Remembering 9/11

dirtyRU

dirtyRU

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Do you remember where you were when the Airplanes struck the Twin Towers in New York? What was your reaction here across the states (edit from earlier, meant everybody!) as well as people in countries around the world? Was it something that was heard right away or just wake up the following morning to find out about it? I'm curious to see just how it was taken from diff. corners of the world.

I remember i was a sophmore in Highschool. I had an exam i was not prepared for in a certain class, so i pretended to be sick to stay home & study. I came down stairs after being awoke to my mom ranting & raving hysterically, not knowing what the hell she was going on about. I had to cut through the living room to get to where she was in the office, when i saw what was going on the TV. That's when i became completely flabbergasted, had not a clue what to do except sit & watch.. Stumped. Not two minutes later the 2nd plane hit the other tower & I couldn't believe what i had just witnessed. We all know what happens after that. I was angry, even being thousands of miles away, i felt like it hit right in our community of Bryan/ College Station.

Over time, the anger has subsided, but we will never forget those that sacrificed & lost on that tragic day. Despite all of our differences, i believe we are all stronger than ever. God Bless America & everyone who stands for freedom.

This was one football game at Kyle Field i sure won't forget. 87,000 in strong attendance that day.
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I know you asked about around the world, but I'll relate my own memories of that morning..

I worked in downtown Dallas at the time. The company was pretty lax on their schedules. So, I usually didn't go to work until 9-9:30.. For some reason, I had gotten up early that day and headed in to work. I have to admit, that was one of the FEW times that I was going to get to work at "8-ish."

I was driving in to work when the radio station cut into the music that was playing with a "breaking news bulletin." I could tell the lady reading the news bulletin was having a hard time comprehending what she was reading. She said a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.

She didn't say which WTC or where. Well, there's a Dallas World Trade Center, too, and I happened to be driving by it as she was talking. I didn't see any smoke or anything. So, it didn't make sense and it didn't click that she was talking about the WTC in NYC. As I drove along, one of the DJ's said that they were switching over to CBS radio news, which had a reporter on the ground near the WTC. (It still hadn't clicked that they were talking about NYC.)

I thought about turning around and going back home. But, I was just a few miles from work (much closer to work than home) and our server room had multiple TV's, cable boxes, etc.. So, I knew I could get ALL of the news networks going at once and I could figure out what was going on. So, I hammered down (as much as I could in lighter-than-normal Dallas rush hour traffic) to get to the office.

As I drove along, the guy on the radio (in NYC) said, "Oh my.. Oh my God! I can't believe what I'm seeing.." After a few seconds pause, he continued on. "Another plane just crashed into the other tower! We are under attack! This has to be terrorists! We're under attack!"

Well, I couldn't get my head around that and I was almost at the office by that point. So, I went into the parking garage, grabbed the closest reserved spot that we had, hopped on the elevators, and went up to work. I made a bee-line for the server room and started turning on TV's..

After I saw a replay of the plane hitting the 2nd tower, I called my dad and told him to turn on the TV. I was still on the phone with him when the first tower collapsed.

I can remember telling him "They're all gone.. All of those people just ceased to be!" I think he was still getting his head around it, while my head was starting to think about my world.

The building I was working in was in the flight path for the big airport just north of downtown Dallas and our offices were at the very tip-top of that building.. So, I told my dad I had to go. "I think I should probably get out of here." Just after I hung-up with him, the fire alarms went off.

"Emergency in the building! Please make your way to the stairwells and evacuate the building. Do not use the elevators, they have been shut off."

So, I grabbed my keys, left everything else, and the few of us who were at the office started making our way down all the stairs.. We were on the 54th floor.. After what we had been seeing on TV, we didn't question the alarm. "We need to get out of here.. NOW!"

So, we made our way down.. By the time we hit the lobby, my knees had turned to Jello.. Security seemed surprised that anyone was even in the building. "What are you guys doing here?" We told them about the alarm and that after what we had been seeing on TV, we figured we better get out of the building. There was some disconnect between our reality and theirs.. They laughed(!?) at us and said "You guys should've called us. It was a false alarm from a guy 2 floors below you welding and an alarm went off, but there was no fire. Go back to work!"

