9/11, 20 years later

[tower912]

Break out Springsteen's 'The Rising'.     Where were you?    Did you lose anyone close to you?    Did it change you?

[Galway Eagle]

Watched the second plane hit live on good morning America. I have three uncles that went out to help with the cleanup, one was the first fire engine to leave to help. they've all since had lung issues. Nobody personally lost in the towers.

It did change me. It made me realize that America wasn't loved across the world (I was 11) and realized wars don't get fought only on battle fields.

[Uncle Rico]

Break out Springsteen's 'The Rising'.     Where were you?    Did you lose anyone close to you?    Did it change you?

I was at home getting ready for work.  Tuesday was a later start back then.  Usually had the tv on as background noise but not that day for some reason.  Left at about quarter to nine and turned on the radio and that’s how I found out.   

[GB Warrior]

I think it'll hit differently this year than others, with the loss from the pandemic these past 18 months, with the war in Afghanistan done. I think there's just a lot of slow, collective trauma we've had to endure as individuals and a country. I was in 8th grade and really have not known an adolescence or adulthood without it.

I'll admit that I'd grown a bit numb to it. Never forgetting where I was or what I was doing, but not sitting in the feeling of it.

I listened to the NPR segment Sacred Ground about Flight 93 over the weekend, and that hit me harder than any of these over the last several years.

[wadesworld]

I was in my home room in 7th grade and our computer teacher came into our classroom and whispered something to our home room teacher.  She then turned on the TV and we saw the second plane hit the Tower.  From there, some classrooms we went to had the TV on and others did not.  They originally announced indoor recess for that day even though it was beautiful outside, saying there was construction on the playground, but then changed that decision.  I was hooked to the TV when I got home from school.  It is the first time in my life that I realized there was pure evil out there in the world.

Did not know anyone.

Have been to the Memorial and Museum in NY twice now.  So well done.

[Goose]

It changed my life big time. Sept 2001 was the worst month of my life and the events of 9/11 forever changed my thinking and outlook on life.

[Jockey]

I think it'll hit differently this year than others, with the loss from the pandemic these past 18 months, with the war in Afghanistan done. I think there's just a lot of slow, collective trauma we've had to endure as individuals and a country. I was in 8th grade and really have not known an adolescence or adulthood without it.

I'll admit that I'd grown a bit numb to it. Never forgetting where I was or what I was doing, but not sitting in the feeling of it.

I listened to the NPR segment Sacred Ground about Flight 93 over the weekend, and that hit me harder than any of these over the last several years.

Visited the crash site of PanAm 93 a couple years ago. It was as sobering as the first time I visited the Vietnam Memorial in DC.

I knew guys whose names were on the wall. Didn't know anyone from 9/11 although a co=workers daughter was presumed dead - body never recovered.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

It makes me sad and mad on many different levels, and honestly I am looking forward to this weekend being over because I don't like feeling sad and mad.

[jesmu84]

As another said, it demonstrated to me (junior in high school) that the US wasn't loved across the globe.

Then went on to demonstrate how screwed up everything was with our government, politics and military...Iraq, war on terror, patriot act, homeland security, tsa, Afghanistan,
hate for others, BS patriotism, torture, etc etc.

Really led me down a path of pessimism and fatalism that I still don't think I've overcome.

[MU82]

I was in my home office working that morning, and I saw the bulletin come over the AP wire. Like most everybody, I couldn't believe what I was seeing at first. Not until the second plane hit did I really know what was going on. I called my wife downstairs and we cried as we embraced. It was a horrible feeling of sadness, helplessness and anger.

Beyond the tragedy of lives lost and fellow Americans injured, and beyond the feelings of vulnerability and anger, 9/11 changed American society -- and certainly not for the better.

It led us to be ever more suspicious of "others"; it led to multiple wars on false pretenses at a cost of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars; it led to the executive branch getting far too much power in the guise of defending our nation; it led to our political leaders making far too many decisions in the name of "security" that have had little to do with it; it has led to fake "security" measures that have endured for 20 years, such as not being able to bring bottled water past airport check-points; it has distracted America from the much bigger threat of domestic terrorism, which has grown exponentially the last several years.

At first, it looked like the tragedy might bring us together, and maybe it did for a few weeks or months. Unfortunately, if there ever was a chance for enduring togetherness, the last few years -- capped by 1/6/21 and its aftermath -- might have ended it.

1/6/21 was the saddest day in America since 9/11/01 ... and an argument could be made that 1/6/21 was sadder, because it was Americans attacking other Americans, as well as the very soul of our democratic republic.

[Jockey]

As another said, it demonstrated to me (junior in high school) that the US wasn't loved across the globe.

Then went on to demonstrate how screwed up everything was with our government, politics and military...Iraq, war on terror, patriot act, homeland security, tsa, Afghanistan,
hate for others, BS patriotism, torture, etc etc.

Really led me down a path of pessimism and fatalism that I still don't think I've overcome.

Basically, the same as all of my feelings about Vietnam, which changed and shaped my feelings on life much as 9/11 did for you.

[Jockey]

1/6/21 was the saddest day in America since 9/11/01 ... and an argument could be made that 1/6/21 was sadder, because it was Americans attacking other Americans, as well as the very soul of our democratic republic.

