NEVER Forget.

[Chandler#81]

Some incredible stories from an incredible event. Thank you all for sharing your day!

[RaoulDuke79]

I remember when the country came together after that atrocity. It was beautiful despite what prompted it. God bless all the first responders and all the other heroes who did things that nobody will ever hear about. ....brings a damn tear to my eye.

 

Edited September 12, 2020 by RaoulDuke79

[Augie]

48 minutes ago, Chandler#81 said:

Some incredible stories from an incredible event. Thank you all for sharing your day!

 

Nothing remarkable, but for me always memorable, impossible to forget.......I was in Sarasota, FL about a mile from where Pres Bush was visiting the school. I finished an appointment and got back to the office. Mike & Mike was my go to then (before ESPN effed that up), and Mike Greenberg (the deep rooted NYC guy) was very moving in reporting what little was known early on. He kept saying basically we move forward on the show, because what else are we supposed to do? 

 

A buddy had a small TV in his office so I went in to check it out. Just as I did, the second tower got hit. It was clear the first tower was not an accident as I had assumed, and the second tower was not hit by a small plane. That changed how I see the world forever.

 

We had a trip planned to take the kids to NYC about 6 weeks later. We debated whether we should cancel. So much was unknown at the time. Nobody knew what to think! We went, and had an extremely memorable trip. Both of our kids were moved by what they saw, as we were. That stays with you.....

 

A couple years later our younger son was on a travel soccer team with a bunch of great kids. One of the newer kids had moved to Sarasota right after the attack. As these things go, there are countless hours to talk with the parents. His dad decided last minute to work from home that morning where he could see his office at the WTC, while his mom was in there running his errands about 30 minutes before the first plane hit.  They saw what had happened and said “we are OUT of here.”  

 

Hug your loved ones, tell them you love them and do not take tomorrow for granted. 

 

 

.

Edited September 12, 2020 by Augie

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

13 hours ago, Guffalo said:

This is what I posted here on TBD the following morning, I still can't believe it is 19 years from that day. 

I almost feel ashamed looking at this board, since football is far from my
mind right now, but my home page is TBD...

When I was on my way to work yesterday, I was on the #1 express from Penn
down to WTC, at 14th a couple got on and said they saw a plane hit the trade
center, I figured it was a light plane, and continued on. There was an
announcement by the conductor that said "Due to a fire at WTC there will be
no service to Cortland ave (in the wtc), I got out at chambers street and
started walking..as I turned around to face the north tower I saw people
just staring up in awe..there was a hole in the tower with smoke and flames,
I asked some guy what happened and he said, he saw the plane go in.. and
then he said 15 minutes later the other tower exploded.. (we were on the
north side so he didn't see the 2nd plane , only the impact)

I tried my cell phone (no good) so I tried to find a pay phone , I thought
of my wife wondering if I was in there, and just the worry that the rest of
the family would have when they heard..I was able to get through to her
voice mail, and then I called our office on 36th st ( I am a consultant
assigned to 4 WTC since last September). The office wanted me to try to
locate another employee, and we started using my cell phone with the two way
radio feature.

I started looping around to the east of the buildings, trying to find my
co-worker, as I walked near the post office, I saw debris and broken
concrete, small puddles of blood, shoes ,lots of shoes and I picked up a
warm hunk of metal ( I have no idea why) it was almost hot and it was heavy
and it was oily or greasy... I dropped it when I saw a wheel or turbine that
was 20 feet away, high density aluminum about 6 feet wide....

Using my radio to my boss, I kept chatter back and forth and kept moving
towards where I figured Marcia would be (we went through the bombing in 93
and had always said, head for the water by the Seaport).

Police were busy on Church so I moved to Broadway by J&R Music and continued
the radio chatter with my boss, he said Marcia had not checked in yet, keep
looking, he also told me he saw video of the 2nd plane as it went in, he
said it had been hijacked as well as the first one, he also told be about
the Pentagon being hit.

I had worked my way to Nassau street, a pedestrian mall about 3 blocks east
of the towers. My radio was quirky, sometimes the frequency was jammed,
sometimes you could get through, so I told my boss I was going to keep it on
once I get a signal. As I was walking up Nassau I left the center of the
street and stayed along the storefronts, I was talking to Doug and he heard
me say "Oh @#$%^! something's happening, oh my God something went off", and
he could hear the rumbling as the first tower went down, I felt a shock wave
and wind rush as I ducked into a doorway (from the narrow street you could
not see the tower) I knew that one of them had fallen and I assumed it had
toppled over like a domino, not the gentle slide that I saw later.

