Never Forget 9/11

[Ace-Garageguy]

While it's nice that people have expressed concern over the fate of folks in the path of the hurricane, we all need to remember what PEOPLE do to other PEOPLE, when rationality and compassion are suspended, and mindless fanaticism and blind hate are allowed free rein.

Edited September 11, 2017 by Ace-Garageguy

[Snake45]

It was a wake-up call, but far too many hit the Snooze Button. And have just kept hitting it, and hitting it, and hitting it......

[dieseldawg142]

....

Edited May 9, 2018 by dieseldawg142

[afx]

I was a contractor working in the Pentagon on that day and many long days thereafter.  I felt the impact of the plane.  A day, in fact that whole period of time is seared into my memory.

[Xingu]

I was not there, but could see the smoke from my office about 20 miles away. I know people that lost family members in the Pentagon. I ended up working there, as a contractor, for a few years after 9/11.

It is a shame that some folks relate 9/11 to the "aggravation" of having to be screened when going through the airport.

[High octane]

It was a horrible day that I'll never forget, and I did forget to bring in the  flag tonight that I hung out this morning. I was working at a Naval base shortly after 911 and I was greeted by an armed guard (soldier) every morning when I drove onto the base. I didn't mind that at all. If people don't like to be screened at the airport they don't have to, they can simply DRIVE instead of taking a plane. Simple.

[Russell C]

I'd think it's fair to say that if a person has achieved the pinnacle of success in career and personal status, but is suddenly seeing a 500mph airliner aimed at or below the office window and is now facing dim survival prospects, that person has at the very least something to complain about. Me, I haven't achieved my goals, and my surroundings are less than ideal, but tomorrow will be no worse than today, and it might even be better in a land of freedom and opportunity. So, I have no real complaints. That's my perspective at a rock bottom level, and I don't forget it.

[Tom Geiger]

The Tri-State Scale Model Car Club is centered around New York City with members living in communities in NY and NJ surrounding the city.  You think you know the guys in your club fairly well, but that morning we discovered that we had three wives in the World Trade Center.  I won't name names, but wife number one worked above the hit line on Tower One.  It was very fortunate that she had a breakfast meeting in one of the restaurants on the bottom floors that morning.   Wife two worked in Tower Two and when the plane hit Tower One, the emergency broadcast system in her tower told everyone to stay put.  Her instincts told her otherwise and she immediately left and headed for home.  We worried about the third wife for a week.   John Slivoski's widow worked in 6 World Trade Center and we could not raise her by phone.  After a week she called a club member to say she was okay, but spooked enough that she stayed with a friend.   Shortly after this, our club realized that we needed to know each other better, so we started our annual family picnic as a result of 9-11.

I lived in Hazlet, NJ, a  NYC bedroom community with frontage on New York Harbor.  We looked across Sandy Hook Bay at Staten Island, but the towers were very visible looming over Staten Island.  I was at work, but you could see the smoke from my street. 

The next week was surreal.  There was a strong stench in the air like there had been an electrical fire on your street.  While I was not affected directly by loss of friends or family, we know many people who lost family that day. Some of our children's friends lost fathers.   With three major airports and many smaller ones, there were always planes in the sky, never less than a few at a time,  especially noticeable at night.  With all the air traffic grounded there was this eerie stillness of the air.  

All of the television and radio antennas for the area were on the roof of the towers.  There was no back up plan, so the airwaves went silent.  The last hold outs got cable that week.  One night when we were watching the never ending coverage of pretty much nothing with cameras focused on the recovery efforts, we heard the sound of three military choppers patrolling the coast.  A few minutes later they announced it on TV.  We were that close.

It was the day that we all knew life had changed forever.