I differ in that 1/6/21 was the absolute angriest day of my life. I was literally yelling at the TV to shoot the terrorists in real time.

[JWags85]

I was a sophomore in HS.  I remember hearing in the halls that someone flew a plane into a building in NY and being like "wow, thats dumb".  Then as second period turned into us glued to the TV, it became surreal.  This was pre-Twitter, pre endless social media, so its not like everyone was plugged in.  I remember people clamoring for more action, which was gross, but also kind of illuminates how out of body it was.  It felt like a movie.

Tangentially related, our business was still in early stages at the time and we were about 9 months away from being super tied to NYC.  We rented a business apartment there for the first time in early 2002.  And it had a direct south facing view.  The towers would have been dead center.  It had stopped but a few months earlier we would have seen the eerie smoke rising.

I knew nobody personally at the time, but through my work and network, I know multiple people who lost loved ones.  Crazy enough, I have an associate who left NYC shortly after 9/11.  Lost a cousin and some friends and just needed a fresh start.  He started a business in South Florida after moving to Miami.  He's been fairly successful, but one of his best saleswomen actually passed away in the apartment collapse in Miami a few months ago.  Just unreal.

EDIT: Can we please not turn this into yet another political clusterf***

[DegenerateDish]

I was 22 at the time and getting ready for work when I was making breakfast and the tv was on, and turned around and saw the second plane hit. I luckily worked only 5 minutes from home, and remember telling someone to turn on a radio so we could hear what was going on. Weird to think how different a world it was back then (no social media, flip phones).

If you live in the west burbs of Chicago, my work was about 15 miles due west of O'Hare, and the flight path to land from the west, or take off to go west, was over my work. I'll never forget at around 10am or so (maybe it was earlier), planes literally doing u turns in the air over my work to go back and land. For everything that was happening on tv, it was surreal to see that, and to wonder if any of those planes going to/from ORD was in danger.

[MUfan12]

I was a sophomore in HS.  I remember hearing in the halls that someone flew a plane into a building in NY and being like "wow, thats dumb".  Then as second period turned into us glued to the TV, it became surreal.  This was pre-Twitter, pre endless social media, so its not like everyone was plugged in. 

Was a junior, and had a pretty similar experience. I do remember one teacher deciding to turn the TV off after footage of the jumpers was aired.

To this day I struggle with those images, and how unimaginably awful it had to be to make that choice.

[jsglow]

I was in my office initially believing that the first plane was some kind of small private aircraft.  'That really sucks', I thought.  When I learned shortly thereafter that it had been a commercial jet I immediately went down to the lunch commissary in our office building to watch still hoping it was some kind of terrible, terrible accident.  I saw the second plane hit and instantly knew we were at war.

I don't remember exactly when I left the office that day but 3p is a good guess.  It was positively surreal to see multiple fighter jets overhead in Chicago and nothing else.  I remember getting home and comforting my then 9 and 7 year old kids.  They were, not surprisingly, confused and frightened.

There's evil in the world.  That's always been true.  Good has to work hard to combat it. We've made numerous mistakes since then.  What we can all hope for is that men and women of good conscience make the best decisions possible given the facts at hand.  Sadly, I've lost a lot of faith in that over 20 years.

[MU82]

I was in my office initially believing that the first plane was some kind of small private aircraft.  'That really sucks', I thought.  When I learned shortly thereafter that it had been a commercial jet I immediately went down to the lunch commissary in our office building to watch still hoping it was some kind of terrible, terrible accident.  I saw the second plane hit and instantly knew we were at war.

I don't remember exactly when I left the office that day but 3p is a good guess.  It was positively surreal to see multiple fighter jets overhead in Chicago and nothing else.  I remember getting home and comforting my then 9 and 7 year old kids.  They were, not surprisingly, confused and frightened.

There's evil in the world.  That's always been true.  Good has to work hard to combat it. We've made numerous mistakes since then.  What we can all hope for is that men and women of good conscience make the best decisions possible given the facts at hand.  Sadly, I've lost a lot of faith in that over 20 years.

Me too, glow. And it is very sad.

[Macallan 18]

I was a junior at Marquette and getting ready before my 9 am class, turned on the TV to see the second plane hit and being in total shock.

I worked on the Marquette Tribune that year and recall the chaos of the newsroom as the staff stayed up late into the night to get a special edition ready for the next day. Our editor in chief worked part time at the AP and was able to get permission for the Tribune to use one of the AP photos of the towers on fire for the cover.

During Spring Break that year I was in NYC and recall walking around Battery Park and coming across a wall of photos of missing individuals. It was a surreal and deeply moving experience.

[Billy Hoyle]

I was having breakfast and watching Today when the reports were that a private plane had hit the WTC. I left for work around 8am and made the walk 1.25 mile walk to the Capitol building. Upon walking in I said to my co-worker "did you see a private plane hit the WTC" and then I saw his face and it was white. He said "it was a jet, and another one just hit." We were one of the few offices that had a TV and my buddy who had been in Naval Intelligence (he did recon for the bombing of Libya) called to ask if he could come down and watch. Upon seeing what was going on he said "it's Bin Laden."