The dust and debris cloud came next as I peered out of the doorway the cloud
came east towards the Nassau area, I started sprinting north and got one
block, as I looked over my left shoulder I saw a huge cloud of debris/dust
coming our way, as we ran I saw a woman fall, someone slowed down to help
and they were trampled ( I know I should have stopped, but I was thinking
about wife, kids etc, and she went down pretty hard) As I rounded the corner
near Beekman Hospital emergency personnel were waving us away I zigged
through the waiting stretchers, and headed to the Seaport, I slowed down to
catch my breath....
The smoke/debris cloud was covering us with something that was making me
choke and burning my eyes, it looked like snow... I started towards the
Brooklyn Bridge, but I was afraid that if the other tower went it may drop
towards us, so I started to go towards Chinatown. As I was walking I
remembered my radio.. the (last transmission I sent was Oh my God and the
rumbling in the background) when I finally got through my boss was excited,
he thought I was a goner.

A woman stopped be and asked to borrow the phone, I told her there were no
calls in or out, she then started wandering back towards the site and I
stopped her and asked what she was doing, "I have to get my pocketbook" I
said that would not be a great idea, and I asked her where she lives, we
were going the same way and started walking together, we saw a cab (empty)
so we got in and the driver said "I'm only going north" (well hello....that
was an understatement, who the hell wants to go back there!!!)

In the cab, Doug (boss) confirmed that the tower had fallen, we looked back
and saw the new skyline with just one tower standing up. A short time later
Doug asked where we were, I told him in a cab, and he told us the second
tower just went down, we looked out the back window of the cab as the debris
and smoke filled the air in the distance.

We were up to the village, and I saw the Empire State building looming in
the distance.. I told the driver to stop and let me out, the girl (Valerie)
said why get out now??? I pointed to the building/target and said"what would
be the next landmark to get hit??

I got out and gave the girl some money for the cab , she insisted on paying
me back and made me give her my card ( amazing at a time like this the
etiquette thing still remains in some people).

I started west to avoid the Empire State Building and went around it to get
to our office located 2 blocks north of the ESB. I got upstairs and changed,
called the wife ( she heard my voice cracking on the messages and she cried
every time she heard news of my progress)

We watched the news as others straggled in (Marcia had gotten up there too).
Once they opened the Long Island Rail Road, I left and got on and headed
home..

I never figured out whose shoes those were..

I am home now, and I suggest the following:
Don't complain about doing your kids homework.
Say I love you whenever possible
Try to keep in touch with your loved ones,
Whatever you think is very important today, may seem like a pimple on the
ass of an elephant tomorrow.

God Bless us all

Guff

What an amazing tale of survival, thanks for sharing.  I got a bit turned around at the end and missed the part where your co-worker made it as well.  19 years later, reading about it and for a brief moment hoping that lady made it out....well, glad she did. 
 

A close friend of a close friend worked at Cantor and did not make it.  I had met him a few times—Bronx guy, big personality among other big personalities.  I visited the memorial with my son a few years back and found his memorial.  Very touching visit and the resiliency of the folks in NYC was incredible. 

[Sherlock Holmes]

7 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

um, yes you do. You hijacked the Normandy Invasion thread with wildly inaccurate “corrections”. It’s what you do.

No worries. We accept you anyway. 

And, Hey! Thanks for the rides on your boats. We Jarheads appreciate you. Your Corpsmen too! Pilots? Not so much, no..

#MarineAviation 

Semper Fi Chandler!!

 

-Loving Corpsman

[davefan66]

I was working from my home office that day.  Had a business installing phone systems and computer/telephone cabling.  Was on the phone with a supplier trying to joke with him when he asked me if I knew what had happened.  I turned on the TV a few minutes before the first tower fell.  
 

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

 

My kids were at daycare that day, their ages were 5 and 4 years old.  We live where planes from the Buffalo airport take off and land overhead, about 5 miles from the airport.  Their daycare was in a direct path for planes landing.  Not knowing what was happening, I jumped in the car and grabbed my kids.  Scared that planes may be falling from the sky.  Got them home.   Watched the TV coverage for the next week as it seemed all life stood still.

 

Couple of vivid memories.

Because of where we live, we hear planes regularly.  It was the morning when air traffic started again.  I was brushing my teeth in my bathroom when I heard the first plane fly overhead in what seemed to be an eternity.  I jumped out of my skin hearing that plane.

 

the other memory I have is how considerate people were for the week following.  Opening doors for each other, “please” and “thank you”, and courtesy in traffic,  The wake up call was the next Monday when I was cut off  in traffic and given a hand gesture.  
 

To this day it feels like a dream.  How could they actually coordinate to successfully hijack that many planes?  How could they successfully hit their targets as they did ?  How could those towers actually come crumbling down??  How could they all evade airport security and carry out their plan?
 

May god bless those who perished that  day and their families  and friends.

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

16 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

Let's not forget the already forgotten WTC Building # 7 that the University of Alaska Fairbanks released its report on...