JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: It's been twenty years. But for anyone who was over the age of, oh, eight or nine, the memories of September 11, 2001 are still sharp.
I was working at a small law firm in Portland's Old Port when one of the secretaries - we had a TV in the reception room - ran back to the lawyer's offices and said a plane had hit one of the twin towers. A big plane. We all gathered around the set, and were utterly horrified to see the second plane hit. I've never revisited at the footage of what happened as the towers burned, but what I saw broadcast live will stay with me forever.
A CNN reporter was at the Pentagon, trying to get information on possible military responses, when he was cut off abruptly. The Pentagon had been bombed. No, it had been hit by a third plane. That's when I finally felt fear as well as horror, because no one knew how many planes might be flying through the skies on a similar mission. I remember trying to call my sister again and again; she worked in an office in the Navy Memorial Plaza, five blocks from the White House. She was fine, of course; she and her husband walked five miles from DC to Virginia to reach a working Metro station to get home.
I watched as the last plane came in to the Portland Jetport - which we would discover, later, had been the entryway to the terrorists - while I was on the phone to Ross, discussing whether we should pick up the kids from school. We decided to have them stay, to keep things as normal as possible, and at home, we hid the newspapers and kept the radio and TV off whenever Victoria and Spencer were around.
For forty years, I thought the world was one way. And in one day, it all changed.
Reds, what are your memories of 9/11?
HALLIE EPHRON: I remember the phone ringing that morning - it was my sister Delia who lives in Manhattan: “Turn on your television.” The first plane had just struck the north tower. I wish I could unsee what came next.
My younger daughter was in college in Morningside Heights on the Upper West Side and she could see the smoke from her dorm room. My older daughter was on her way to her office in lower Manhattan. In the thick (literally) of it, she walked home to Brooklyn. It took a while for us to hear that she was safe and sound. The news all day just kept getting worse and so inexplicable as we tried to piece together some coherent narrative to explain what had happened. It still haunts me.
JENN McKINLAY: Like Hallie, it was a phone call. But it was my mom, who was practically incoherent as she’d just spoken to my cousin whose twin brother was supposed to be flying from Boston to Los Angeles that day. We had no idea if he was on Flight 11 or not. Mercifully, he wasn’t but it was hours before we found out. Being in AZ, we were already behind the news and Hub and I turned on the television to see the second plane hit the Towers.
Mostly, I remember the shock and disbelief as we watched the endless news cycle. And I remember the quiet. The days of absolute quiet that followed as if the entire country was just holding its breath as the reality slowly seeped into our collective consciousness. Maybe it’s because I was a brand new mom with a nine month old baby, but the world has never felt the same to me.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: It was a beautiful day in Boston; perfect, gorgeous. (And as it turned out, that was necessary for the terrorist plan to work.) I was actually getting a haircut, and someone came into the salon, and said--a plane has hit the twin towers.
I thought, we all did, that some little plane had gone off course, something ...understandable. But then the phone in the salon started to ring, and the news emerged, bit by bit. I ran out of the salon, to run the three blocks to the station. I ran down Congress Street, and there was a bar with a big front windows, and the television was on over the bar. I stopped in my tracks, staring at the screen. There was no sound, or course, and it all seemed so quiet at that moment, and I thought--oh, our lives will never be the same. I will confess, now, that I walked the last block to work, marking it as “before.”
I got to my office, and about ten minutes later, the news director came rushing in, all wild-eyed and crazed, and said: “You’re the investigative team! Find out why this happened!”
I remember I looking at him, and my producer looked at him, and we said--are you kidding us?
By that afternoon, we’d interviewed a former flight attendant who told us about the boxcutter loophole.
And I still notice when the clock says 9:11.
RHYS BOWEN: We were woken by the phone ringing just after 6 am. That’s never good news. It was my son, at drama school in Manhattan. Turn on your TV, he said, voice shaking. We did, in time to see the second plane hit. He was on the upper West Side but we still didn’t know how many more planes might be coming. And I had friends in Lower Manhattan. I think we all felt as if we were watching a horror movie. Not real. Couldn’t be real.