Shortly thereafter a lobbyist who was coming to meet my boss called me from the Pittsburgh airport to say her plane was delayed and would be late. I told here "you're not flying out today." She said "no, it's just a delay, I'll be there." I asked her if she knew was as going on and had seeing anything on TV and she said all of the TV's in the airport were off. I told her "terrorists hijacked two planes and crashed them into the WTC" and she started screaming. Soon all others around her were screaming. Oops...

My then GF (now wife) called. It was her first day of work in Chicago. She said they were being evacuated and nobody knew why. They walked down the stairs of the tower. I told her what had happened. She was speechless.

I sat down on my desk and my coworker yelled "it's coming down" and I ran in to see Tower 1 collapse.  We left the office, since the Capitol was on lockdown, and went to my coworker's condo for the day, watching the coverage.

At the end of the day I left his condo and the city was dead quiet, it was eerie. I went to my gym to workout then home. I called my cousin in Westchester and he told me his best friend, Larry, who was on NYPD and I had hung out with when he visited (he got me out of MIP), had switched beats with a colleague to do a bust out in Long Island since it was closer to his home. The guy he switched with died in the towers.

[Billy Hoyle]

I differ in that 1/6/21 was the absolute angriest day of my life. I was literally yelling at the TV to shoot the terrorists in real time.

That's how I felt on 5/29/2020 watching my city get smashed (including my wife's office, a non-profit), looted, and set on fire by "peaceful protesters," and hearing so-called leaders going on TV encouraging and praising the rampant destruction.

[Babybluejeans]

So anyway, back to the topic. I was in high school in DC and we could see the smoke rising from the Pentagon, and had to lock down because Flight 93 was still in the air and en route to the Capitol (at least that was our understanding at the time).

It forever changed all of us. Of course it set off the Age of Terrorism, or Age of Anxiety. But it also changed the way we travel, the way we look at geopolitics, the way we thought we existed, as Americans, in a protected cocoon before that day. In that sense, the impossible became possible, and the culture changed irrevocably along with it. 

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

So anyway, back to the topic. I was in high school in DC and we could see the smoke rising from the Pentagon, and had to lock down because Flight 93 was still in the air and en route to the Capitol (at least that was our understanding at the time).

It forever changed all of us. Of course it set off the Age of Terrorism, or Age of Anxiety. But it also changed the way we travel, the way we look at geopolitics, the way we thought we existed, as Americans, in a protected cocoon before that day. In that sense, the impossible became possible, and the culture changed irrevocably along with it. 

I was reading an article just a few minutes ago, and it had this line:  "To walk through Bill Clinton’s presidential library in Little Rock today is to marvel at how low-stakes everything in the 1990s seemed."

As someone who came of age in the late stages of the Cold War, and who graduated from Marquette in 1990, the 90s were really a grand time.  The economy was rolling, we had no foreign enemies in the traditional sense, the budget was balanced and the political fights of the day seemed so tame and inconsequential in retrospect.

9/11 changed all of that. Glow said it best when he said  "What we can all hope for is that men and women of good conscience make the best decisions possible given the facts at hand.  Sadly, I've lost a lot of faith in that over 20 years."

Yeah, I gotta agree.  I think we made a lot of bad decisions since then - both during blue and red administrations.  And its going to take us a long time to recover from that.

[MU82]

That's how I felt on 5/29/2020 watching my city get smashed (including my wife's office, a non-profit), looted, and set on fire by "peaceful protesters," and hearing so-called leaders going on TV encouraging and praising the rampant destruction.

Ridiculous comparison to the mob of armed terrorists who were whipped into a frenzy by the President of the United States. On his behalf, they marched to the seat of American democracy, injured 100+ cops, chanted "Hang Mike Pence," threatened numerous other elected officials, destroyed government property, and delayed the carrying out of the peaceful transfer of power that has been a bedrock part of our republic. There is no equivalent to that, no matter how hard you try to make one.

Here's a nice contrast, though: The current president of the United States, then a candidate, repeatedly and strongly condemned looting and violence in your city and others. He challenged the then president to similarly condemn the violence that the Proud Boys and others were committing on his behalf, and the then president declined.

[Galway Eagle]

Ridiculous comparison to the mob of armed terrorists who were whipped into a frenzy by the President of the United States. On his behalf, they marched to the seat of American democracy, injured 100+ cops, chanted "Hang Mike Pence," threatened numerous other elected officials, destroyed government property, and delayed the carrying out of the peaceful transfer of power that has been a bedrock part of our republic. There is no equivalent to that, no matter how hard you try to make one.

Here's a nice contrast, though: The current president of the United States, then a candidate, repeatedly and strongly condemned looting and violence in your city and others. He challenged the then president to similarly condemn the violence that the Proud Boys and others were committing on his behalf, and the then president declined.

To be fair police were injured in the riots, and government property was destroyed. Now it wasn't an insurrection against the very tenants of democracy, it was an out of control protest that sick heads took advantage of, and comparing the two is a gross false equivalency. Though if you're going to argue it may as well give him his due for where they matchup.

[wadesworld]

1/6 has nothing to do with the 20th anniversary of 9/11, nor do riots in America.

[#UnleashSean]

Mu82, billy, the rest of you numb skulls... can yall stfu on one thread? Make something sacred and not about yourselves.

[Galway Eagle]

Mu82, billy, the rest of you numb skulls... can yall stfu on one thread? Make something sacred and not about yourselves.

