elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Sept 11, 2011 10:34:46 GMT -5
Some reflect quietly. Some talk about emotions.
I'm a talker.
I also believe in the power of shared stories.
Sept 11 is my anniversary. I was married in 1999. My wife and I were celebrating by taking a couple days away from home at Cambria, a coastal town 100 miles north of home. On the morning of Sept 11 I woke in our motel, which faces the ocean, and walked over to office to get coffee for my wife. There were several groups of people loading their cars. I noticed they were all walking stiffly, not talking. It was also way before checkout time. I walked in the office and said "HI!" really cheery to the manager. She was standing oddly, leaning against the desk. A TV was playing in the back room. She said 'Did you hear?' I said "Hear what?" "They blew up the Towers." I thought to myself. "HUH?" "The Twin Towers" I thought "Again?" And then she said "They're gone. They flew planes into them." It is the only time in my life that I felt fantasy replaced reality, that I somehow slid sideways into something not quite real. The shock came across and I forgot the coffee and went back to the room - looking I'm sure like all those who I had passed coming into the office - and turned on the TV and watched for a long time. I called my parents and I felt horror and anger. I remember the Horror of watching the shuttle slowly disintegrating over the Atlantic. I remember the rage at hearing the O.J. Simpson verdict. But the Towers stands beyond all of those.
We drove home in silence, listening to the radio and I wondered how our nation would change.
If it moves you, share where you were. This disaster doesn't just belong to New Yorkers. It's all of ours, maybe not as intense or as immediate, but it's still ours.
God bless.
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Post by jakesrocks on Sept 11, 2011 11:23:17 GMT -5
Being retired, I had slept in late that morning. I poured my first cup of coffee, and turned to watch the morning news. I was just in time to hear that the first plane had hit. I turned to my wife and told her that it was a terrorist attack, even before the second plane had hit. I had no doubt that it was terrorists.
Needless to say, I spent the rest of the day glued to the TV. I did stop long enough to put my flag out at half mast, in honor of those who had died.
Being a retired military man, I felt anger at what had been done to our great nation. I prayed that our president would take action, unlike presidents before him who had given our enemy a slap on the wrist. I wanted to see, and still want to see this enemy destroyed.
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electricmonk
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2011
Posts: 281
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Post by electricmonk on Sept 11, 2011 12:50:08 GMT -5
I had a dream that I was soaring over mountains, forests and valley's with a multitude of souls. It was peaceful, beautiful and one of the most vivid dreams I have had in my life.
I woke up that morning (West coast), didn't have TV at the time, got ready and headed into work. Found out via the radio that the attacks had happened.
I didn't remember the dream I had, which took place during the attack, and link the two until much later.
Really sticks in the memory...
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Post by Toad on Sept 11, 2011 13:16:39 GMT -5
I was just pulling out of the driveway when they had reported a Cessna had hit one of the towers. Was on my way to work when the second one hit. Terrorism didn't occur to me. I heard the Pentagon had been hit. Then I thought - we're at war.
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Sept 11, 2011 13:23:36 GMT -5
We were driving between 2 jobs when we heard about it on the radio.Those are the only 2 jobs out of the hundreds and hundreds we have done in the past that I can recall the exact date of.
snuffy
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Post by Bikerrandy on Sept 11, 2011 14:02:39 GMT -5
I was on watch at FACSFAC (Fleet Area Control and Surveillance Facility), watched everything unfold live on 3 extremely large screens in a room with 25-30 air controllers. 20 years in the Navy, and it's the only shore-duty watch I remember.
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grayfingers
Cave Dweller
Member since November 2007
Posts: 4,575
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Post by grayfingers on Sept 11, 2011 14:37:07 GMT -5
It was a Tuesday, the first day of a week off. I had gone fishing on the river in the mouth of the Gallatin canyon. It was a picture prefect morning and I watched a beautiful sunrise as I was catching my last trout. I drove back to town not bothering to turn on the radio, just reveling in the morning and enjoying the first signs of fall.
Upon arriving home I dumped my catch into the sink and poured the last coffee from my thermos. It was 8:30 Mountain time, I flipped on the TV and saw what turned out to be a replay of flight 175, flying into the south tower of the World Trade Center. John Scott (Fox) was saying how America was under attack. Dumbfounded, I sank to my knees in front of the TV, and as my brain started to process all I was seeing I felt tears streaming down my face. Within moments the tears turned into a intense anger that welled up inside of me which in turn quickly became a blind rage, and I felt a consuming desire to kill.
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Post by kap on Sept 11, 2011 14:49:49 GMT -5
I was on the way to a job when I heard it on the radio. When I walked into the customers place no one was working they were all watching the news. It was the only time I have been to that customer but I and still remember being there and the look on everyone's face. . Grayfingers I felt the same way!
