The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: Marshal Halloway on September 06, 2011, 11:29:02 PM
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This week, Down Range Radio is all dedicated to the September 11 attacks, a series of four coordinated suicide attacks against the United States in 2001.
http://www.downrange.tv/blog/down-range-radio-229-the-10th-anniversary-of-9-11/11414/
Ten years later, many Americans still remember clearly the unfolding of horrible events on that day. Planes flying into the World Trade Center; people jumping out of windows more than 100 stories high; thousands of civilians fleeing out of downtown Manhattan by foot: These kinds of images are hard to forget.
Michael Bane went to New York just days after the attack to visit an old friend and to check on a building close to WTC where he used to live. He takes you on a painful, personal and emotional journey back to the chaos after the attack.
In the midst of tragic events, people often say that the world will never be the same again. But as years go by, daily life goes back to normal for most people. The history is still written about 9-11, many questions are still unanswered, but what we all remember is what we did and how we felt on that particular day.
My story is not as dramatic and up close as Michael's. I was living in Norway at the time and on 9-11-01, I was in my office writing articles for a gun magazine. I had no TV on, just some music in the background. In the afternoon local time, I needed to take a break from the computer and decided to visit a friend of mine, a local gunsmith. When I walked into his shop, he was sitting at his bench staring at the TV set on the wall. He looked at me and said that an idiot had just crashed into the World Trade Center. I told him to change over to CNN and minutes later we saw the second plane hit its target and the rest of that day was spent in front of the TV and many hours in the days to come.
Feel free to share you story and thoughts from that day....
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I was getting ready to go to a concealed pistol license class when I heard about it on the radio. I grabbed an AR-15 and some ammo and threw them in the truck. I knew when the second plane hit that it wasn't an accident. I didn't know if we were being invaded or what was going on, but I wasn't going down without a fight. We had our CPL class anyway and life seemed almost normal.
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Ten years ago, I was a 24yo management consultant working a at the billing center for Qwest Communications when I heard that a plane had hit the 1st tower. I immediately began combing the news sites for details and information and passing it on to the 100 or so people in the building. Once the 2nd tower was hut it became clear this was no accident the office was evacuated, we we sitting on the main communication backbone for our part of the country, and like most of the "non-essential" people in the building I began to pack up, but before I left the buildings began to fall. Most of us then became glued to my computer as the articles and videos became available. Co-workers were calling friends and family to verify they were ok and I sat thankful that no one I knew was in New York.
My task on this project was mapping the network and to verify billing for the provided services was turned on and I started thinking about all of the accounts that I had reviewed in the previous weeks with world trade center addresses and how the people that had been opening the bills we were generating may have been killed. I didn't know anyone in New York but I did have a connection, however small and distant. Then I had a sickening feeling, tomorrow bills are going to be printed and sent for phone service to a building that no longer existed, for phones that no longer would ring, that belonged to people that may have been killed and someone that knew those people, a co-worker or boss, would have to open the letter and see the names and phone numbers of people that had been lost.
I asked the billing director if I could turn off the billing for every circuit running through the damaged buildings so that small bit of pain could be avoided. As people left due to evacuation, myself and 2 fellow consultants combed the web looking for details on the damage so that we could turn off circuits and billing. Sometimes I wonder how many other companies did small things like this, that were never publicized, to do what they could from where the were?
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On Sept 10th 2001 I was driving near Pease tradeport in Portsmouth NH toward I 95, the interstate that link Portland Me with Boston. Near the intersection I passed a small blue car that caught my eye because the to "Mediterranean looking" men in it just didn't look right, their demeanor just didn't match people in surrounding vehicles, the passenger seemed like he was royally PO'd, and they were ignoring each other. Had they been male and female I would have assumed "domestic dispute".
The next morning my clock radio woke me with something about the WTC, I couldn't figure out wtf they were talking about so I turned on CNN just in time to see the 2nd plane hit.
When they later posted pictures of the highjackers I recognized the passenger of the car that had caught my eye, it was Mohamad Atta.