Sorry 

[MU82]

Mu82, billy, the rest of you numb skulls... can yall stfu on one thread? Make something sacred and not about yourselves.

1/6/21 was not about me. But yes, I won’t bring it up again in this thread.

[JWags85]

Mu82, billy, the rest of you numb skulls... can yall stfu on one thread? Make something sacred and not about yourselves.

Same offenders playing the same old hits.  Meanwhile we have a thread that’s basically Scoop Hamsterdam, go get your takes off there. Be better y’all

[Babybluejeans]

Glow said it best when he said  "What we can all hope for is that men and women of good conscience make the best decisions possible given the facts at hand.  Sadly, I've lost a lot of faith in that over 20 years."

Yeah, I gotta agree.  I think we made a lot of bad decisions since then - both during blue and red administrations.  And its going to take us a long time to recover from that.

My understanding is that Americans' trust in institutions and government hit its nadir around the time of Watergate/Vietnam/Pentagon Papers, from which it never recovered. What's most regrettable is that 9/11 weirdly offered a re-set on that -- we had a united moment of horror and sadness, and a collective belief that we could be restored to a level of faith in institutions unseen in decades. (A U.S. president had a 92% approval rating for god's sake!) As we saw unfold, cynical decision-making sent it entirely the opposite way. And we are where we are now.

[tower912]

I missed the tragedy in real time.    I had a 9 am tee time that morning with 3 other firefighters.    I was on the practice tee when the other guys drove up and one said that a plane had flown into the WTC.    We traded profanities and went out and played.    By the time we made the turn, all of the buildings were down and the planes were being grounded.    We all called our wives.    Then we looked at each other and decided that we probably were not going to get another day off for a few weeks, so we should play the back.    And we did.     Discussing what it meant and speculating how our jobs and our lives were about to change.   
     Work changed in that we started focusing on mass casualty incidents.    Upped our Haz-mat game.   Dirty bombs.   

When war with Iraq came, we haz-mat gurus joked we were glad we weren't in Iraq because we probably knew enough about WMD's to get taken into custody.   
 

I found myself uncomfortable from the adulation that came from the sacrifice of others.  I still do, for that matter.    If I was the type who cheated on his wife, I would have had plenty of opportunities, as banging a firefighter suddenly appeared on a whole lot of ladies bucket lists.     That lasted for about a year.   

I don't want September 11 forgotten.    But I fear that we as a country failed to learn the lessons that needed learned.

[Goose]

9/11/2001 is a today that is to be remembered and those who lost their lives honored. All of the firemen, police, EMT's and everyday people that risked their lives deserve our deepest gratitude. Mention of 1/6 is completely out of line IMO and I am sad that anyone would even attempt to make the comparison.

As I said earlier in this thread, 9/11 is probably the one single moment in life that changed me forever. I won't bore anyone with my thoughts and scars from that day, but it is a day that will be honored and respected by me and my family forever.

[asdfasdf]

I was a Freshman at Marquette when 9/11 happened. If memory serves it was the second week of school, but the first week of lab for students in Chemistry 100. As a Freshman we often heard that Chemistry was extremely difficult and used as a way to weed out students who weren't cut out for the science/engineering field.

My chemistry lab was on Tuesdays from 8-12, so I was in the lab struggling to understand what I was supposed to be doing. About an hour in to the lab, a girl who was in a neighboring lab walked down the hall, sobbing, kind of hysterical, talking about how a huge plane had crashed in to the WTC. My lab partner and I both kind of looked at each other and joked that Chemistry really must be difficult because that girl had clearly lost it. I don't say that to make fun of her, but just to point out how unfathomable it was at the time to believe that a plane had crashed into the WTC.

It wasn't until we walked back to our dorm and saw signs on the entryway telling us that classes were cancelled for the day due to the tragic events of the day that we realized that girl hadn't lost it at all.

It's hard to imagine now how slowly information traveled back in 2001. If that happened in 2021, we would have been called by all of our parents, texted by our friends, and received emergency notifications from the school via phone/text/email/etc... But in 2001 there was a solid 2-3 hours where we had no idea that 9/11 happened, and all of the chaos unraveling in the world around us.

[Golden Avalanche]

1/6 has nothing to do with the 20th anniversary of 9/11, nor do riots in America.

I happen to think what occurred on January 6th and what occurred on September 11th have much more in common than people would acknowledge but due to the size and scope of each operation and the fact that we never actually reckoned with September 11th other than renaming french fries, french toast, and became bloodthirsty savages it seems obscene to think that way.

I also happen to think people are unable to discuss this in an appropriate and mature manner regardless of the forum so in the end this has no meaning.

[TallTitan34]

Was a sophomore in high-school in 2nd period when the Principal came on the PA and said planes had hit both towers and the Pentagon.  Some classes watched in on TV but none of mine did so I didn't see anything until I got home from school.

I was lucky to be the eagle mascot for 2006, 07, 08, and 09 Big East Tournaments and each year I made sure to visit the WTC site.  At that point reconstruction was just beginning so I would love to return sometime to see the memorial and museum.

 

[jsglow]

Was a sophomore in high-school in 2nd period when the Principal came on the PA and said planes had hit both towers and the Pentagon.  Some classes watched in on TV but none of mine did so I didn't see anything until I got home from school.

