Where Were You on Sept 11, 2001

[David]

Older folks can remember where they were when we landed on the moon, Kennedy was shot, etc. I'll never forget that day.

 

I was in my home office and received a CNN email alert. I flipped the channel on. One of the twin towers was in flames and coming down. The boys' schools were locked down. After a few more minutes, I stared at live footage as the second tower was hit.

 

If Pearl Harbor marks the start of our involvement in WW II, Sept 11 marks the start of our involvement in the war against terrorism. Our nation has been largely protected in the last 9 years, but the war doesn't seem to be going all that well.

[Francois_Dumas]

Same as you David. Saw a news flash on my PC, went to the living room and witnessed the unthinkable. Stayed in front of the tv set the rest of the day. Like with Kennedy.

[Mike]

At work. I saw the news alert, but it didn't compute how immense the incident was. A minute or two later, one of my co-workers showed up, told me it was an airliner, and surmised that it was probably the work of Al Qaeda.

 

My story is utterly insignificant, compared to those who were directly impacted, but it was a bizarre and overwhelmingly sad day.

[RodB]

I was at work at the Bulyanhulu Mine in Tanzania.

With half of the local population being Muslim, I remember there being quite a bit of support/admiration for what had been done. For us ex-pats, there was some worry/apprehension for our own safety on top of the utter horror of what had just transpired.

 

As for the war on terrorism not going so well, I'd say that it is successful in that no event to the scale of Sept 11 has been repeated since - but at way too much cost (financial & other).

[Dave McReynolds]

The radio wakes me up every morning, and it has to have been that that alerted me. But the first actual memory I have of that morning is sitting in front of the television, and I remember sitting there when the second airplane hit the second tower. I remember seeing the second airplane fly into the tower, and it was too much for me to process emotionally, so I just took it in as information.

 

The only way the weaker side can win in asymmetrical warfare is to cause the stronger side to hurt itself. So far that seems to be happening, with us squandering untold amounts of our resources to achieve very little toward the accomplishment of our objective. Maybe a good start would have been to clearly define our objective to start with.

[baggerchris]

Tessie and I were on vacation and staying at a motel on the North side of Eureka Ca. I got up and turned on the TV and we both watched as the world came crashing down. Everywhere we went the rest of the week, Police were everywhere and everyone we met were downcast; depressed and troubled. It was not an enjoyable vacation, but it certainly was a memorable one. We had a blast compared to the folks in N.Y. tho. Along with the memories of where I was when JFK lost his life are pretty much the only ones I keep like that now.

[Les is more]

Here on the West Coast, we were just waking to the clock radio when the news came. We jumped up and turned on the TV, watching in horror as events unfolded. Then, I kissed my firefighter goodbye and sent him off to work with the full expectation of seeing him the next morning. Both of us were in tears at the thought of how many in New York started their morning with that very same thought.

 

We've done something each Sept. 11 in remembrance--Jamie's 343 Remembrance Rides, ceremonies on the USS Midway and a 9/11 ceremony in Shanksville, PA. This year on 9/11 we'll be at the Fallen Firefighter's Memorial in Colorado Springs honoring absent members of our fire family and remembering all those affected that terrible day.

[Kitsap]

I was in a meeting at work when a member of staff came in saying one of "our" 767's went into the WTS. He came in again when the second plane struck, the meeting ended and work stopped for the day. It was an awful feeling knowing our aircraft were used in such a way.

[BFish]

had cnbc on in my office as the event began. obviously, the balance of the am was not very productive.

 

sister and brother in law work very close to ground zero. both were ok, but it was tense until i finally got an email from my sister.

[philbytx]

I was in the trading room talking to the guys and watching Bloomberg, CNBC and the other news channels on our TV's.

Soon as the first one hit and they spoke about small plane going into the tower, I said "Nah! That's no small plane, I reckon that's Bin Laden"! They all thought I was nuts until the second plane hit and the story developed!

 

During my career, I worked at WTC for a while and that sad day, I lost a couple of good friends and many business colleagues and acquaintances.