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That morning I had only been back at work for a couple of days (I had just got married on Aug 31st, and had been off on vacation). I was getting back into my ongoing project, in my office in the Engineering dept, proofing electrical schematics for a November equipment upgrade. My boss, a retired USAF Chief MSgt walked in, completely ashen-faced and said a plane had just hit the WTC in NY. I got up and went into his office and looked at the news report on his computer. We both walked across to another set of Maintenance division offices in the plant where we had a TV so we could get better coverage. After watching shots on NBC (I think it was the Today Show) of the first plane hitting, he looked at me and said "that was no accident." He said it just didn't "look right" the way the plane angled into the side......a few minutes later the second plane hit tower 2........and I'll never forget the look on that man's face as his eyes watered up and he looked at me and just said, "Them sons of bitches."
Of course we didn't know exactly who was directly responsible, but we had a good idea. Needless to say, not much was accomplished the rest of the day.
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At the time I was living in Exeter NH, (Home of Sig ) which is right under the flight path for Pease, (A former SAC Base, now home of an Air Guard Refueling unit )For several days after all air traffic was grounded you may remember.
Well the skies were sure enough empty.
Until about 9 pm then they would launch what seemed like every plane on the field, an hour or 2 later they would start coming back in, the cycle would repeat all night till about 4AM then the skies would be empty again.
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I was working in Rhode Island and watched the second plane hit the towers in a small dining room at the shop. We had a small BW TV in the corner. Chills ran up my spine as I muttered, "We're under attack!" to a coworker.
My next thought was of the Murrah building in OK City and the daycare center on the ground floor. I thought to myself how many daycare centers might exist in the WTC?
I was living in the country outside of Boston and in a direct path out of Logan to the west. It was an eerie feeling for the next week or so with absolutely NO aircraft flying, anywhere! I wouldn't let my kid or wife collect the mail for about six months and started keeping a firearm close by most every day.
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I was working a normal 24 hr shift (0800-0800) on my firetruck 9-10-01.
We had a routine first aid call at about 0430 (Phx time) the morning of 9-11.
It was an election day in either a city or county election and my station was a local voting center. The folks that run the voting get there REAL early, set up the voting booths and by the time we got back from the call, they were sitting at our dining table just looking numb watching TV.
I asked "what's up?" They said a jet hit the WTC. We joined them in watching the coverage and then the second plane hit. Then the Pentagon got hit.
My first thought was that this was an extremely well planned attack.
My second thought was that these fuckers are going to pay BIG TIME because they didn't kill EVERYONE in the US. I knew we would go 'All In' on this payback.
I got relieved by the next FF/PM coming on duty and spent the rest of the day at home watching the unfolding story.
Seeing mashed fire engines and ladders at the site after the collapse, I knew that the loss of life was going to be huge and the first responders were toast. That nearly brought me to tears. I had met some of those guys. It was one of, if not the greatest, losses of first responders ever. It was also the site of the largest amount of people saved on a call.
When my wife asked "Why would the Fire Department go into a building like that?" I told her, "Because that's what we do. We go into buildings that other people are running out of to try and save people that can't run out."
She wasn't pleased with that answer but understood...
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I was stuck at home, on the wrong coast, unemployed. I had left Active Duty Jun 23rd and hadn't found a new job or been processed into the Reserves yet. Got up to get the kid (only one a the time) ready for school so Gayle could sleep (worked nights at VFA-122 working Super Hornets) and turned on the TV. It was just after the second tower hit and I was a little confused. I knew a plane could strike buildings but it was to deliberate. One is an accident, two is an attack, then the third hit the Pentagon. went in and woke up the wife. All I could say is "Its' all different from now on." Then watched as the first tower fell and felt totally helpless. Nine years on the "tip of the spear" flying recon, working intel/counter-terror, experienced EMT that was just an hour away from DC up until June, and all I could do was watch from the sidelines. That afternoon Gayle started for work and it took nearly 1.5 hrs to get in the gate and to the hangar. There was mention of people wanting to help going to NYC to assist with recovery efforts. gayle knew not to ask if I wanted to go, I would have walked. decided there really wasn't much I could do and stayed. I still feel like I haven't done enough. Went reserves, activated as Base Security, work full time building a better Navy but I can't deploy so I feel like I haven't done what I should be doing.