I was lucky to be the eagle mascot for 2006, 07, 08, and 09 Big East Tournaments and each year I made sure to visit the WTC site.  At that point reconstruction was just beginning so I would love to return sometime to see the memorial and museum.

Wait a minute... you're the furry chicken?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I was lucky to be the eagle mascot for 2006, 07, 08, and 09 Big East Tournaments and each year I made sure to visit the WTC site.  At that point reconstruction was just beginning so I would love to return sometime to see the memorial and museum.

Huh...I think you and I shared a plane more than once (pep band).

[ZiggysFryBoy]

I happen to think what occurred on January 6th and what occurred on September 11th have much more in common than people would acknowledge but due to the size and scope of each operation and the fact that we never actually reckoned with September 11th other than renaming french fries, french toast, and became bloodthirsty savages it seems obscene to think that way.

I also happen to think people are unable to discuss this in an appropriate and mature manner regardless of the forum so in the end this has no meaning.

Using meth will kill you.

[Warrior2008]

I was a Freshman at Marquette when 9/11 happened. If memory serves it was the second week of school, but the first week of lab for students in Chemistry 100. As a Freshman we often heard that Chemistry was extremely difficult and used as a way to weed out students who weren't cut out for the science/engineering field.

My chemistry lab was on Tuesdays from 8-12, so I was in the lab struggling to understand what I was supposed to be doing. About an hour in to the lab, a girl who was in a neighboring lab walked down the hall, sobbing, kind of hysterical, talking about how a huge plane had crashed in to the WTC. My lab partner and I both kind of looked at each other and joked that Chemistry really must be difficult because that girl had clearly lost it. I don't say that to make fun of her, but just to point out how unfathomable it was at the time to believe that a plane had crashed into the WTC.

It wasn't until we walked back to our dorm and saw signs on the entryway telling us that classes were cancelled for the day due to the tragic events of the day that we realized that girl hadn't lost it at all.

It's hard to imagine now how slowly information traveled back in 2001. If that happened in 2021, we would have been called by all of our parents, texted by our friends, and received emergency notifications from the school via phone/text/email/etc... But in 2001 there was a solid 2-3 hours where we had no idea that 9/11 happened, and all of the chaos unraveling in the world around us.

My experience was somewhat similar too.  I was a sophomore in high school in a free period hanging out in the lunchroom with some friends, pretty sure trying to cram for a quiz.  A friend/classmate came in saying something hit the WTC and was rather hysterical.  We just all assumed he was overreacting and it was some small plane or maybe a news helicopter that hit the building.  Everyone went about doing whatever it was we were doing as if nothing happened.  As an immature 15 year old in the world without cell phones your worldview is limited to school, sports, and the opposite sex, so something of this magnitude just never seemed possible.  By the time I went to my next class, my German teacher had a tv on and we watched as the North tower fell.  I remember feeling sadness and anger in the immediate aftermath, but something that I'll always carry with me is how much the country rallied to one another over the course of the next year or so.  People ignored petty, inconsequential differences and focused on what unites rather than what divides.

I've been fortunate enough to visit the memorial and the museum during a trip to the 2019 BE tournament.  Its very well done and something every American should see(ala Arlington National Cemetery, Pearl Harbor, etc.) if given the chance.

[Scoop Snoop]

I was conducting a meeting in DC with my local sales persons when a (planned) guest speaker called and explained why he had not shown up. The Pentagon had just been hit and with 3 planes already having been crashed, no one knew how many more there might be. My Richmond staff and I immediately headed back to Richmond and as usual, the traffic was backed up on I95. It suddenly occurred to me that a plane could easily be crashed onto I95, killing thousands of people in the long backup. Call it paranoia if you like, but that's what I thought. The next week I was driving into DC and saw the Pentagon with massive black tarps across one side and scorched earth around the building. It creeped me out Big Time. In 2019, my wife and I visited the site of the towers in NYC while in town for the BET. It was soooo quiet there in the middle of NYC. People spoke in whispers. The whole experience was very moving.

Going back to the days after the attacks....We had quite a number of Bosnian employees in our Richmond production shop among other immigrants whom we had hired. The Bosnians were Muslims but most, as one of them once joked, were "like Christians who go to church only on Easter and Christmas." They were stunned and afraid of being blamed by their American neighbors for the attacks. Some were accused loudly and publicly of being terrorists. I had planned on erecting a flagpole in front of our building but had not done so yet. I bought a large pole and a flag on 9/12-the very last ones at the hardware store- along with sakrete. As soon as the Bosnians saw what I had purchased, they smiled broadly, stopped work and insisted on immediately digging the hole, pouring the sakrete and raising the flag. Each one took part as the shovel was passed down.

[muwarrior69]

I was at work. One of our co-workers said a plane crashed into the WTC. When the 2nd plane hit we all knew this was no accident. The young woman in the cube behind me broke into tears. It was her first day with us and I asked what was wrong. She explained to all of us that her last day at her old job was yesterday (9/10) and it was on the very floor that the second plane hit in the second Tower. I never felt a shiver go up my back like that until the night I learned my son would not survive the injuries from a  car accident. We were told there was at least one if not more planes in the sky and were told to remain at work. No one could get through to their loved ones as both the cell phone towers and land lines were jammed. They let us go around 6pm and told us an email would be sent out when to return to work. It was 10 days later.