 

Deb had it worse than I.

She had just finished chatting to a client/friend at Cantor Fitz and had made a call to another client in tower 2 (a lady who was pregnant) when the plane hit. She heard the noise and commotion...she had nightmares for a long time afterward.

 

As a followup:

In 2004, we were in NY for a party and Deb said she didn't want to go to there. However, I took her lunch at O'Hara's, which was one of my favourite 'watering holes' when I was working at WTC. Brian has a photo album of 9/11 and shortly thereafter, when O'Hara's watered and fed the rescue workers. After lunch, I shepherded her around the side streets so we would end up at Ground Zero. We looked for the plaque of those murdered there and then saw the names of our friends and had a good cry. She said she was glad she visited the site and I must say it was a cathartic experience for us both.

 

Shortly after, as we were walking away, we were approached by an oriental guy with a large shoulder bag asking me if I wanted any WTC "memorabilia"! I totally lost it. Yelled and cursed at the SOB and it ended up with a couple of other guys joining me to chase him away from the area.

 

And they want to build a mosque close by.........

[tallman]

30 days into chemo treatment and at home.

Another reason to feel sick...

 

Immediately began recording and have images, many that have since been censored in most contemporary broadcasts, to pass on to the next generation.

 

Like many, frineds directly impacted at WTC or aboard a flight.

 

I don't think we are going to ever triumph in an unwinnable conflict.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't try...

[CoarsegoldKid]

I was home getting ready for work when a friend of mine called to say, "turn on the TV. The shit has just hit the fan."

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Was at work, in the lab area with my manager and another engineer. One of the technicians, known for being a bit of a xenophobe, started babbling about terrorists crashing planes into the WTC. We called BS on him, but he swore up and down that it was on the news right now, so of course we got to our desks and pulled up the news on the internet. CNN came through awful slow, because damn near everyone else in the country was doing the same thing. Being in a federal government facility, we all started getting a bit nervous, until (after the second tower collapsed) the guards came on the PA system and told everybody to go home right now. From home I watched the news for a couple more hours, but there was really nothing else to do about it. It was a beautiful day out, so I ended up going for a long afternoon ride.

 

That Friday I did my SS1K. Somewhere in Indiana I passed a truck with a sign on the back:

 

"GOD, GUNS AND GUTS: IT'S TIME, MR. PRESIDENT"

 

One of the more amazing stories of the day unfolded in Gander, Newfoundland. This town of 10,000 received 39 transatlantic flights (and about 6600 passengers) that had been bound for the US; in the space of a few hours, the town's population increased by a whopping 66%. The residents went out of their way to take in the stranded travelers for several days until flights resumed. I expect there will probably be at least one news program covering this story again sometime in the next few days; if it comes on, it's worth watching.

[Whip]

I was on a plane to Minneapolis from San Antonio.

 

The voice said, "The President has declared a national emergency and we are landing at the nearest airport".

 

He didn't say where, or why.

 

While taxing I called Louise(after a few tries) and she was crying and worried about me.

 

When we got off the plane everyone was going everywhere and no one was at the gate to tell us where we were. I had to search for a sign or gift shop or somethin. Turns out I was in Kansas City.

 

I found a TV that told me the details of what was happening. I decided to rent a car and drive back to SA. I found a Hertz shuttle filled with peeps. I stood next to the driver and whispered, "how many folks tryin to rent cars." he told me there were prolly a couple thousand. I asked him how many cars they had, he said a couple hundred. I gave him $20 to stop if he saw a cab. He found one, I gave him twenty more.

 

At the time I was a member of Oak Hills Country Club here in SA.

We play inter club matches against Indian Hills Country Club in Kansas City. I called my club pro and he called the Indian Hills pro. When the cab driver dropped me off they had a set of clubs, shoes, lunch, and a tee time for me with guys I knew.

 

We watched films of the tower falling and then played 18. After the round everyone at the club was offering me somethin to help.