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I was in the midst of my morning drive radio show when a bulletin came over the wire that a plane had struck the World Trade Center. At first I thought it must be either a REALLY shitty pilot, or nasty weather over Manhattan. Even so, I turned on the TV in the studio, and began watching the coverage. It wasn't long when, right before my eyes, the second plane hit. I couldn't believe it. I mean, one's an accident, two's a deliberate attack!! We began uninterrupted (commercial-free) coverage of the story as it broke throughout the day. Then the report came of the plane striking the Pentagon. I remember saying, live on the air, "Holy crap, folks....we're at war!!" After all, one's an accident, and two's an attack, but three is a definite declaration of war.
The wife and I were watching TV in the ensuing days, when President Bush (I miss him) made the famous statement about "the people who knocked these towers down will hear from all of us soon." At the time I remember thinking that was just what the country needed to hear. My wife looked at me and said, "In my wildest dreams I can't imagine Al Gore saying that. Thank GOD Bush was elected!!" I couldn't have agreed more....then or now. He most likely won't go down in history as the best President in history (although he is by FAR the best President of the 21st Century, to date), but I believed then and believe now that he was the right man for the job at that moment in history.
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I was driving up the NY state Thruway working as an armored truck guard when we heard about the first plane on the radio. We had to do a pick up at the Albany toll plaza and mentioned it to the supervisor there. She turned on the TV they had and we were watching the news and saw the 2nd plane hit. we were in shock at what happened,I won't repeat what I said. We finished up the stop and went on to the Albany terminal and called into the main office. We were told to finish up ASAP and to get back. We had to stop on the way back to fuel up and I must have had 2 dozen people asking me where they could go to give blood, or was there anything they could do to help(Our uniforms looked a lot like NY state police) I told people to check with the local Red Cross and hightailed it back to the terminal.The roads were pretty much deserted. I found out a couple days later that a Guard from an other company was killed when the towers fell as well as a guy I went to school with(he was a NYcity Fireman) It is a day that I will never forget.
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I have a good friend, his youngest is my Godchild, who's an FAA Controller. Ten years ago, he was working Cleveland Center having just transferred there from Logan in Boston.
He still won't discuss that day...Imagine watching it all happen sitting there unable to do a darn thing!
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I spent most of the day at the local airport. I was taking my dad and his then wife to the airport for a trip to vegas.
Sucked.
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I spent most of the day at the local airport. I was taking my dad and his then wife to the airport for a trip to vegas.
Sucked.
Not as bad as it sucked for the people on the 4 ill-fated planes, the folks in the Pentagon and the Trade Center, and all of their families and friends.
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Was leaving the shop for a marine service call in Ocean Isle Beach 1 hour south from Wilmington, N.C. The work truck radio was all I had to go with. They interrupted when the first plane hit, than went back to regular programming.
That all changed with the second tower being struck. Stopped at the local Ocean Isle Kwik-Stop, and asked what was going on, no real answers and no TV.
Continued to the boat, and turned on the salon TV, no cable or satellite, just marine rabbit ears. Could only get CBS kinda fuzzy. Watched the first tower fall by myself, sitting on the couch of someone else's yacht, and cried. Called my wife. Than the second tower fell. Never will forget the images of those that chose to jump.
Than the reports from the Pentagon being struck, than a crash in a field in Pennsylvania. Than the work cell rang, and our boss was calling us all back to get home and go be with our families, as no one knew the extent or magnitude of how much more could happen.
The news driving home was very hard to listen to. All flights ordered to land at the nearest airport, rumors of a few planes ignoring the order. POTUS on Air Force One, with fighter escorts. D.C. evacuated. Military ordered to shoot down non-compliant aircraft. Manhattan being evacuated and on lock down. ( I asked my self "How the **** do you evacuate NYC?)
Never will forget driving the hour back to Wilmington. Very scared, shocked, stunned, pissed, and sad.
