I’ve told my 9/11 story here before.

I was driving to the last week of working for a company I had spent 16 years at, because I took a separation package. I heard about the first plane striking the first tower and thought it was some pilot making a truly stupid mistake. Then I head about the second plane hitting the other tower, and I knew it was an attack.

So I called my wife at her office in the Chicago suburbs to let her know what was going on (she worked for Morgan Stanley at the time and knew people who worked in the towers) and she told me they had a tv on and had watched the second impact.

The my employer had moved everyone else on our floor to another location as part of the restructuring, leaving me and one other guy who took the package alone. We spent the rest of the day (and week) not doing much but listening to the radio while we packed up the stuff from our desks. Some contractors from out of state eventually had to rent a van to get back to Pennsylvania.

At home we kept our young son from watching the tv much, so he would not get as scared as we were worried. No planes in the sky made it very quiet, somehow.

My wife was supposed to be at the Morgan Stanley WTC offices that morning for a 9 AM meeting. It had gotten rescheduled to the next week so she was in the Chicago suburb office instead that morning. But for the grace of God we could have lost her. I will never forget, and I still haven’t forgiven.

I lived in Fairfax, VA, not far from the Pentagon. I worked for a small consulting company and had a home office day. My wife called down to my home office in the basement and told me to turn on the TV. I saw the burning tower, and shortly later, a plane hit the second tower. No doubt, this was an attack. I called the home office in NH and asked where everybody was. Some were home and safe like me. Some were concerningly unreachable, others scheduled to travel by air that day. My boss was in FL. I told his secretary to get in contact with him and tell him NOT to give up the rental car. I suspected air travel would be shut down for some time. He drove home to NH, stopping to see customers along the way. Business must go on, I guess. One co-worker was scheduled to fly out of Newark, NJ to California and couldn't immediately be reached. Turns out, he saw both planes hit the WTC towers. His flight was ultimately cancelled and sent back to the gate and he went home.

Explaining this to my kids was difficult. I didn't go pick them up, a decision I later regretted. Nobody was telling them anything at the school. All they knew was a long stream of communications from the office to, "Excuse [this kid] and send him to [wherever it was parents picked up kids being dismissed early.]" They knew something was up, but they didn't know what. Teachers were reportedly forbidden to talk about what was happening. Perhaps understandable as many of those kids had parents who worked at the Pentagon. I'd guess every kid knew some other kid who lost a parent.

One of the photos from 9/11 that will always stand out to me is this one of fireman Mike Kehoe climbing the stairwell of the North Tower as people evacuated. As a kid, I just remember looking into the face of this man who was likely now dead (I learned years later that he survived) running up hundreds of stairs in full turnout gear towards almost certain death, and contemplating the amount of bravery it took to do that. And not just him, but literally hundreds of others who did the exact same thing, many of whom never made it out.

Looking back as an an adult, and a cop, I'm even more amazed at what these guys did that day. I've been around quite a few structure fires, and have even gone into a few of them, but that decision is always heavily tempered by the size of the fire, what part of the structure it's in, and who/what is inside that needs to be gotten out. Considering the size of those buildings and the tremendous amount of fire that you're going to have with a crashed airliner....there's no way in hell I'm going in there. But thousands of those guys did.

Photography is incredible in the way that it can convey feeling and emotion in ways that words or even video often can't. This photo really does that, and the look on Mike's face represents what I have to believe is the same resolve that all those responders had on that day. They knew full well what they were running towards, how unlikely they were to come out of it alive. I'm sure they were scared, exhausted, and didn't want to be there, and yet they went anyway. That's genuine hero stuff.

I am ashamed to admit that when I was younger, I got into the 9/11 truther stuff pretty heavily. I have since grown out of that and learned a lot about that fateful day and why things happened the way they did.

My buddies and I often think why these "sleeper cells" and terrorists who have entered our country during the Biden Administration have not carried out another attack. It hit me a while back that they would be stupid to attack a country that they are winning so big in. Huge political seats are going to radical Muslims. They are untouchable. We aren't far behind Europe.

Unfortunately, "Never Forget" was just a cheap slogan for most of our Country.

The memory for me starts with my that day being the first anniversary of my employment (with my now former employer). It was a beautiful day, and I was happy as a clam to have been there for a year so quickly.

My friend Bill "lived next to me in the cube farm," and was a great "neighbor" to have. Bill was a Navy vet, a Sasquatch-believer, and a heck of a nice fellow.

He spun his chair around slowly and said, "some dumbass just flew a plane into the World Trade Center." We talked a bit about it and wondered, "how in the world do you not see a building that danged big?" We figured it was a small two-seater or something.

Internet access was sparse at that facility, and was even tougher after that moment. We were finally able to get some details, and realized the significance of it. And then the second crash came.

"Holy smokes, what do we do next?"

Management rolled an old TV into the conference room and wrestled with the rabbit-ears antenna to try to get some signal. Most all the production crew went home quickly, and the rest of us shortly after.

I saw my friend Doug and we chatted for a minute. "What in the world can I do, man?" His answer: "go give blood."

I got a call from a fellow who lived and worked in the D.C. area. He was fine, but the area all around him was just madness.

There was an old, worn flag in the closet at the house. The previous owners had left it behind. That old flag went up on our porch that afternoon, and I've flown Old Glory every day since.

The quiet sky was eerie. We didn't get a ton of air traffic where we lived, but ZERO traffic was a very different thing.