One guy threw me the keys to his Suburban another offered his guestroom.....and no one would let me pay for anything.

 

I got a ride to a Hertz satellite rental place at a hotel on the outside of town. They charged me $500 for a mini-van so I could drive home. I saw a gas station tryin to charge $8 for a gallon of gas.

 

I got home the next day and didn't know how much those 18 terrorist were gonna do to me personally.

 

....another story for another day.

 

 

[David]

I had three speaking engagements that cancelled within a week. A fourth, in Mexico, went ahead as planned. I was keynoting it.

 

I remember walking on stage and receiving a standing ovation, which is not something I normally receive even AFTER speaking. I asked what was up, and they said it was to express their sadness for America and their gratitude that I was still willing to fly in that climate (which didn't strike me as all that odd).

[Paul Mihalka]

For me it was really odd. I was on the road in Missouri riding back from the Bavarian Mountain Rally in New Mexico. I stopped at a large gas staion and there was a line to every pump. I asked if there was a gas shotage or what? People just rambled about planes, New York, terrorism, war. I managed to fill up. I had a hotel room reserved in Hermann, MO. I stopped for early dinner before getting to the hotel, at a winery/restaurant. The place almost empty, again just some warbled information. Got to the hotel, first thing call home. Maria tells me what is happening the best she can. THEN I switch on the TV. My first stupid thought was this can't be real, it is some horror movie trick. Then it sunk in. I didn't sleep much that night.

[4wheeldog]

We were camping at an out of the way campground way up a 4wd road in far northern CA. While we were breaking camp, I noticed that folks from the other sites were kind of clumping up, having conversations, which was a little unusual, given the location.

 

It was when I got in the 4runner and turned on the radio that the reason why sunk in. Didn't see the film of the strikes until that evening. It was one of those singular occasions when you know that the world has forever changed.

[Matts_12GS]

I was in Atlanta for the INTEROP IT Conference with my brother. We were about ready to walk over to the convention center and I had flipped on the TV to check the weather.

 

I saw John Glenn holding a drawing of the pentagon explaining something and I couldn't get the volume up in time to hear his spiel. Just about then, my wife called me in tears telling me that an entire group she worked with at Merrill Lynch had just been killed by a terrorist attack.

 

We walked over to the conference and watched a CNN kiosk as the second tower fell. The conference was pretty much a bust at that point and we poked around a bit waiting to hear from everyone that we needed to check in with and then decided to head for home. I drove from Atlanta to Macon and probably didn't see 15 cars.

 

I hate that it happened at all, but I am far more disgusted with the complacency that has followed.

[beemerman2k]

I was working on the 31st floor of the John Hancock Tower in Boston, MA on that sunny and clear Tuesday. My wife called me and told me that an airplane crashed into the world trade center. Some minutes later, she called again to tell me another airplane hit the other tower and that it was passenger jet!

 

I went to a hotel next door and saw in amazement the replaying of the second plane hitting the tower. I was standing with a crowd of people at that hotel when it was announced that the airplanes took off from Logan Airport in Boston. We were, of course, quite horrified. After a few minutes, but before any of the towers fell, I went back to the office. All this time, I was cool, calm and collected. I entered a conference room where my coworkers had a meeting underway and as soon as I attempted to explain to them what was happening, I burst into tears and could hardly form the words. When I finally got it out, they just sat their looking at me as though wondering if I had completely lost my mind.

 

That afternoon when I finally got home, I saw the replay of the towers falling, and I felt that I fell with them.

 

About 4 weeks later, myself and 2 other BMW riders from this site (Sandy "cape_cod_beemer", Kevin Little "kcl") rode to New York City and met up with ChrisNYC to visit ground zero. It was strange riding down 5th avenue and not seeing anything but empty sky where the towers used to protrude into the sky. Intellectually, I knew they were gone, but emotionally I wasn't buying it; I had to see for myself. The place was still smoldering quite a bit when I got there and wreckage was, of course, everywhere.