Those memories about September 11th, 2001, I will never forget for the rest of my life.
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I was on my way to a conference in Northern Lower Michigan when I heard the report of the first plane hitting the tower. The intial report was that it was a small plane. I recalled that the Empire state building had been struck several times in the past, and I thought perhaps there had been some fog or fowl weather that may have contributed to the crash. Moments later came the announcement that a second plane had hit and I knew we were being attacked. I called into my work and they were unaware of the incident. By this time more updates and better information was being disclosed including that all flights had been grounded and the air space was closed. Shortly after I was near Grand Rapids and observed a jet in the air and another that appeared to have just taken off. I wondered if these were more hijackings. I continued to check in with work and the other employees were gathered around one old radio with poor reception and bemoaning the fact we had no TV at work. As I drove further north I saw fighter jets patroling several times. I finally arrived at the conference center and checked in. Almost everyone was glued to TV. There was some discussion about canceling the conference, but that was decided against. One of the organizers that was invloved in making that decesion had a FDNY brother that was unaccounted for at that time, but eventually proved to be safe. At the end of the conference 3 or 4 days later I met a woman in a gun store from the Soo in Michigan. Her husband worked for the Border Patrol and had been working non stop since 9-11. Much of that time remains a numbed blur.
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I was at work at the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. Somebody said "Somebody flew a plane into the twin towers in New York," so we all gathered around a tv and watched. As long as I live, I will never forget the second plane hitting the tower, and Katie Couric saying "Oh my God, there's something wrong with the radar system," I looked at the guy next to me and said "It was Osama bin Laden," and I knew we were going to war.
My wife was in the obgyn section at the Naval hospital. There are 20 or so military wives at various stages of pregnancy and thereby at various stages of hormonally imbalanced lunacy, and one of the female hospital staff walks in and says "The world trade center was just attacked, your husbands are going to war" and turned around and walked off like she just announced the score of a baseball game.
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I was in Germany on my way back to Panzer Kaserne just outside Stuttgart. Went up to my S-2 section (intel) and the whole staff was glued to CNN. We knew that there was going to be payback and we started getting ready. I've only been on US soil 3 of the last 10 yrs. Two more weeks left here in Astan.
CD
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A day none of us will ever forget.
I was on my way to work. I did not watch TV ion the morning back then, and was plugged into my iPod on the Chicago El on the the way to work. I unplugged in the elevator at the downtown office building in Chicago as 2 women were discussing the plane that hit the WTC. First I heard of it. I remember thinking about the B-25 that hit the Empire State Building back in WWII.
I then walked out on the floor of the office to find everyone in the conference room or watching CNN on their computers. Odd. I logged in and brought up FoxNews - I remember noticing that Internet response time was very slow. I watched for a few minutes, knowing this was no accident - you do not fly an airliner in downtown NYC, it is not allowed, and besides all of the airports are well outside Manhattan. And you certainly do not fly at an altitude below the tops of the buildings. This was not an accident. At that point the second plane hit, my growing anger turned to rage - a cold, hard rage that has not abated.
Since Chicago was "assumed" to be a target, they closed the office (the bank thought it be liable if we all got killed in their building) and sent us home. That El ride was the longest I can remember, even though clock-wise it was not longer than normal. When I got home, I set weaponry by each of the doors with magazines and spare ammo and waited for my son to get home from school shortly after I got there.
The reasons my rage has not abated include:
1. we coddle the very people who did this; when I sit on a plane in Minneapolis after having to go through brainless and utterly pointless "security" groping by TSA, and then see ragheads on the tarmac handling luggage, yeah, I get pissed
2. the .govs at every level of this country but especially the Feds, have perverted 9/11 to further the effort to have complete and total dominion over the citizens through the passage of vile and clearly unconstitutional laws; we have thrown the American Republic out in our lifetime - 9/11 didn't start it but it allowed those who would destroy us to further weaken us.
Look now at the 9/11 programs - all hosted and sponsored by the .govs, and you have to be "invited" to attend - ala Bloomberg's refusal to invite the First Responders, clergy and even the victim' families, to the "official" programs. But the damn mooslims will no doubt have front row seat.
