Where Were You On 9/11?

[Talk2Me]

Originally Posted by AmericanEagle

I was at work in Cambridge Mass. A coworker saw the news of the first hit on his pc and told the rest of the office. We had thought it was maybe a bad accident, until the second plane hit. Then we knew. Someone found a small tv and we started watching. There was chatter that maybe Boston was next as we have two tall buildings: The Prudential Center Tower and the John Hancock Tower. As Boston is right next to Cambridge, we were told to go home. As I was driving home, fighter jets roared over my head. I was in shock, full of sadness and anger.

Nope. Those planes flew OUT of Boston and on to their more important politico-economic targets.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by rllink

At that time my day job was a police detective. I did thirty years on the police department. I don't think I've revealed that here before. We were working a case and had everything spread out on a table in the briefing room. There was a TV in there and it was going 24/7 on CSPAN or some news station. Three or four of us were engaged in the investigation. So one of the detectives was watching the TV and he said, " They keep showing some airliners over and over flying into a skyscraper somewhere." We all turned to watch. It was crazy, almost unbelievable.

I was also working part time at the municipal airport, so when I got off work I went out there and we watched it on the TV for hours waiting for updates. It was so unbelievable that the only thing that really resonates is that we didn't get any work done that day at either job.

In the early/mid 80's, I had my first computer, an Apple IIe or something, and I had the flight simulator software. I quickly learned that it was incredibly difficult to land those things, so to finish playing, I'd just point the plane toward the biggest skyscraper in Chicago (that was where the ground data for the simulator was located) and hit it, because that was pretty easy to do, when landing was so difficult. In the days after the attack, I remember reading the stories about how the terrorists were all trained in flying in the states but that none of them took the landing part very seriously, it all made sense to me. Based on my exceedingly limited experience with a very low tech flight simulator software, it's pretty easy to hit a building at full speed, compared with hitting a runway at reducing speed and altitude and then managing to use the various controls to land smoothly and then slow and stop the plane. This is not meant to be funny - nothing funny about any of it. But it was a really clear memory I had in the fairly early aftermath when the information about the hijackers was becoming readily apparent.

I also remember where I was when the US got Bin Laden. I was at a Phillies game, I THINK against the Mets. I didn't have a radio to know what was going on, but suddenly there was a huge roar that came over the stadium and chants of U S A, U S A started up. I said to my wife, "I wonder if they got one of the terrorists or something"? When we were walking back to the car and I could get some cell reception, we found out that's what it was. We've never been as united since - we already weren't really, but much more than we are now...

-Ray

[stokes1971]

Originally Posted by Steve-arino

I am truly sorry if I offended you in any way. You seem to be one of the hero's that was actually there helping. I knew a few folks that died that day and one friend that ran down 90 flights of stairs and just made it out in time.

No offense taken, just thought it was kind of odd to refer to "zombies". No hero here, always just considered myself a lucky survivor, the hero's were the ones we were digging for. My older sister was on the 81st fl of the south tower when the first plane struck the north tower. She was there for the 93 bombing and when they announced that everybody should stay put, she got the hell out. Had to physically fight security at the front door, but got out. By the time she was running past the north tower people were already jumping. Said she was so glad she left her glasses behind as she couldnt clearly see what was landing around her, even tho she knew what it was. I didnt find out for a couple days that she and my younger sister who also worked there got out ok.

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by Talk2Me

Nope. Those planes flew OUT of Boston and on to their more important politico-economic targets.

We all know that now. Large buildings in the San Francisco and Seattle metro areas were all on alert, many on lockdown. There was talk of closing the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate bridge as well. Wouldn't surprise me if many tall buildings on the east coast were locked down as well. I worked at a large tech campus in Redmond Washington at the time, some of you may have heard of it. We were advised/encouraged to stay home that day. I did, so not sure if they totally locked down or not. Work wasn't really on my mind that day, I don't remember much other than watching it all on TV.

[stokes1971]

Originally Posted by Talk2Me

Nope. Those planes flew OUT of Boston and on to their more important politico-economic targets.

When those planes took off they were just ordinary commuter flights.....just like the thousands that were in the air already. No way of knowing how many more "missiles" were already in the air. The entire country was on alert and tall buildings were evacuated all over.

[Talk2Me]

Originally Posted by stokes1971

When those planes took off they were just ordinary commuter flights.....just like the thousands that were in the air already. No way of knowing how many more "missiles" were already in the air. The entire country was on alert and tall buildings were evacuated all over.

True enough but the most valuable terror targets in the country are NYC and DC. Always.

[dhalbert]

I flew from Boston to Dulles on 9/11 on business with some co-workers, (leaving at 6:45am), planning to return in the afternoon. (I was later told one of the hijacked planes left from an adjacent gate.) We started a business meeting in Reston, VA at 9am, with some people in person and others on a conference call. The people on the phone said they were increasingly distracted by the news, and it sort of unfolded slowly for us, as we had no local news source. Fairly quickly we realized we should call our families and tell them we were OK.