And two weeks later we took a cruise through the Panama Canal. I remember thinking this would be the perfect terrorist target. Bomb a ship in the canal and you freeze World commerce for months. I was so relieved when we reached the other side!
LUCY BURDETTE: It was a beautiful day. I remember because I was playing in a golf event away from home. As we came up a hill to the final green in front of the clubhouse, other players had gathered to tell us the news. Of course we couldn’t believe it--couldn’t begin to take it in. My first thought was for my brother, who was a Marine with frequent business in the Pentagon. A few hours later we learned that he hadn’t been in the building that day. So relieved!
The skies were so quiet--none of the planes we were used to seeing traveled between New York and places north. No flashing lights in the night sky, or distant roar of engines. I also remember spending much of the next week on the couch in front of the TV--and crying. It felt like the end of the world, and in some ways it was.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: I flew from Dallas to London on the evening of September 10th, arriving early in the morning of the 11th, UK time. I picked up a car and drove to Rye in Sussex, where I checked into my hotel, had lunch, and took a nap, all in blissful ignorance. It was only when I went to a neighboring restaurant for dinner and they asked me what I thought about the twin towers that I had any idea what had happened. Cell phone coverage was down, of course, but I didn't know it. I rushed back to my room and turned on the TV. I watched in horror as the videos played over and over. I couldn't call home, no phone, no internet. The next day I moved to a flat in London, but it was days before I knew anything other than what I could see on the British news. Even once I knew that my family in Dallas was okay, I didn't know when I'd be able to go home because all air travel was suspended.
My flat was under the Heathrow flight path but the skies were empty. It was so bizarre, almost like we had gone back in time. I've never since taken the fact that I can get home for granted when I travel. It did feel like the end of the world we knew.
JULIA: The title of today's post comes from the WWI poem by Laurence Binyan, "For the Fallen:"
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun and in the morningWe will remember them.
I was working at Maxwell Air Force Base . . . like many others, we were stunned and feeling kind of numb. We watched the events unfolding on the television, just going through the motions of working while we kept glancing at the television news and listening to the reports. Civilian employees were sent home; base security was ramped up.
ReplyDeleteWe left the girls in school . . . we thought the whole “don’t panic, keep things as normal as possible” was a good idea.
It’s never been the way it was before that day . . . to this day, it’s haunting and the annual news coverage is guaranteed to bring tears to my eyes.
As always, I’ll listen to the listing of the names for as long as I can, but it’s hard to hear so many. However, I’ll listen to every single name . . . at least until they get to the name of the firefighter on my bracelet, which, twenty years later, I still wear every day . . . .
Oh, Joan, that's so moving. I bet base security was on high - the thing that' hard to recollect in hindsight was how uncertain we all were. Was the the opening salvo to more attacks? An attempted invasion? Were American facilities in other countries going to be targets? All those were speculated about endlessly on TV and no one knew what might happen next.
DeleteAlso, my family was stationed at Maxwell back in the 60s!
DeleteBase security stayed high for months after the attacks . . . .
DeleteI can't recall the uncertainty as clearly as I can recall that feeling of overwhelming disbelief that it had happened and the numbness over the staggering losses . . . .
I was leaving the doctor's office and someone said a plane hit the world trade center. I'm thinking one of those putt-putt planes. When I got to the train station to go to work, I was told no trains were running. As a typical NYer who had to get to work, I was like why and how am I supposed to get into the office. They wouldn't tell us. I tried to call the office, but there was no phone signal. No one was telling us anything, so I took the bus back home. When I opened my window, I saw smoke and nothing standing where the world trader center was. Then I remembered that my nephew had a job interview at the Twin towers and he said he would be there early. So from 9:00am to 6pm, I and my family were frantic because we didn't know where he was, if he was in the rubble or safe. His first call was to me and I was so happy to hear from him and I passed it on to all family that was safe, covered in dust but safe. It took him several hours to make it back to Brooklyn. Also on my balcony I found several papers with the twin towers address. I don't watch the news on 9-11.