Over the next several days we learned what a toll it took on so many families here in New Jersey. In the Trenton paper there was a photo of over a 100 cars parked at one of the local train stations whose owners never returned from Manhattan. My parish lost 10 parishioners. In the months that followed our  new colleague sadly informed us that all her former co-workers perished.

This past June 3 children from our parish who lost a parent on 9/11 graduated from college. All 4 years (tuition, books, room and board) for each student was totally paid for by the parish. Indeed, there are silver linings.

Here 9/11 was not something we watched in horror on TV. We lived it and we will Never Forget.

[dgies9156]

While the attack on America was traqic, I actually found the aftermath uplifting.

As we learned about the people and their families who died, we learned something that has stuck with me ever since: "Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things." It's what our country is made of and it's what makes us great as a nation.

In my case, I was in my office at Amtrak in Chicago Union Station at the time. While several of my contemporaries left because of fears another plane was headed for Sears Tower in Chicago, I stuck it out and pitched in to deal with the swarm of people who descended on us after the airlines were grounded.

I was in a blue pinstripe suit -- and one of the few people at Amtrak who was dressed that way. I was given an Amtrak badge (which is still in my office in my home in Florida) and sent downstairs to deal with guest inquiries. I was swamped by hundreds of patient, caring people who all they wanted was to get home. I worked all afternoon and into the late evening answering questions and directing people who had never before ridden an intercity train. I took a great deal of satisfaction in working with an older couple who was trying to get to Rochester, MN for chemo at Mayo Clinic. I helped get them on a train to LaCrosse and rent a car to Rochester.

The other person who stuck with me was a young businesswoman who approached me about trying to get back to New York. She was scared about a lot of things, not the least of which was being in a fully loaded coach as a vulnerable young woman. I worked with her and got her on a standby list for a roomette. Amazingly, she got it  and rode home that night.

What I did was nothing, but it meant something to people who were trying to get home. I was a comforting sight and someone who was simply "there" for the people who needed it.

[real chili 83]

While the attack on America was traqic, I actually found the aftermath uplifting.

As we learned about the people and their families who died, we learned something that has stuck with me ever since: "Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things." It's what our country is made of and it's what makes us great as a nation.

In my case, I was in my office at Amtrak in Chicago Union Station at the time. While several of my contemporaries left because of fears another plane was headed for Sears Tower in Chicago, I stuck it out and pitched in to deal with the swarm of people who descended on us after the airlines were grounded.

I was in a blue pinstripe suit -- and one of the few people at Amtrak who was dressed that way. I was given an Amtrak badge (which is still in my office in my home in Florida) and sent downstairs to deal with guest inquiries. I was swamped by hundreds of patient, caring people who all they wanted was to get home. I worked all afternoon and into the late evening answering questions and directing people who had never before ridden an intercity train. I took a great deal of satisfaction in working with an older couple who was trying to get to Rochester, MN for chemo at Mayo Clinic. I helped get them on a train to LaCrosse and rent a car to Rochester.

The other person who stuck with me was a young businesswoman who approached me about trying to get back to New York. She was scared about a lot of things, not the least of which was being in a fully loaded coach as a vulnerable young woman. I worked with her and got her on a standby list for a roomette. Amazingly, she got it  and rode home that night.

What I did was nothing, but it meant something to people who were trying to get home. I was a comforting sight and someone who was simply "there" for the people who needed it.

There you go, talking like a racist, again. You forked tonged devil, you.

As your penance, I subject you to smoked meats and barrel aged manhattans.

[real chili 83]

I happen to think what occurred on January 6th and what occurred on September 11th have much more in common than people would acknowledge but due to the size and scope of each operation and the fact that we never actually reckoned with September 11th other than renaming french fries, french toast, and became bloodthirsty savages it seems obscene to think that way.

I also happen to think people are unable to discuss this in an appropriate and mature manner regardless of the forum so in the end this has no meaning.

Lunch time bongs, eh?

Looney toons white folks and Muslim terrorists on the same page?  I’m sure they hold weekly calls on TEAMS to discuss long term strategy.

Yes, both are nut bags.  But the similarities, including motivation ends there.

[tower912]

1/6 was the descendants of Timothy McVeigh, not 9/11.

[DegenerateDish]

A guy I worked with back in 2001, his mom was head of customer service for United and worked out of Willis Tower. I remember that morning he told us his mom had called him and said they had heard a hijacked plane was heading towards Chicago/Willis Tower. Obviously didn’t happen, but I was always curious where (or maybe how?) that information came to be.

[WarriorFan]

I was living in the UK at the time.  On 9/11 I was on a business trip in Palembang, Indonesia.  I remember turning on the TV totally on a whim (probably one of the 10 times in my life I've turned on a hotel TV) and seeing reports on the local Indonesian news about the planes flying into the towers.  I used a horrible internet connection to get more info from CNN and BBC and the scale of the tragedy was beyond comprehension.

My prevailing thought at the time was that I just wanted to be home.  As soon as possible.  I got to Jakarta on the next day (flights were not stopped in Indonesia at that point) and somehow got on one of the last flights to Hong Kong before it closed.