The we tried to figure out how to get back to Boston. The only one-way rental car we could reserve was in downtown DC, and it was impossible to get there. We got some rooms at a hotel in Fairfax. People kept arriving at the hotel, having walked from various places, in some cases for miles.

In afternoon were able to hire a limo to drive the three of us back to Boston. 600 miles and 9 hours later we were back, after taking a rather westerly route. I told the driver to cross the Hudson at Newburgh, as everything near NYC was closed. I think we were lucky to be able to get back so quickly.

We were too far from the Pentagon to be able to see anything. At one point in the morning there was a report of another plane circling overhead, and people on the upper floors of the office building we were in were sent downstairs.

I was only able to retrieve my car from Logan airport on the afternoon of 9/12. It was completely shut down before that. When I did, it was eerily quiet, with a full garage but no one around except maintenance people.

[EZYPIKINS]

I was on the west coast, getting ready for work. News was on. I saw the first tower burning. Called my Mom. I said turn on the news. She had just found it, and we watched as the second plane hit.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by Talk2Me

True enough but the most valuable terror targets in the country are NYC and DC. Always.

A few months after 9/11 my parents came to visit and I took them to a local historic fort that was 90% museum and 10% the rather tiny, corporate-like headquarters for TRADOC, the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. The post-Revolutionary War fort is located on a small island off a peninsula on the coast, reachable only by two bridges. We took the western bridge to get there. At the peak of the bridge we were greeted by sandbagged emplacements with grenade launchers, M60 crew served, belt fed machine guns, razor wire, barricades, and the weapons squad responsible to dispense the weapon's um... output. First sternly, the sergeant in charge greeted me: "Sir, this installation is CLOSED." Me: "Um... Can I go down to the end of the bridge there and turn around?" Him: "NO sir. You'll have to do it right HERE." Thus commenced a multi-part, fidgety u-turn in two narrow lanes on the bridge. Once I negotiated the u-turn, the squad members smiled and waved us on our way. It hadn't occurred to me that this fort, honestly probably least militant emplacements in our area, would have been put on lock-down. Surprise.

Now consider that there are two Naval Airbases, a Navy Master Jet Base, the world's largest Naval Base that houses the U.S. NATO headquarters, the world's largest Naval shipyard, several Navy bases and emplacements, an Air Force base containing the Air Combat Command, two Marine bases, and three Army Forts. Some of these deal in nuclear arms and propulsion. The little TRADOC location at the fort was small beans. But there was intelligence that all these emplacements were threatened and there were times when there were specific threats detected.

We often have little idea what motivates particular terrorist groups. Near my home is the location of a private company that has had to stand up an official state-commissioned police department because they have become a prime target for several terrorist groups in the Middle East. Their police department is in contact with the FBI constantly, who report when the campus is being surveilled by known representatives of known terrorist groups. There are maps of the facilities on terrorist websites with markings to indicate the functions of each of the buildings and encouragements to strike there. I've seen these websites. There are employees of the company who live under religious fatwa assassination authorizations, basically shoot-on-sight orders. Some live under named fatwas, as in tied to a particular person, some live under unnamed fatwas tied to past or present presences in the Middle East.

Do you remember Salmon Rushdie? Because of his book revealing the issues with Mohammad's life and the Talmud, he lived under an assassination fatwa for thirty years before it was served by a radicalized man who attempted to kill him. Terrorists have different values from us.

Bob

[Talk2Me]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

A few months after 9/11 my parents came to visit and I took them to a local historic fort that was 90% museum and 10% the rather tiny, corporate-like headquarters for TRADOC, the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. The post-Revolutionary War fort is located on a small island off a peninsula on the coast, reachable only by two bridges. We took the western bridge to get there. At the peak of the bridge we were greeted by sandbagged emplacements with grenade launchers, M60 crew served, belt fed machine guns, razor wire, barricades, and the weapons squad responsible to dispense the weapon's um... output. First sternly, the sergeant in charge greeted me: "Sir, this installation is CLOSED." Me: "Um... Can I go down to the end of the bridge there and turn around?" Him: "NO sir. You'll have to do it right HERE." Thus commenced a multi-part, fidgety u-turn in two narrow lanes on the bridge. Once I negotiated the u-turn, the squad members smiled and waved us on our way. It hadn't occurred to me that this fort, honestly probably least militant emplacements in our area, would have been put on lock-down. Surprise.

Now consider that there are two Naval Airbases, a Navy Master Jet Base, the world's largest Naval Base that houses the U.S. NATO headquarters, the world's largest Naval shipyard, several Navy bases and emplacements, an Air Force base containing the Air Combat Command, two Marine bases, and three Army Forts. Some of these deal in nuclear arms and propulsion. The little TRADOC location at the fort was small beans. But there was intelligence that all these emplacements were threatened and there were times when there were specific threats detected.

