London, and knife attacks outside our parliament. Suicide bombers killing children attending a music concert in Manchester. Again, all innocent victims. All killed in the name of "religion"

However, 9/11 and the events that continue to echo around the world remind me of important lessons. Despite evil acts, human decency shines through. Heroes of all colors, race and religion doing their best to help the victims. I'm not a religious man, I believe in the human spirit. And the human spirit doesn't have a color, or a race or a religion.

It also reminds me that you never know when your last day on earth will be. It reminds me of what is important in life. Take nothing for granted.

9/11. We'll never forget.

 

[dpAtlanta]

Great Thread.....!!!!!

Strange how the day after 9/11, New York was praising the police and first responders as heros, now they want to defund the police... what happened on 9/11 was tragic, but it brought us together.
This country needs to stay united and I don't want another 9/11 to happen in order to get us to unite as one nation.

 

[16Fastback]

Just took a drive to my local park to think about that day.
Photos are local fire department tribute and my watch face for the weekend.

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