 

Quite remarkably, New Yorkers were never before or since so well mannered! Cars gave us all the room we needed on our bikes, no one tampered with them while we were away from them, and everyone was so amazingly polite! That'll never happen again.

[upflying]

I was writing a ticket, standing next to the drivers door of the violators vehicle. The driver told me what happened.

Didn't write any more tickets that day.

I was in emotional shock and in a daze. Crime stopped, calls for service stopped, traffic on the roads disappeared. Almost all on-duty officers were in the station watching TV..

[David]

I hope we can "keep" this thread so that it doesn't auto-delete. I'm finding these accounts very emotive.

[philbytx]

As an aside and some praise...I must commend Metra (the Chicagoland railroad authority) and their amazing staff for they must have had this contingency plan prepared.

 

A lot of firms were telling folks to go home plus everyone was evacuated from the Chicago Exchanges and the Sears Tower (prime targets). When we arrived at Chicago NorthWestern station, we discovered Metra had pulled all available locomotives and cars and had them lined up at every platform and ready to go. Discovered from friends that this was also true at Union Station.

 

They packed the cars with people, headed them out and quickly pulled another set in ready to go. All destinations well indicated and lots of folks on hand to help out. Cell phone service was almost non-existent due to overload but people just worked together, helped each other out by allowing strangers to use their phones to call loved ones. People offering perfect strangers lifts home from the station.....it was wonderful to see.

 

 

[David]

There was an astounding level of civility in the aftermath. It was great to see.

[Knifemaker]

NAS Mayport Fl.......long day getting off that base...

[skinny_tom (aka boney)]

I was getting out of bed and making coffee so that my wife could start the day of our anniversary with coffee and pastries in bed.

[dba]

I was awakened by a work mate asking me if I had the TV on. I was working graveyard shifts at the time and on occasion my ex-wife would bring our nine year old son to the house while she went to work.

 

When I got up, he was usually watching TV and usually the Discovery Channel. He would watch a show hosted by the chef of Windows on the World, the restaurant on the top floor of one of the towers. As I have relatives back east, I told him that we could save our pennies and go there for lunch some day.

 

I picked him up from school on 9-11 and asked him if they’d talked about what happened and if he was okay. He said he was fine and a few minutes later he said, “Everything has changed.” I asked him what he meant and he said, “I always knew I was looking at a photo of NYC because I could see the twin towers. Now they’re gone and nothing will ever be the same again.”

 

From the mouths of babes . . .

 

[lawnchairboy]

Camp Lester, Chatan-cho, Okinawa, Japan. I had gone to bed early the night before so I awoke to the story, we were +13 hours from EST. I thought it was a movie, until I opened my window and saw lots and lots and lots of rather heavily armed fellows walking about the residential complex. We were on Delta lockdown. About 12 days later I was on my stomach in the mud at Camp Schwab renewing my M-16, pistol, and later, dunker quals. Two days after the event, our CO showed us still images of bodies falling out of the towers while all the officers attended an op brief in the base chapel. My grandfather was in Manhattan that day with my two aunts getting cancer treatment. It took them 8 hours to get back to northern Jersey.

[ArmyGuy]

I was stationed here in Korea and had been asleep for a couple of hours. My wife woke me up and told me an airplane had crashed into a building and I didn't think much of it but she was quite insistent I wake up and see it on TV. I woke up in time to see the second plane crash into the towers. I'll never forget it.

[Ron_B]

I had just started work for the day at 8:00 central, and the 2nd plane hit 3 minutes later. Before the report of the 2nd one, one the shop staff came into the office and told me to turn on the radio. This guy was a Black Helicopter/NWO/International Bankers type conspiracy theorist, so when he started babbling that it was a terrorist attack, I said that it probably was just a terrible accident. Then we heard about the 2nd plane and I knew, at least this time, that he was right. Not much got done that day, especially after word that the towers fell.

[George Brown]

On Tuesday mornings I have a breakfast meeting with some men from my church so I got into the office a little late. Someone had moved a TV into my department's conference room and everyone was watching. I got in just as the 2nd plane was hitting the tower.