We often have little idea what motivates particular terrorist groups. Near my home is the location of a private company that has had to stand up an official state-commissioned police department because they have become a prime target for several terrorist groups in the Middle East. Their police department is in contact with the FBI constantly, who report when the campus is being surveilled by known representatives of known terrorist groups. There are maps of the facilities on terrorist websites with markings to indicate the functions of each of the buildings and encouragements to strike there. I've seen these websites. There are employees of the company who live under religious fatwa assassination authorizations, basically shoot-on-sight orders. Some live under named fatwas, as in tied to a particular person, some live under unnamed fatwas tied to past or present presences in the Middle East.

Do you remember Salmon Rushdie? Because of his book revealing the issues with Mohammad's life and the Talmud, he lived under an assassination fatwa for thirty years before it was served by a radicalized man who attempted to kill him. Terrorists have different values from us.

Bob

I'm not sure I understand this post Bob. Yes, there are certainly OTHER important targets but "terrorists" (really too broad a term to use generally) certainly have different values. I think that's relatively obvious in their methods. However, the most effective National terrorism is economic and politically based. That's why NYC and DC are always targeted and your little fort and others may be "threatened" but are NOT priority 1 for anyone based upon the historic record and all the evidence.

[guitargabor]

That notorious Tuesday was to be my "day off".

I added an urgent surgical procedure to my schedule for 7:30 am CST, however, and looked forward to enjoying the rest of the day after completing the case.The weather was perfect, clear and warm.

As I emerged from the OR after finishing at 8:30, everyone was glued to the TV in the surgeon's lounge.It was just after the first plane hit.
"A Cessna has crashed into one of the twin towers!" exclaimed a colleague.

Then the rest unfolded...the evils that humankind can inflict on each other....

It continues unabated today...sad...

[Photojeep]

On 9/11 I was in my photography studio photographing products for a local small parts manufacturer.

One of the folks who brought their products to the studio received a call from their office and was told about the attacks. Obviously we were stunned. They left and I closed the studio and went home.

After that, it was all a bit of a blur but since I had jobs pre-booked, I stayed busy for the rest of September but photographed virtually nothing until January.

I don't mean to speak only in terms of commerce and money but I have to admit earning a living after the attacks was very much forefront in my mind.

Best,
PJ

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Talk2Me

I'm not sure I understand this post Bob. Yes, there are certainly OTHER important targets but "terrorists" (really too broad a term to use generally) certainly have different values. I think that's relatively obvious in their methods. However, the most effective National terrorism is economic and politically based. That's why NYC and DC are always targeted and your little fort and others may be "threatened" but are NOT priority 1 for anyone based upon the historic record and all the evidence.

Yes, and a network security platform I manage shows new targets for those high priorities. The new target is tearing us apart from within.

To topic, on the historic day I was getting the baby ready but for context our then home was a mile from the runway where the local F-16s base (now F-35) and airport is.

The F-16s took off with no accommodation for sound, and what I later learned was neighboring state's Air Guard planes made sonic booms you don't usually hear. One group going to Chicago seemed obvious, but news said one group went to east coast or DC too. They can move fast.

The next strange thing from so close to the airport and air base was the commercial planes landing. For what I thought was about 3 days it was commercial traffic silence but louder and more than usual flights from the F-16s. Then I recall a really busy/noisy day when the grounded or stranded planes took off.

The sounds part kept hitting me from 20 years prior working in Mideast when war broke out. I knew it was not like the being stranded under and around rocket attacks, plane counterattacks and tanks moving fast and engaged but the sounds so close to home kept bringing back those memories. When the commercial flights resumed it seemed like much less F-16 and helicopter traffic.

A memory now was really what followed for a little while after. At my work site visits people were getting along better than usual. Trying to get projects done moved faster in that spirit. E pluribus unum that was so important to my WWII vet dad and elders came to mind. We should have that spirit every day.

[endpin]

I was listening to the events unfolding on the car radio driving in to work at USAF Assembly Plant #4. As I got to the gate there was more than the usual traffic backup with only a few cars sporadically getting through.

When I finally got to the gate, the security guards had broken out their machine guns, but were on the phone asking their superiors exactly what they were supposed to do - wave cars showing credentials through as normal?, stop all cars? , search all cars? shoot at cars?

To make things more surreal, just as the announcement that all US air traffic was to be stopped came over the car radio, I saw the Lockheed-Martin corporate jet take off from the adjacent Carswell AFB runway!

[Neil K Walk]

I was at work here in the Pittsburgh suburbs on the second day on the job doing clerical work for a mortgage bank. When I saw the second plane fly into the Twin Towers I thought to myself "this is like Pearl Harbor."

My wife was consulting in downtown Philadelphia. I remember not a lot getting done that day and worrying that Flight 93 (which the news had said had mysteriously turned around and was flying through PGH airspace) was going to head to downtown Philly, but as we know the plane went down an hour to the east due to other reasons.