ReplyDeletewow Dru, what a memory. So glad your nephew was ok...
DeleteAgreed. What a nightmare to live through, Dru. So happy your nephew was all right.
DeleteI was a tech writer for a company that made video editing software - including for the news - so we always had a TV on in the cafeteria. As I walked back through after a meeting, a big crowd clustered watching the second plane hit. I didn't leave the cafeteria for hours and I think the whole company was in there. Lots of people had friends and family in NY. One of our employees was on one of the planes. My friend who lived two blocks from the twin towers still has PTSD from it.
ReplyDeleteAs others have said, it was a gorgeous day in New England. At home, I got out of my car and looked at my beautiful yard and just cried.
But I venture to say that Americans are a little precious about today. I've often since thought about other countries where is there is bombing, with lives being destroyed, day after day for years. Where people cower, trying to protect their children, trying to save others, as matter of daily life.
Edith, I think about this, too. There are places in the world that are constantly under attack. There is a town in Israel across the border from Gaza called Sderot. It has been bombed thousands of times. Every playground has a bomb shelter. Every bus stop is a bomb shelter. The climbing wall in the gym is only 10 feet tall because nothing can be more than 11 seconds from the shelter inside the gym.
DeleteEdith you make an important point - precious - I think it’s a whole different conversation which, unfortunately we, as Americans, are unwilling or too busy to have. I am working on
DeleteYour point.
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DeleteThank you for these words, Edith. With all the COVID deaths, so often exceeding 3,000;each day. It seems especially “precious” (just the right word) this year.
DeleteEdith, Tom Nichols, a professor at the US Naval War College, has written a book you might be interested in: OUR OWN WORST ENEMY. His thesis, as I understand it, is that many of our problems stem from decade after decade of peace (only a tiny percentage of Americans ever serve in the military,) a standard of living most of the rest of the world envies, and absolutely no call to ever sacrifice or surrender our comforts for the common good. As he points out, after Pearl Harbor, we shifted the entire economy onto a war footing, drafted millions and rationed basic necessities of life for civilians. After 9/11, we were told to go shopping...
DeleteThank you, Julia and others. I hesitated to write that, but I strongly think many Americans live with blinders on.
DeleteAgreed, Edith.
DeleteI have often had very similar thoughts to those you expressed Edith. Thanks for a great starting point for a discussion on this subject. My words are much harsher and cynical, akin to some of the themes in the book Julia has recommended. The general attitude of Americans towards this event is “precious”!
DeleteJulia, how appropriate “Our Own Worst Enemy”’s thesis seems to the COVID freedoms vs common good conflict today. Where some say “go shopping” and others says “protect your neighbors”. Thank you.
DeleteWhen I taught cultural anthropology at a small midwestern town, my foreign students would make comments after class about how the American students didn't seem to know much about suffering elsewhere in the world. My response--they didn't have to know anything about it in order to go about their daily lives. Even in the classroom, it was so hard to get them to think outside their comfort zone.
DeleteI was at the copier in the law office I worked at. One of my hats was tech assistant.The tech director saw me and shouted that a plane had hit the World Trade Tower. I remembered a story my parents had told me about a small plane hitting the Empire State Building years before. I called back that it was horrible, but probably a small plane off course. One of the attorneys had a small television so we all gathered to watch. I don't think I will ever forget the sight of the flames and smoke spiraling in the robin's egg blue skies. Then the second plane hit. It was clear it wasn't a small plane, or an accident. One of my co-workers commented that she hoped the Towers would stand. I remember I reassured her. Then they fell.