I remember landing at HKIA... I had never seen so many 747's before in my life.  All apron space and several taxiways were just full of parked airplanes.  It was only then that the global implications of this disaster became apparent. 

i remember having dinner alone that night in hong kong and everyone in the restaurant was talking with each other about their story, where they were, how they were going to get home, how this might change things, etc. 

I remember getting on one of the first flights out of HK to London.  What a somber mood. 

And as a frequent traveler one is reminded almost daily of how it changed our lives.  I'm not talking about the inconveniences and the TSA and the spare battery restrictions, I'm talking about the ever present understanding that there are people in the world so evil that they can do such a thing, and that these people are somehow among us.  How we balance our freedoms with the need to protect against such evil is forever changed.

[MU82]

A guy I worked with back in 2001, his mom was head of customer service for United and worked out of Willis Tower. I remember that morning he told us his mom had called him and said they had heard a hijacked plane was heading towards Chicago/Willis Tower. Obviously didn’t happen, but I was always curious where (or maybe how?) that information came to be.

I played golf about a week after 9/11 and the course had a hole with a perfect view of downtown Chicago. And one of my buddies said something like, "Can you imagine looking over there and not seeing the Hancock Building or Sears Tower because it was just pulverized by terrorists? I feel so bad for New York." None of us said anything for the next several holes.

[Mutaman]

Things have really changed in New York City. 20 years ago members of the NYPD were literally and correctly treated as heroes- I was constantly seeing people approach cops in the street and thanking them for their service.
Now in 2021 less than half of the members of the NYPD are vaccinated. Over 60% of the New York City Court officers are unvaccinated. Despite a masking requirement most police that I see on the street and (I’m told) in the subway do not wear a mask and do not enforce the mask requirement in the subway or on buses. The NYPD unions have been incredibly aggressive in pursuing anti-VAX policies. This is despite the fact that over 60 police officers have died as a result of Covid. The general excuse is that they don't trust the government. Really the height of irresponsibility and incompetence.
NYPD is an organization in serious need of reform and I hope Adams is up to the task

[tower912]

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2021/09/10/detroit-lions-dean-marlowe-nypd-first-responders-9-11-nfl/5781467001/

[brewcity77]

I've started and stopped posting in here at least a half dozen times. I was on campus...blah blah. I remember seeing a plane 4 days later, blah blah...

I remember at the moment knowing it was bin Laden. I remember immediately thinking it was our decades of bad foreign policy that led to this. I remember thinking my best friend, a second generation Palestinian, would likely be discriminated against because of this. I remember thinking that we did this to ourselves.

And here, 20 years later, we compounded that bad foreign policy with war and the death of innocents. Instead of trying to heal the world, we did further harm. And as we leave Afghanistan, we likely created 20 bin Ladens for every one we created in the 1980s.

My children are 2 months and 3 years. They'll never remember 9/11 any more than as grainy footage. It won't resonate as any more than how I remember Vietnam, which ended before my birth. But I definitely fear our actions since will reverberate for the rest of their lives.

[Goose]

dgies

Thanks for sharing your story of 9/11. Job well done!!

[The Lens]

I was working in a sales office for AT&T.  We all had the usual reactions...small plane, accident, Airplane the Movie jokes, OMG we're at war.

What I'll always remember was as soon as everything crystalized a few dozen people decided to go to the nearest Blood Center and donate blood.  I cherish that rally.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I was working in a sales office for AT&T.  We all had the usual reactions...small plane, accident, Airplane the Movie jokes, OMG we're at war.

What I'll always remember was as soon as everything crystalized a few dozen people decided to go to the nearest Blood Center and donate blood.  I cherish that rally.

I remember going to a local high school football game the next Friday, and for some reason people thought that the rescuers and people clearing the site were running out of work gloves.  So a local transportation company said that they would haul whatever gloves that were donated at the game to NYC.  The number of gloves donated was amazing.

Turns out they weren't needed, but it shows how much people just wanted to do something to help.

[MU82]

My children are 2 months and 3 years. They'll never remember 9/11 any more than as grainy footage. It won't resonate as any more than how I remember Vietnam, which ended before my birth. But I definitely fear our actions since will reverberate for the rest of their lives.

As a grandfather of kids who are about the same age as your children, I hope you're wrong ... but, sadly, I'm pretty sure you're right.

[CountryRoads]

I usually take some time to read stories about the first responders and other heroes each anniversary and plan on doing the same tomorrow. I still can’t wrap my head around their incredible bravery that day (and every day).

NYC is my favorite city and I visit at least once a year. I can’t imagine what it was like that day. The museum and memorial are very good and would recommend.

[Galway Eagle]

https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2021/9/10/22665003/sept11-chicago-cops-firefighters-new-york-911

[dgies9156]

dgies

Thanks for sharing your story of 9/11. Job well done!!

Goose:

Thank you. 9/11 was a defining moment for a lot of us. In my case, I appreciate talking about it because I was a very small cog in helping very frightened, worried people get home and toward some peace in their life. It's the same thing that most of the people I know, including most of the people on this board, would have done.

What I did was the same thing that thousands of people at United Airlines have done for me during the past 40 years.