 

The daughter of one of the engineers in our group worked in the WTC, so we were all concerned for her. She was running a little late that morning and was turned away by the Port Authority at the Path station. However, because the phones were either blocked or tied up we never found out that she was OK until late that afternoon. She walked to a friend's apartment near the GW bridge.

 

Also, a lot of business associates worked there. Later we found that our insurance broker's engineering rep was killed. A really great guy with whom we had about a 20-year relationship.

 

Our company was being sold that year and the settlement date was 9/30, so we were all a little down anyway. That afternoon, I had to look at some rental laboratory space with one of the buyers.

 

I remember well ChrisNYC's updates all day and evening. The were great.

[Ron_B]

I remember well ChrisNYC's updates all day and evening.

 

There was much concern here about Chris until he finally posted. His company had clients in the WTC, and he knew quite a few people who didn't make it.

[AZKomet]

I was waiting for the Mrs to get out of the shower. I always watch the AM news and saw it there. I thought it was in another country at first b/c I was sure nobody could do that to the USA! My pager went off and we were on high alert after that.

 

I was then put in charge of a squad of deps for security at the nuke plant. That was crazy.......you don't even want to know what weaponry was out there!!!!!

[pbbeck]

I was getting ready to leave for work, watching the Today Show as I was getting dressed. Katie Couric said they were getting word of some sort of airplane crash at the WTC and like Katie, not knowing the scope of what was happening, assumed it was a small plane crash. They were broadcasting live when the second plane hit the second tower. My jaw dropped as I watched in disbelief.

 

I went to work and immediately turned on my classroom TV. Shortly before school started, the cable was cut off and an announcement was made forbidding us to watch the events in New York, DC, and Pennsylvania during the school day and to continue to teach, business as usual. I was angry at the time, but later admitted that that was the right decision. I'm not sure I could have maintained my composure dwelling on the events of the day and it would have served no purpose but to scare my already uneasy seventh-grade students.

 

After school, I drove up the 405 from Long Beach to Santa Monica to meet some friends. I remember seeing tanks blocking the off ramps to LAX and from the freeway I spotted military helicopters parked on the main runway at the airport. It was unreal - like a movie set. I clearly remember the moment a particular thought hit me, and aside from the senseless loss of lives, this thought is the thing that still puts a knot in my throat.

 

The thought... "America is never going to be the same."

[Skywagon]

911.. I was at home and heard it on the news. Two hours later I was at Travis Airforce Base dawning my flight suit.

 

Eight hours later I was ferrying donated blood for scanning to San Diego by the plane full, over and over. It was a very eerie feeling later that evening being one of a handful of airplanes in the US airspace. I remember flying over the top of LAX and it had been blacked out circa WW II. The air traffic control was very quiet. We had special ops requirements to keep from being shot down from friendly's.

 

As we approach the anniversary, lest we never forget!

 

For me...It is a day that will truly live in infamy.

[Mike]

The thought... "America is never going to be the same."

 

That strikes a chord with me. I had exactly the same thought . . . I didn't know where this would take us, but I was confident that our world was irrevocably changed.

[David]

I just wanted to say "thanks" to the participants for your thoughtful ruminations and lack of political posturing. It's been a good thread to read.

[mbelectric]

The thought... "America is never going to be the same."

 

Funny, I had this thought WELL before 9/11...It just happened to be after the election cycle of 2000...

 

MB>

[TEWKS]

I was in the kitchen feeding my then two year old son. Same thought as most, could this be an accident. A few minutes later it became very clear it wasn’t. I remember seeing the first tower go & said oh my farkin God they’re all dead.

 

Everybody on my department wanted to go & help. The word from the city was they didn’t need help right now so stay away, our union was saying the same thing. The first group of guys went down the next day anyhow & went to work picking through the rubble. I’m proud to say they found a body & pulled it out, my thinking being at least now a family had the chance to say good bye. I have to say the description of the corpse was not pretty though.