ReplyDeleteI was from New Jersey, I watched those towers being built, my Dad worked for Otis Elevator Company. Otis built the elevators - they were all fronted and each cab lined with a solid piece of stainless steel. Otis families were invited to see the elevators and make the ear-popping ride to the top in them before the Towers opened. My first anniversary was celebrated at Windows on the World. I never thought I would see those towers fall. I remember trying to wrap my mind around what that meant. Thoughts of the tremendous loss of life were more than I could comprehend. It seemed impossible that anyone could survive. Although there were a few miracles that day. Then word came of the Pentagon attack. Our office closed and I drove home where I turned on the television. I don't think I slept for the next three days. I kept watching the tube hoping for a different outcome. One that never came.
Kait, it must have been amazing to see the towers go up - and to ride those elevators for the first time.
DeleteI had actually forgotten until you brought it up, but I recall everyone in my office talking only about fire control and rescuing the people inside. No one imagined structures like that could fall until the first one, horrifyingly, dropped before our eyes.
A few years after the towers collapsed, I dove with one of the engineers who did the study of why the towers failed. He was quite vocal about the manner of construction and how it never should have been permitted or passed inspection. It was an eye-opener.
DeleteI was a reading teacher and had just brought a group of third graders to my room for a placement test. The teacher from the room next door had a free period and she often had the TV on. She came in and told me the twin towers were on fire and I should go watch while she stayed with my kids. That's when I learned it was way more than a fire and I watched the second plane hit.
ReplyDeleteWe kept things pretty calm for the kids, at least at first. The next period I went to a second grade classroom where the teacher was helping the class learn their address and be able to write it. Because 911, you know, kids had to know their address and phone number.
It had been such a beautiful day.
Judi, learning their address... so poignant in that moment. At my kids school, the administration contacted all the parents. It's funny, I can't recall if it was by email or phone; probably the former. We were given the option of picking up our kids, and many parents did. I think we all felt such an urge to be close to our loved ones that day.
DeleteTeachers who kept going, and kept things calm and normal for their students despite their own fear and horror were unsung heroes of that day.
The boys' babysitter had the tv on and called me. I saw the second tower hit, heard about the Pentagon being attacked, then came the news of the fourth plane. It turned back east not far from where I live. Like many others, I wish I could unsee some of the things I saw that day. I think the World Trade Center towers were symbolic for more than just Americans. And as a world, we don't seem to have learned many lessons from the event. And yes, it was surreal because the day was just a perfect fall day.
ReplyDeleteWe're having another perfect September day here, Flora, and the achingly blue sky makes me think of that day as well.
DeleteFlora, you reminded me that my daughter was living in Cleveland at the time, and her husband worked in a big building downtown. I remember watching TV and hearing about that plane in the airspace around Cleveland with my heart in my mouth. No one knew what was happening.
DeleteI was at work, oblivious to what was happening for many hours. My company closed in the early afternoon, I picked up the youngest from school and took her home. We kept the TV off and stayed outside on a glorious early fall Atlanta day. A year later, the oldest enrolled at GWU in DC. As the plane flies, she wasn't far from the Pentagon.
ReplyDeleteI know its location well, Margaret; I got my masters there and my husband went to it's National Law Center.
DeleteI remember the first time I saw the Pentagon Memorial, visiting my family in the area. It's very low-key and subdued; a place for reflection. It doesn't celebrate force or arms in any way, and it seemed appropriate for the men and women we would send to serve in the wars the attack triggered.
I was a realtor and we had a meeting scheduled. The first plane hit before I left for work. In Connecticut, it was a gorgeous day. The second plane hit before I got to the meeting. I tried to explain to my manager that we should not be having a meeting but she went ahead with it anyway. Then the receptionist came in and told us that the third plane had hit the Pentagon. Meeting adjourned.
ReplyDeleteI had friends who were out of country, other friends on business out of state. People could not get home. Most visions of that day are so bleak. I was watching TV when the towers fell. Then, I also have visions of thousands of New Yorkers walking home from their offices in the city, helping one another.