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Post by mohs on Sept 11, 2011 15:11:17 GMT -5
I was working the graveyard shift. Tuesday morning would have been my first day back after the weekend. But I called in sick that morning.That didn’t happen often. But I had some viral influenza. Not feeling well at all!
I had dear friend who lived hundred of miles away. We wrote every day via e-mail. So that morning I logged on to my computer to write the morning message. Flipping over to Yahoo mail I noticed the news line that read: ‘Plane Hit World Trade Center’ ( not sure that was the exact headline). The computer clock read 7:11. I thought it strange. I must go back and monitor that after I write the message.
I didn’t have a T.V. I’m sitting in the same room, basically in front of the same computer, on that date 10 years ago. I started monitoring the event via the internet news. I turned on the radio talk show. Informatiion was coming in fast & furious! I had to get to T.V. I went to the nieghbors. Woke them up! Turn on the T.V. I saw the first tower collaspe.
After about 15 minutes I went back to my room. I montitiored that whole event from the internet & talk radio. I got into some New York Message Boards. I do believe I saved some of those messages.
If it hadn’t been for my daily e-mailing to my friend it might have been hours before I was aware of this. I wasn’t feeling well and just sleeping.
I agree with you Lowell. Shared stories can provide some salve and understanding. Two years from now we’ll be talking about where we were on the 50th anniversary of when President Kennedy was assassinated. Another landmark day not easily forgotten.
Ed
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Post by jakesrocks on Sept 11, 2011 15:21:03 GMT -5
I can remember that day very well Ed. I was sitting in my truck in a drive in restaurant, drinking a giant coke when they announced that Kennedy had been shot. The coke went all down the front of me. A woman sitting in the car next to me was crying. Everyone was in shock.
Don
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Post by Rockhobbit on Sept 11, 2011 16:00:58 GMT -5
I was at work in Houston, Texas.........we had a TV in our office and always had it on, just no sound. I remember seeing a 'Special News Report' break in and turned up the volume to hear what happened. I just stood there in shock..........I remember thinking, the end is here and I am not saved. I didn't know what to do, we all just stood there watching the TV for the rest of the day. It almost seemed that the entire US stopped for the day and nobody knew what to do. Those of us so far away from New York felt helpless and all we could do was pray like we never prayed before!
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blessed
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2010
Posts: 329
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Post by blessed on Sept 11, 2011 16:15:01 GMT -5
I was at home doing nothing, not watching tv. My wife called and told me what had happened. That was one hard day for me. Emotions ran real high. 9-11 holds a different story to me. In the early morning of 9-11-1969, around 12:30 am, a unknown size of NVA regulars tried to over run fire support base "Siberia". One bad and long night. I earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for valor. I am a Vietnam Veteran. Most of my friends don't know about what I just wrote. NVA= North Vietnam Army James
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Post by ColtChainmailJewelryDesigns on Sept 11, 2011 16:35:53 GMT -5
I feel like a fool saying this.... But I was only 8 years old when this all went down. I had spent the night at my dads apartment. At that time, my parents had already gotten their own bedrooms at this house. My dad ended up moving out to a aparment in town, as far as i knew it was just because he hated his hour and 1/2 commute to work every day on dangerous roads (roads where really fine, but not the crazys on it!). And I woke up to doing whatever I did back then (lol i have bad memory!). My dad told me that "terrorist flew planes into the twin towers". I replyed with "what did tarrence do? witch episode of south park is this dad?lol". My dad said "no, not south park, its something on the news!" I just said "oh, I dont care about the news" nd walked back to my room. I didnt find out for 2 weeks what really happen because everyone that told me thought I was retarded for what my reply was and didnt explane. I was only 8 though. =P
0.o
~Colt
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Post by jakesrocks on Sept 11, 2011 16:41:26 GMT -5
James, there are a few of us that know the NVA very well. 18 months riding PBR's around the canals and rivers. Don
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grayfingers
Cave Dweller
Member since November 2007
Posts: 4,575
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Post by grayfingers on Sept 11, 2011 16:48:46 GMT -5
James, and Don... Thank you for your service. Our nation owes a great debt to those who served in Vietnam.
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Sept 11, 2011 16:59:38 GMT -5
Colt,
That's my job, dealing with 6th graders, and on Monday I get to go in and try to explain to them the events of a decade ago, when they were 1 or two years old.
If my principal allows it - I am going to just sit them down, and I am going to ask them to pick a place: a building, a fire engine, a passenger or pilot on a plane, a policeman, a guard at the Pentagon, the president ... then I am going to run through the timeline. One by one, each choice they make - the place they feel is safe - will be affected. As the horrible events unfold, I will ask those lost to put their heads down.
When it is done, some will still have their heads up. Most will not. I will write a number on the board - the presumed dead - and I will ask them for their reaction. How it felt during the event, and how it felt afterward - and ask them why we - who were old enough to witness it from near and far - react the way we do on that day.