My co-workers asked "should we go back up?" I told them they could do whatever THEY wanted to, but I was going home. And that's exactly what I did. I went back down to my car, fired it up as quickly as I could, and got out from under that building.. "just in case" something happened..

Obviously, nothing happened in Dallas that day. But, the seemingly impossible was happening in NYC and it just didn't make sense to stay in one of the tallest targets in downtown Dallas, "just in case."

So, I went back home and watched the news coverage for the rest of the day.. and probably for the next day or two.
 
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Well me being only 8 at the time I don't remember too much. I defernately remember waking up in the morning getting ready for school and going and sitting infront of the TV.
It was on all the 3 channels we had and I had heard of the towers as my Dad had explained to me when he went there back in the 80's. Both my parents saw it on the TV and were in abit of shock.
I also remember it being a freinds birthday that day along with my step-grandfathers birthday too.

But being a kid I didn't really grasp what was happening until my teenage years.
The past month though I have been reading about it into more detail. There is infomation/evidence to prove both ways that it was either terrorists or the US gov that did it. I just feel sorry for the people that died and the families that have to live with the pain and loss of family and friends.

Im keen to know other peoples views and where they were at the time/what they remember they were doing when it happened.

Taza
 
Thanks for sharing guys. Taza, i wouldn't read to deep into the whole govt conspiracy thing! Not to say there aren't any out there, but those guys are right in line with the yahoos that think Elvis is still alive & that the illuminati are running our country! :lol:

Darkanion - i can imagine your exact thoughts! I'm sure there wasn't a person in the country that worked in a high rise that didn't say "f*** this, i'm gettin outta here!"
 
It was late at night where I was and I remember I was flicking through the channels to see what was on, I came across what I thought was another disaster movie so kept flicking but came back as that was all that was worth watching, it took quite a while to realise what I was watching was real but when it eventually sank in I don't think I left the TV for the next 2 days except for toilet & food breaks .... I was totally stunned.

My niece was somewhere in NY at the time and it turned out she was on the subway 2 stations away from the towers and had to do the big escape as everything was shut down but thankfully she was ok.

Being in northern Thailand I've heard nothing but haven't exactly been watching CNN.
 
I did not even know what the World Trade Centre was till then. I awoke to the news but I did not have time to watch much TV as I had to get to work. Later in the morning I saw the replay and was stunned. I remember feeling at the time if this had just been a movie no one would have believed it- too far fetched to be reasonable. I also saw it not just as an attack on the USA, but on all of us as a number of our nationals were killed as well. The same was true of many other countries. Then when we had the 2 Bali bombings it hit even harder as we lost even more. First we had communism, then fascists, now this. People in search of power and control no matter the lives lost, and using different excuses and relying on the uneducated and ill informed to achieve and maintain it..
 
I was in machining class working on a project, a tool which I still have and use, when a class mate came and told me. We all went into the teachers office and listened on the radio for a while and our teacher canceled class, I think the whole school shut down shortly after that.

I went to work at the bike shop where I was working at the time and the owner polled us as to what we wanted to do, and it was pretty much unanimous that we would all go home to be with our families. I spent the rest of the day watching the news with my wife, and her being from NY trying to track down her brother and friends who worked in Manhattan. Thank God all were alright.
 
Darkanion, I don't blame you either. I would have done the exact same thing & gone home too.

Taza, I've heard this, that & the other too, but I'm not going to go there.

I remember waking up as usual to the radio & hearing something about a plane crashing into the WTC Buildings. Still being half asleep, I thought it was an advert for a new movie. I in turn, turned it off, jumped into the shower to get ready for work.

Once at work, it was a very sombre feeling though, with everyone was just walking around like zombies with blank faces. It was only then that I learnt of what had actually happened.
Not much was done at work that day. Everyone was just worried about the poor souls that had lost their lives.

When I got home, I just sat glued to the t.v & just staring at it, still in disbelief of what had happened.

One image I saw though, will stay with me forever. Now while I don't believe in war, I saw a dusty window, where someone had written "Just Nuke them all"
And all I could think of was "hell yes, f#$% them" But that was just my raw emotions coming out. But as I said before, I don't believe in war, not now & not ever.