I'll end with one thought. On the day that the planes flew into the WTC, all I could think was, "Nobody, but nobody does that to us. Period. Nobody." I later told my wife that if my government call me, no matter what for (I admittedly was 47 so the call was somewhat unlikely), I go. I'm sure everyone else who was an adult on that day felt the same way -- what can I do?

[Scoop Snoop]

Goose:

Thank you. 9/11 was a defining moment for a lot of us. In my case, I appreciate talking about it because I was a very small cog in helping very frightened, worried people get home and toward some peace in their life. It's the same thing that most of the people I know, including most of the people on this board, would have done.

What I did was the same thing that thousands of people at United Airlines have done for me during the past 40 years.

I'll end with one thought. On the day that the planes flew into the WTC, all I could think was, "Nobody, but nobody does that to us. Period. Nobody." I later told my wife that if my government call me, no matter what for (I admittedly was 47 so the call was somewhat unlikely), I go. I'm sure everyone else who was an adult on that day felt the same way -- what can I do?

I remember how Americans pulled together, unified, and wanted to help in any way possible. They wanted to do something. In my story, it was my Bosnian immigrant employees who wanted to show that even though they were new to our country, this was their new country that had been attacked. I was moved when I saw them pass the shovel man to man as they excavated a hole for the flagpole base. For them, it was a rite of passage.

[Herman Cain]

The Missus had a breakfast meeting scheduled , at Windows on The World, a restaurant on the 106th and 107 th floor at the World Trade Center  the morning of 9/11.

I was traveling on business in California when the attacks happened.

I immediately tried to call her but all the Manhattan cell phone circuits were busy.

No one answered the phone at home.

I finally got through to the house at  6 o’clock that night that and thank God,the missus postponed the breakfast.

We did lose many people in our town. All of whom we knew. 

The ones who escaped had terrible anxiety for a long period.

It was just a horrible time and life really was never the same after this happened.

The Fireman showed incredible courage . We are forever grateful for their efforts. 

[Golden Avalanche]

Words spoken today by POTUS43:

"There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home. But in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit."

Huh.

[jesmu84]

Words spoken today by POTUS43:

"There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home. But in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit."

Huh.

If you want to be super transparent, he was comparing the acts committed on 9/11 and the acts committed on 1/6

[🏀]

Words spoken today by POTUS43:

"There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home. But in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit."

Huh.

What a RINO.

[muwarrior69]

If you want to be super transparent, he was comparing the acts committed on 9/11 and the acts committed on 1/6

Really? I thought he was talking about the folks tearing down statues of Lincoln, Washington and Columbus and vandalizing memorials of black union soldiers, burning down police precincts and businesses all across America.  I guess it could be taken either way.

[naginiF]

Really? I thought he was talking about the folks tearing down statues of Lincoln, Washington and Columbus and vandalizing memorials of black union soldiers, burning down police precincts and businesses all across America.  I guess it could be taken either way.

you'd be wrong.

[tower912]

Again

[Billy Hoyle]

Really? I thought he was talking about the folks tearing down statues of Lincoln, Washington and Columbus and vandalizing memorials of black union soldiers, burning down police precincts and businesses all across America.  I guess it could be taken either way.

A little of A, a little of B. But the ignorance of each extreme will refuse to acknowledge it.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

My pastor gave an excellent sermon today reflecting on 9/11 and it's 20 year legacy. He preached on how God calls on us to remember 9/11 but how it is sinful to only remember part of the story. In addition to remembering the terrible pain that we were caused that day and the inspiring stories of heroism and "pulling together" as a nation...we must also remember that we in many ways united in hatred against our Muslim brothers and sisters and those of middle eastern descent. We also must remember the countless of acts of violence, both by us and against us, that were set into motion by 9/11. He finished with a reminder that while God calls us to never forget, God also calls us to forgive and that justice is found in healing and reconciliation, not in vengeance or violence.

His sermon spoke to a lot of feelings that I have every year around this time. Probably due to my age at the time (seventh grade), I don't remember 9/11 as a unifying event like many do. In my well sheltered, lily white upbringing I didn't realize the country was as divided as it was. I knew what racism was, I knew it existed, but I had never seen it firsthand. The wake of 9/11 was the first time that I witnessed racism with my own eyes and realized it. There were several middle eastern restaurants near me that were repeatedly vandalized and eventually shut down...despite all of them draping themselves in American flags and "we support the troops" signs. I had a friend whose family was originally from somewhere in the Caucasus (and were Christians) who got called a sand n-word in front of me. We were a couple of kids walking down the street.

I agree with my pastor that we are called to remember, but we should remember the whole story, not just pieces.

[MU82]

Really? I thought he was talking about the folks tearing down statues of Lincoln, Washington and Columbus and vandalizing memorials of black union soldiers, burning down police precincts and businesses all across America.  I guess it could be taken either way.

Very fine people on both sides?

Nice try, but the president of the United States at the time of 9/11, a Republican who is part of probably the most renowned conservative Republican family of the last century, was calling out the 1/6/21 American terrorists who attacked the seat of American government at the behest of the American president.

Truly one of the most shameful, traitorous acts in the history of our democratic republic.

Thankfully, many of the seditionists are being found guilty of felonies and are getting hard time ... though of course the guy who co-opted the GOP from actual conservatives, and his cultists, are celebrating the terrorists as heroes.