I believe for history to be taught, and to be understood as best as possible by young people, they must experience a taste of it - for joy as well as for sadness.
***To 'blessed' - thank you for sharing. I've known several veterans from Vietnam and WWII who still don't talk much about their experiences. It's an honor to be trusted with your story here.
To all - thank you for sharing.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,472
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 11, 2011 18:12:02 GMT -5
I was actually at our old ranch up at Hornitos hunting poppy jasper. A neighbor drove by and stopped her car and said a plane had hit a building in New York. I kind of shrugged like OK, and continued hunting. No TV at the ranch so I had no idea about the scope of the attack or that it was terrorism until that evening when we went to a buddy's house to watch the TV coverage which of course, was shocking and on a scale so huge as to be almost incredible.......Mel
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Post by rockrookie on Sept 11, 2011 18:20:46 GMT -5
before 9-11 i used to sit and look up at the sky , and wonder what it was like long ago . to not see any airplanes or evidence of there trails . i never thought that i would see a time when planes did not fly . i cried ..................... when it became a necessary reality .
i remember this day vividly as most of us do . Tuesday was my day off . my wife had to work that day . so i met my parents for breakfast at a local diner . shortly before we finished . it came on the radio , that a small airplane just hit the tower . not realizing the magnitude . we left , and got in our own cars . i had a tape playing instead of radio . i drove a few miles to my next planned stop . a Friends sporting goods / gun store . they filled me in , quickly .by then the 2nd plane hit as well as the Pentagon attack . as we listened to the radio . we heard from a phone call that a 4th plane was heading toward our city of Pittsburgh and more planes were unaccounted for . all of the 3 men that were with me . remembered Pearl Harbor . ive never learned so much about people , with so few words .
as i left to go home to call my wife . i did not have a cell phone ..
my friend gave me several boxes of ammo for different guns that i owned .
saying , that we may need these . as we might be at War in our own Country .
THAT was when the hair really stood up on the back of my neck .
i was glad to give them back in a few days .
just thinking of this brings tears to my eyes .
also my Wife was 3 months pregnant with our 1st child . and our world was changing as we new it. --paul
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Post by NatureNut on Sept 11, 2011 20:49:31 GMT -5
I was at the dentist when the towers came under attack. Sitting in the dentist chair, mouth open, dentist working diligently, his office manager came in and told us. Each room had a small TV attached to the chair, and they turned on the news and we watched as the second tower was struck. Then the reports of the Pentagon, and Flight 93 in Shanksville, just a few hours west of us.
When my work was finished, I drove back to work. I was working at Wyeth, a major pharmaceutical company at the time and dealt with affiliates in countries all over the world. People were standing around and had a radio and television playing. First thing I did was call my husband who was at home that day. I asked him if everything was okay at home. Our three boys were in school and I told him that if the threat became worse, he was to go and get them. I wanted to tell him I loved him. You would have to know my husband to understand what an idiot he was, because he said that everyone was overreacting and didn't even say I love you back.
This was a 20 year marriage and I had been trying to make it work, most times alone, and in the days following 9-11, I decided to pull the trigger and file for divorce. The reality of how fragile life could be, and that we were now at war, gave me the courage to take the steps to change my life, before it was too late.
Jo
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Post by Rockoonz on Sept 12, 2011 0:56:24 GMT -5
I was at work when a co-worker told me about the first plane. I remember the questions that began to go through my head as things began to unfold, how many planes are there? how many cities are under attack? Will I be able to go home today? (I work on the other side of the river from where I live) Is this just the start?
An event like this is surreal in so many ways, the reality in my life that I remember most vividly was the sense of mourning I felt for people I had never met. Suddenly the people I walked by in the supermarket, the checker, the lady with the annoying screaming toddler in the grocery line in front of me, the cashier weren't strangers. We were all in this thing together.
The grieving process ran it's course, only to stop abruptly at anger. I was so incredibly angry.
We had a family vacation in southern CA several weeks later. Driving back north over the desolate expanse north of the gravevine on I5 we stopped for gas. As we pulled in a unmarked white van pulled up opposite of us, with a turbaned, bearded driver. I commented to my wife that if Bin Laudin needed a double this would be the guy. As we filled our tanks I noticed the looks this fellow was getting. I filled the tank and went into the AM PM for my own pit stop. As I approached the door I saw in the reflection of the glass that he was right behind me. I opened the door, turned, smiled, and said "good morning". He seemed a bit shocked at first, but then smiled and wished me a good morning as well. That strange little confrontation began a healing process that most likely saved my marriage.
I heard a quote today from the wife of a christian missionary. "love the one in front of you".
Thank you Elementary for the question and the reminder.
God Bless
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