Our country is clearly f..ked, and no one - no one!!! - is doing a damn thing about it.
PS: CD - stay safe, come home safe, enjoy your freedom. And thank you for serving and protecting us.
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PS: CD - stay safe, come home safe, enjoy your freedom. And thank you for serving and protecting us.
Well said and seconded....
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Never forget!
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MSNBC is replaying, in real-time, the events as they occurred on 11 Sept 2001.
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I don't care for this President one bit but, the Secret Service manages to put the POTUS at the WTC, Shanksville, PA and the Pentagon in a single day which is no small feat!
For those men and women of the Secret Service, I salute you for a job well done!
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I don't care for this President one bit but, the Secret Service manages to put the POTUS at the WTC, Shanksville, PA and the Pentagon in a single day which is no small feat!
For those men and women of the Secret Service, I salute you for a job well done!
I have to disagree Tim.
They have now put him back in Washington and that we could have done with out.
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I have to disagree Tim.
They have now put him back in Washington and that we could have done with out.
Leave it to the resident optimist to be a negative slant on the post, though I'm not in disagreement with you young Sir!
;D
My post was about a group of men and women who, for the most part, have put the country above themselves! No less then the Military men and women who fight our battles daily in more than two theaters of operations.
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They are Giethner's minions.
The Presidential detail may seem impressive, but the Secret service are no better than ATF or IRS.
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True enough Tom!
I, for one, am living proof that you can manage to do your job IN SPITE of what the boss wants or directs!
I ignore the idiocy of what my boss wants daily, dating back to my military years! I'm an American!
My charter in life is to question authority in whatever form....maybe I'm naive.
I do my job, if my boss doesn't like it, he can kiss my ass! I think there are still a few in the government that feel the same!
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I'm not so sure about that.
They tend to get weeded out.
Notice they still haven't prosecuted the Black Panthers for voter intimidation.
It wasn't the FBI that blew the whistle on Gunrunner.
They only care about their pensions.
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To get this thread back on track...
I happened to be at the gym on an elipitical trainer. This one was equipped with a TV and I had my headphones on listening to the TODAY Show. Matt Lauer put his hand up to his earpiece and leaned forward with a quizzical look on his face. Then he said a plane had hit the WTC. My first thought was that a civilian pilot had really screwed the pooch, or had just committed suicide. Either way, I was interested, but not terribly concerned.
That continued until the second plane hit. By that time there were cameras on the scene, and I saw the second plane hit.
I remember stopping my training and turning to another gym rat on the machine next to me. "That was no accident," I said. "We're under attack and that may have been the beginning of Armageddon."
I then grabbed my gym bag out of my locker, double-checked to make sure my Glock was there, and drove home to Bunny. The rest of the day was spent in front of the TV and on the Internet.
Like most everyone else who posted, I'm still not over it. But, life goes on...
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Great posts.
I was at work at Chrysler building transmissions. I had just bumped from afternoon shift to day shift and was working different areas on the assembly line. Went on break and heard that a plane hit the World Trade Center. Smoked a cigarette and went into the break room and they had CNN playing on the television. I had entered just in time to see the second plane hit the second tower. I was in shock. At that point I knew this was not an accident. Then we heard on the radio that the Pentagon had been hit. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end cause I knew we were going to war. We just did not know with who? I remember going outside and looking into the sky. We have an Air Force base just 15 miles north of us. Not a plane was in the sky. Eerie feeling looking at all blue and no trails from the jets.
I had not been prepared with bug out bags or any survival gear. At home I did have a couple of Glocks, a Bushmaster AR-15 and Chinese SKS and plenty of ammo. Called and made sure my two sons were alright. Left work and went and got them from the babysitter. Was wondering if we were having a "Red Dawn" moment. We went back to my apartment and watched the news as they slept on the couch. Cried my eyes out when we realized that people were jumping from the burning buildings. Absolute tragedy and the feeling of helplessness that I never want to experience again.