 

The next group went down & had a hard time getting to the pile as security became much tighter. By the time I was to go, you couldn’t get near the site. Regrettably, with the word from the union & not being able to do anything I stayed home.

 

As far as the war on terror goes, we have no choice but to win this conflict because they’re not going away. I just pray it doesn’t take another attack to remind us of this.

 

 

 

Pat

[Shaman97]

Was on my way in to work.

 

Some report out of NY said there was a plane that crashed into one of the WTC towers. I immediately thought of the bomber that crashed into the Empire State building during WW II during bad weather. I thought it must be bad weather back in NY.

 

Then the report of the second plane hitting the other tower came in. I was in complete denial. I still thought there was bad weather, and that some terrible navigation aid error had occurred.

 

I got to work & turned on the TV. The weather was good, and Dan Rather was giving the sober news. I was completely numb.

 

A couple days later I called a friend in NYC that lives across the street from where City officials bring bodies. The staff was outside the morgue with gurneys at the ready.

 

No bodies were delivered; they hadn't found any yet.

[Dave39]

I had just arrived at the start of our bike club's regular breakfast ride, and one of the riders announced that terrorists had flown a plane into the White House. That obviously turned out to be inaccurate, but details followed at breakfast.

[beemerman2k]

The thought... "America is never going to be the same."

 

Funny, I had this thought WELL before 9/11...It just happened to be after the election cycle of 2000...

 

MB>

 

So much for David Bakers commendable observation of the lack of political posturing in this thread.

 

Allow me to fire a warning shot that we do not pursue the line of thought introduced by mbelectric.

[Kathy R]

In my office. I was called to a conference room where there was a T.V. As I started to view the screen, to get an understanding of what my co-worker was telling me...I watched the 2nd plane hit the tower.

 

We stood there in disbelief and horror

[Bullett]

I walked into our offices when I worked for the state, and the receptionist told me a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. .

 

It turned out that all my colleagues were in the conference room with a TV on. We watched in horror as the second plane flew into the building.

[JustJean]

David and I were at work, my then 19 year old son had just reported to his Army post just outside of Barksdale Airforce Base. The youngest son was 30 miles away in High School. I was walking past the kitchen were the TV was on when I saw all that was happening. I called David and he found a TV and we called and emailed back and forth as it unfolded. My son's post went on lock down, no one leaving, no use of cell phones, no outside contact. My very scared little boy found a closet and called just me and said tell everyone I am ok. Got home to my youngest son pacing in the front yard worried to death about what was going to happen to the world now? Hard to think about how frightened we all were.

[Mike]

My very scared little boy found a closet and called just me and said tell everyone I am ok. Got home to my youngest son pacing in the front yard worried to death about what was going to happen to the world now? Hard to think about how frightened we all were.

 

This is a good reminder that, as much as this affected those of us who were adults, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 had a profound affect on the psyche and attitude of a lot of children.

 

Mine is not necessarily a very PC viewpoint, but this is all the more reason to hate the bastards who did this and to rain Hell upon those who would contemplate anything similar.

[Chris K]

I was in my room packing to leave for 10:30 AM flight to Los Angeles when my wife came up and turned on the TV in our room. The first tower had just been hit and as others related they were talking on TV that a small plane had crashed into it. About 10 minutes later we saw the jet crash into the second tower. I remember turning to my wife and saying "this is terrorism".

It is incredible as to how naive I was as to how this would change our lives. I even called the airline to find out what was happening with my flight. I was told nothing would be leaving until after 1PM that day.

[azkaisr]

Was getting ready to go to Paris when a friend called me to say that there was a plane crash. In my mind I can still see everything at the moment the second plane hit the WTC. The light coming in from the bedroom window was muted, the room had the windows open for the first time all summer, and I remember that Liam was laying at the foot of the bed looking up at me. I remember thinking...WTF? Then getting madder by the second coming to realize what had happened and then just shutting the sound off on the TV. I knew that ANY theory that the talking mouths were spewing would be fraught with error. I remember that I did turn the sound on after the towers fell. I was also on the phone to some folks about my trip including my Mom who I was taking with me.