It did touch me deeply & being unable to get over there to help, I did something unique & had some body ink done as a tribute to all the people who lost there lives that day. Together with the brave people who rushed into the burning buildings trying to save them.

To me they will never be forgotten, may they rest in peace.

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
I had a mate working over in New Jersey at the time. Not knowing where New Jersey was in relation to New York, I was stunned when he told me how close to it all he was as he worked in New York. My parents were overseas at the time were due to fly in at any time. I immediately checked their flight details and was obviously relieved that they had not yet arrived. They bought me a New York tee shirt which had the 2 towers on it obviously still standing. Still have it as I don't often wear it.
 
I think a lot of people turned around and went home that morning before they even got to work. I can remember leaving the parking garage and downtown was like a ghost town.. Heck, most of the roads were pretty much empty, as I made my way back home..

Obviously, no harm came to me, but when I think about that morning, I still think "I should've turned around and went back home, instead of going in to the office.." I think that's more as a reminder that if impossible things like that start happening again while I'm on my way to work, don't go to work!
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We actually had people in NY that morning. They were supposed to be in the WTC later that day to work a deal. We were afraid they had gone down there early, maybe doing "tourist-y" type stuff. Fortunately, they had not. It took us hours to find out they were ok, though. With the airlines all being shutdown, I think one of them rented a car and drove them back home.

Thinking about that time period.. I know it happened. I know it was real. But, it's still kind of surreal to me..
 
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It's amazing how 10yrs on and any form of humour is still totally shunned, usually it takes hours but I can honestly say I haven't heard nor want to hear anything.

With Bali I was pretty lucky, I was standing having a drink at the front of the bar that was hit the worst a week before it happened (supposedly it was to be bombed the night we were there but they had a problem which delayed them by a week) we would have been obliterated. I went to a mates place to watch Bathurst and they told me about it, it was almost as hard to take in as 9-11 but kind of expected at the same time. As I did the booking I refused to fly on that date so we came back on the 12th.
 
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Yeah, i remember the Bali bombings. Those were just horrible. Didn't it take the lives of around 100 Australians? I remember hearing on the news of the memorials they set up around Australia for the victims.

D_generate, you sure make your way around buddy. World traveler!
 
Yes, there is always some black humour about these things- I think it is just the way people cope with such things although in especially poor taste around someone directly affected. We lost 89 in the first Bali Bombing. I was away when the second one hit so I know a lot less about it. I read Patrick Lindsay's book Back from the Dead- a book about Peter Hughes survival of that dreadful night. I think all of us who saw Peter Hughes that night on telly- almost mortally wounded telling the reporter not to worry about him, there were those worse than him when in fact he knocked on deaths door several times in the ensuing weeks will always get very emotional. It is a book I highly recommend to anyone who wants to see good people triumph in the face of utter evil. Peter Hughes is a man I admire greatly and I think almost everyone would as well
 
d_generate said:
It's amazing how 10yrs on and any form of humour is still totally shunned, usually it takes hours but I can honestly say I haven't heard nor want to hear anything.
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Amen to that.

I saw this & though it was a very moving tribute to those who lost their lives on that fateful day.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7Y2AKV0uQg&feature=email"]9-11 Tribute (Daddy I miss you).mov - YouTube[/ame]

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
dirtyRU said:
D_generate, you sure make your way around buddy. World traveler!
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Ahh, not really, S.E. Asia (Bali) starts at about a 3hour flight from Perth and it works out much cheaper than going east to Brisbane/Sydney/Melbourne etc.

It's much cheaper to live here too, I'm paying $11 AU per day for a nice air con room with fridge tv & a nice bathroom right next to the golden triangle of Burma & Laos in Thailand, I guess it's the same for you guys heading for South America...Lots of countries nice & close & mostly pretty cheap.
 
When are they going to put a second runway in at Perth? PITA every time I fly out of there, as 1) there is always a 30 minute congestion, and 2) Qanats insists on using planes where the IFE NEVER works. But at 3 hours it is also closer than Brisbane/Sydney/ Melbourne
 
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