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I was stationed in Mannheim, Germany as the Plans and Exercises Officer for an Air Force unit on an Army post. The Intel NCO told me to check the TV as a plane had crashed into WTC. By the time I got to the TV the next plane hit -- I knew we were going to war. We started coordinating with the Army for Post defense. The Sr Operations NCO started getting all our folks ready since no one knew what would be next.
That started a very long, yet quick period of planning, coordinating, and deploying. First we deployed a few operators to support special ops teams in Afghanistan. About 18 months later I found myself 20 klicks south of the Kuwait-Iraq border commanding over 250 men & women ready to provide close air support to the Army as we made our way North.
Has it really been that long?
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Hammer, welcome aboard, glad to have you and for you to share your experience here. When you get a chance, stop by the new member thread and introduce yourself properly. Great bunch of guys here, including active duty folks, plus even more retired servicemen. Hopefully you'll feel at home here.
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I was in the high schooll offfice. Wasnt in trouble ( was probably up to something tho), I was a roll runner. They came in and told us the first plane had hit the tower. We didnt realize the magnitude of what was happening until we were showed the images on tv. We got there just before the second plane hit. That was when the tree of us realized what was happening.
As a side note, Last sunday at shift change I was getting off duty We had a 4.4 earthquke. Its west Texas we have small quakes that you cant feel but this was the strongest one I have felt or heard. We all ran outside to see where the explosion was. When we realized that nothing had exploded near us, we got to thinking it was an earthquake. One hell of a start to the day.
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today I heard the podcast about 911 today
now for some reason I was not able to see the road correctly, not sure what happened,
very moving MB,
personally I still remember, I was living in Sydney at the time watching the late night news ( with Sandra Sully look her up why I watch it) , mrs had just got to bed
when she announced the breaking news about a plain hitting the tower and they ended up with video
I got the Mrs up to watch it.
it did not look real, like a movie, and I still remember it, was very surreal as they were showing the footage of the building live, we saw the other plane hit :(
after a bit the Mrs went to bed, however I stayed up all night watching the footage, it was very sad time
when I got to work the next day not much got done and it was all that was spoken about.
for those that don't know I am in IT and an Apple Tech and was doing the same thing in Sydney a couple of my clients in Syd was the Aust Navy at there base there and also a job at AMEX, wow how the security arragments had changed with in 3 days of it happening as I was at both sites on the day before and had to go there on the Friday of that week even though the security knew me, everything had changed,
I remember the staff at AMEX had a big board with the names of there missing co-workers, that was very sad.
not much more I can add, that has not been said before
may they Rest in Peace
and Lest we Forget........
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today I heard the podcast about 911 today
now for some reason I was not able to see the road correctly, not sure what happened,
very moving MB,
personally I still remember, I was living in Sydney at the time watching the late night news ( with Sandra Sully look her up why I watch it) , mrs had just got to bed
when she announced the breaking news about a plain hitting the tower and they ended up with video
I got the Mrs up to watch it.
it did not look real, like a movie, and I still remember it, was very surreal as they were showing the footage of the building live, we saw the other plane hit :(
after a bit the Mrs went to bed, however I stayed up all night watching the footage, it was very sad time
when I got to work the next day not much got done and it was all that was spoken about.
for those that don't know I am in IT and an Apple Tech and was doing the same thing in Sydney a couple of my clients in Syd was the Aust Navy at there base there and also a job at AMEX, wow how the security arragments had changed with in 3 days of it happening as I was at both sites on the day before and had to go there on the Friday of that week even though the security knew me, everything had changed,
I remember the staff at AMEX had a big board with the names of there missing co-workers, that was very sad.
not much more I can add, that has not been said before
may they Rest in Peace
and Lest we Forget........
(http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/03/12/sully_narrowweb__200x348.jpg)
Sandra Sully
You watch Sandra Sully for the same reason I watch Megyn Kelly on Fox News (appropriate name for a network that features Megyn Kelly)........STRICTLY FOR THE REPORTING!!! (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.....especially since M'ette knows the wife's cell number) ;D
(http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/files/2011/03/megynkelly32.jpg)
Megyn Kelly