We went to war in Afghanistan. We went to war in Iraq, which changed the balance of power in the Middle East, not necessarily for the better. But, have we ever really dealt with the Saudis who supported and financed these attacks? Why not? OIL
All too true, Judy.
DeleteAnd your manager! I can't believe someone would go ahead with a meeting, especially in Connecticut, where so many citizens work in NYC.
In defense of doing what had to be done that day: on deadline for a legal brief advocating the termination of parental rights for a child. Brief delivered and hearing went forward that afternoon. Child free for adoption is now in her 20s.
DeleteElisabeth, absolutely. Many people did important things that day. Many people continued to do their jobs. And, many people didn't know until later. I, too, did what had to be done that day. But years later, it seems ignoble for me to have still been doing a home inspection while so many, many people were loosing their loved ones.
DeleteJudy, my first thought the home you inspected was some one’s home that held love and protection for that some one (and family). There were those who said that court cases going forward was wrong in the face of attack and death. No easy answers. Take care.
DeleteI was blissfully unaware, teaching a yoga class that morning. I came out of the room and stopped to chat with the community center's receptionist, as I always did. The first thing she said was "a plane has hit the World Trade Center." For a moment, I waited for the punchline to this sick joke. When I realized it wasn't a joke, I thought it was a terrible accident. The receptionist turned her TV so I could watch with her...just as the second plane hit.
ReplyDeleteI watched with her for I don't know how long before finally staggering out to my car. I wanted to get home. To hug my parents. To call my husband who was at work. To make sure my family was safe. As I listened to the radio on the drive, Flight 93 crashed in a field not terribly far away. I remember driving and glancing toward the sky, looking for another plane to fall to earth.
Like everyone else, I watched the endless loops of news footage all day long. And the days that followed...yes, the silence. I live under one of the flight paths to/from the Pittsburgh airport. The silence was deafening. I'd been so used to hearing the planes, seeing the con trails, I always tuned them out. Until they weren't there anymore.
Annette, I'll always remember that part in the days afterwards - the silence in the skies. We're not in a particularly busy art of the country, but every day I'll see one or two jets bound for Portland high above me, and smaller individual planes a couple times a week. Then... nothing.
DeleteI was home sick that day, and my husband called to have me turn on the TV, which I ordinarily did not do in the morning. Which is why I was watching when the second plane hit, and when the towers both fell. And then watched them over and over again dozens of times until I was utterly sickened by it.
ReplyDeleteIt was also a spectacular day here in Cincinnati, and it became eerily quiet for the next week or more. Normally, we hear planes over us, like right now, because we live four miles from the municipal airport and are on some flight paths from CVG. The pandemic isolation last year was similar, only with the added quiet that came from a near total reduction in vehicle traffic, too.
I get very irritated with people who sanctimoniously exhort everyone else to "never forget". As if we ever could. I still remember watching Jack Ruby kill Lee Harvey Oswald on live TV, and that was almost 60 years ago. Seeing desperate people leaping 50 stories to their deaths? Who could ever forget such a thing?
My husband made a remarkable observation this morning, that 9/11 was a catalyst very similar to the assassination of Grand Duke Ferdinand, an event that launched a world war. He's so right. And further, the hubris of our leaders has led us to our own self diminishment as a world power. Money we could have spent on our own health and welfare and the health of the planet was instead blown on a futile and petulant punishment for what we perceived as the ultimate gross indignity. Yes, it was horrific, but an "eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind" was never more true.
Karen, I was listening to the always-informative Marketplace on NPR and Kai Rysdahl had a great conversation with an economist, who pointed out the true effect of 9/11 was to introduce a level of uncertainty into our lives, our businesses and our dealings with the world that we've never been able to shake since. As someone who was 40 when the towers fell, it really does feel like two halves of my life.
DeleteI wonder if twenty years from now, I'll say the same thing about this time?
It's caused a dynamic change in so many ways, for sure.
DeleteKaren, Your comments’s express great insight into the events and especially the aftermath with the continuing consequences on our country and the world! However, we need to name those responsible, President Bush the consequences are your!s!