 

What I think is just as important is remembering the following days and the sheer amount of chaos that followed by this attack. The coming together of people all over the world is amazing. A lot of my people were stuck in Europe, Africa and other places. The international Hotels were amazing. My company paid a lot of money to make sure that those abroad were taken care of. I think it was 2 weeks before all of my folks were back sleeping in their own beds.

 

More than anything, I just wanted to fly. My Mom, who has survived WWII was ready to get on a plane the next day. Courage comes in all forms. It took 1 month to get her to Paris in the end but it was a great trip. She was searched 4 times and she never got frustrated with the folks at the airport.

 

I haven't been to ground zero. Mostly because I don't want to be a tourist. I do wish they would get on with the rebuilding of the site. That alone is the best answer we could give those folks.

 

Time marches on, and in a way we often forget that we are still at war. I have lost members of my extended family in Iraq, amazing that the total number of people who I have met that have been killed is close to 10. Many friends are who are or were deployed in Afghanistan have come back still resolved that we need to prosecute those responsible for this and other attacks. None of them with the innocence they left with. Rather, most of them come back with the simple position that there are people out there who need to be eliminated so that they can't eliminate us or our way of life.

 

Sadly, I fear that we still have a long time to go before this threat is contained and it may be generations before we realize that we could all get along if we tried.

 

 

[Selden]

I was at work; when I heard about the first impact, I tried to get news through the Web, which was next to impossible. Went to the media center in the library, where a large-screen TV was displaying live coverage, and I had the misfortune to see the second impact, live.

 

However, perhaps more than anything else, what I remember is the stillness for the next few days, of skies free of air traffic.

 

My reaction at the time was, "The people responsible for this are not Muslims; they are sick, fanatical terrorists, who would kill anybody who doesn't follow "their" version of Islam. Nothing I have seen in the intervening 10 years, when the vast majority of victims have been Muslims, suggests otherwise. I still (literally) want to see Osama Bin Laden's disembodied head -- preferably on a plate or a stick. It probably won't do much to stop the conflict with these extremists, but it would at least provide some satisfaction at a primitive level.

[Samzilla]

I was in NYC a few blocks from the towers looking out a large conference room window and saw the second plane fly into the South Tower. I saw both towers fall, saw building 7 collapse later that evening, took a train from Penn Station to Washington DC and saw the Pentagon burning as the train passed by heading south to Florida.

[Aluminum_Butt]

I was in PA doing a presentation. When my boss and I walked out, his wife called to tell him what was going on. By that time only one tower had been hit and it was unclear what was happening. We went back to the hotel and I watched it begin to unfold.

 

That afternoon, my coworkers and I decided to drive back to the home office in Chicago, where most of them lived. We arrived in the middle of the night at O'Hare, where they all had their cars parked. I'll never forget driving up I-190 (the access road to the airport) and coming up on a row of police cars blocking the road, with officers and automatic weapons standing in front. On top of that, there were 8 of us in a big black Suburban - suspicious looking to them I'm sure. When we pulled up they demanded that we turn on the interior light, but we didn't know how as it was a rental. It was a tense moment. No one was allowed to go into the parking garage - we had to go back to a car rental lot and take a bus from there.

 

I actually lived in CA at the time. I waited in Chicago for a couple of days hoping to catch a flight, but finally gave up and decided to drive. I'll bet I heard Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American" a thousand times on the drive. I passed so many bridges where people had hung flags and signs about national pride, getting those responsible, etc. I'm a talk radio fanatic, and the airwaves were full of people telling stories about selfless acts, national pride, and justice for whoever had done it.

 

That day was terrible. But the days following are what I remember most. The sense of national pride was overwhelming. The sense of resolve to bring justice was unmistakeable. People were helping each other out. People who hadn't had God in their lives were turning to Him.

 

A few years later another song came out - Darrly Worley's "Have You Forgotten". I think we have.