My (now-ex) brother-in-law got "sent to the desert" several times.

My friend WP got a phone call and straight-up disappeared for several months. He sent us a flag from one of his "trips." We framed it and hung it in the facility. When that facility closed, we made sure to get that framed flag from the wall and get it back to him.

Never forget? Hell, no. My old truck still wears the "Fight Terrorism" plates I got right afterwards.

Ran across this and thought is was pretty great.

I was working at a manufacturing plant in Wheeling, IL. We were operating without a President and as the CFO I was the Senior Leader. I recall our admin coming to my office just after the first plane hit. Everyone thought it was a small plane off course or something like that. After the second plane hit, we tried to get a TV going but it was poor reception. After knowing this was an attack, we shut down the plant at about 1pm CST. At home I moved 3 TV's near each other and watched three different channels for several hours straight. I recall going for a flight a few days after and the airports were like ghost towns. I am literally watching a 9/11 remembrance show right now and have a heavy heart. Semper Fi.

From the ceremony last night where they had 2,977 lighted drones - one for each victim - re-create the twin towers.



Link to BBC video showing how this was done

Yes that was amazing, heres a video of it from X

I was driving into work and heard it from Rush on his show, got to the office and we had an emergency radio/tv, tiny 4 to 5 inch screen and watched the second plane hit. Like everyone who saw it we all knew at that moment the world had changed and we were under attack.

https://x.com/scopethetruth1/s.../2098252960115446210

Mecca isn't a crater.

It should have been a crater on 9/12

Ok, It's been 25 years - I'll tell it all... Sorry to you young guys who don't remember the "dark ages" of technology.

I was driving in to work as the senior network operations manager at a "large New England University". I was running late, my wife was home packing for a business trip to the "World Trade Center" - in Boston. I am listening to the local shock jocks on the radio and they start actually reporting and not clowning around when WTC1 got hit. I called my wife and told her to turn on the TV - she said "which channel ?" and I said - "If what I am hearing is true I don't think it matters". I told her I was going to an ATM and pulling as much cash as it would give me (fearing a financial meltdown) and then heading in to work...

It was a campus network "shitshow" - the 20,000 little darlings had just discovered Napster (early P2P file sharing). Off-campus connectivity almost dead - the telephone PBX (not my responsibility) was packed with off-campus calls. I pulled out my genuine Radio Shack portable transistor radio - so I could at least have some idea what was going on. I remember my "PHB" (Pointy Haired Boss) storming by my office - for anyone remembering Dilbert - this guy was him in the flesh - he looked it and even said the same stupid things. He didn't even come in - just bellowed from the hall - "University is Closing - you are essential personnel and have to stay" - and retreated into his office as he usually did.

The only communications working well was the now ancient "AIM" - AOL Instant messenger. Small enough packets that they could get out... I get an AIM from my best friend "I haven't heard from Nathan (his son)" - and it hits me - Nathan worked on the 72nd floor of WTC2. His wife who also worked at the University was in a panic because she couldn't reach him by phone (circuits full) - and the network was pretty useless.

At that point - I was watching the network traffic - The Napster P2P crap was making a bad situation worse - and against "long standing policies of academic freedom" - and without talking to my idiot boss - I had the network engineers kill the Napster - and magically things started flowing again. Now the people could start getting news.

About 2 hrs later - I get another AIM - "Nathan is OK" - Apparently - when WTC1 got hit - they evacuated WTC2 and then SENT THEM BACK IN - Nathan had taken the elevator to a lower floor and walked up rather than take it to 84 and walk down. That decision saved his life. He sat down at his desk and the 2nd plane hit above him. He was able to get to an exit and make it out - then had to walk "miles" (missing a shoe) to the first working Internet cafe he could find and AIM his parents...

Then the news starts traveling through the department "Chris was on Flight 175". Chris Carstanjen - 33 yrs old - nicest guy you could ever meet. He was heading out to California to take his "dream ride" on a new motorcycle he was buying out there. I had just spoken to him about his trip - he volunteered as a "greeter" to help new students with IT problems - standing in the hallway giving out candy and saying " How can I help you ?" to lost students. What a waste of a good soul.

Yeah - I will Never Forget

The last normal morning news.

https://x.com/RetroNewsNow/sta...356698633175234?s=20

Subbing for a 5th grade teacher today:



Before class started, I already showed them pictures of the fire truck at the 9/11 Memorial, explained how people were trapped above the burning floors, and how many firefighters died from responding to the emergency when the buildings came crashing down.

The students are at lunch, so I’m looking at the 3 page packet and 2 worksheets. I have to say it looks good.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
Mecca isn't a crater.

It should have been a crater on 9/12

Where's the "like" button on my screen?

It has been 25 years. If you can forgive, you are a better man than I. Never forget what those Muslim corksuckers did. If you wish to call me Islamophobic, fine that's a badge I'll wear with pride.
Rod

In years past, in the days leading up to this anniversary, I've relived the events by watching the documentaries about that day. I've fairly wallowed in it.

Not today

I'm not watching any documentaries or archival footage, not watching desperate people hanging out of the World Trade Center and then, with no other choice, jumping to their death.

I'm not seething at the psychopathic zealots responsible, not identifying with absolute certainty the source of this misery.

I've done all that and I'll do it again, but not today.

Just curious, Para, why that song? Any special meaning to you in regards to 9/11? Also there sure is a lot of dust in the air and getting into my eyes at this computer.

The peaceful feeling it evokes