DeleteI was working at the same job I have now. I was in the warehouse making up the the yellow color of one of our products.
ReplyDeleteThe woman who worked in the front office came out back and said my mother called to say what had happened. We had a TV in the office so we were watching the coverage for most of the rest of the day, something that could be said about pretty much the next few days. I can't honestly remember what I might've said but it probably wasn't all that nice at the time.
I remember trying to get ahold of my friend Brian (a different Brian than the guy from my trivia team). I knew he'd been scheduled to fly out on a business trip at some point around 9/11 but couldn't remember exactly when. Thankfully, he was okay. I can't remember if he wasn't scheduled to go out on that day or the trip got cancelled but I was worried for "nothing".
I also remember that after a couple of days with every newscast repeating the exact same information ad nauseum, I was fed up with watching the coverage.
Another thing I remember which makes me wish we as responders could post photos with our replies is this art piece that was done by comic artist Mike Deodato, Jr. - https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1389562
It's stuck with me all these years. Spreading forth from the actual day of the attack, I remember this ESPN piece on former Boston College lacrosse player Welles Crowther who is remembered now as "The Man In The Red Bandana" who helped save a number of people that day but perished himself. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S77KYbkmjwc
People like to complain now that everyone who said they'd never forget that day actually have forgotten. But that's not true. I don't think anyone truly forgets 9/11 but as time passes, you move forward with life. You can't live like you are trapped in that day forever, but you don't ever forget.
Also, Boston College announced special uniforms that will be worn in their game against UMass-Amherst honoring Welles Crowther. They will also be worn in their annual Red Bandana Day game too. - https://www.si.com/college/bostoncollege/football/boston-college-welles-crowther-red-bandana-uniforms
DeleteJay, that piece by Mark Deodato, Jr. is beautiful, and I hope everyone takes a look. (I wish we could embed visual images and links here as well!)
DeleteYour "everyone watching the TV" was what happened in my office, and, I suspect, most workplaces. Unless you were a reporter like Hank or a medical professional, you didn't get any work done that day.
I was at work, last day before vacation with my California daughter and her family. I had a ride along, new orientee nurse, and before we could go see patients, I had to call Aetna in NYC, get more visits approved for Mr. A, needed dressing changes, med and pain management. Everyone else was in a staff meeting. While on the phone, I was besieged with co-workers babbling something, looking terrified. And the agent on the phone was telling me he had to hang up, that we were under attack. I WOULD NOT let him hang up until I got those visits. I didn't care who was attacking whom.
ReplyDeleteI got the visits, and then turned to hear the news. Just a few years before I'd been in Oklahoma City when the Murrah Building was bombed. Deja vu all over again for sure.
I took my orientee and went to make our visits. We turned on the car radio, heard of the plane hitting the Pentagon, another tower collapsing, Flt. 93. TVs were on in each home as we saw patients, and I confess I remember none of those people. I suppose we did what needed to be done. Nurses do.
In the meantime, many flights to the city were directed to upstate airports, including Rochester. Our skies were filled with commercial flights. So frightening. Was one of them weaponized by whoever the hell was behind all this carnage?
The next day I went into work. My director asked what I was doing there, was supposed to be on vacation. And then she said "of course." No flights. She then asked if I would go admit a new patient, an Egyptian gentleman who would need a catheter change. This was my learning curve. I hadn't had a Muslim patient before, but I did now. He was a wonderful being. We listened to Al Jazeera, and he explained what he could of the fundamentalists, the Jihadists, the terrorists. We had many visits, many catheter changes, and many months of friendship for the time he had left. I am grateful that I had this opportunity to learn so much.
Thank you, Ann
DeleteAnn, that's wonderful. And I love the quiet, everyday here wisdom of "That's what nurses do." As we've all had a chance to see over the past 18 months.
DeleteI live and worked in Manhattan. I was at my job in the Times Square area on the fateful day. A customer told us a plane hit the World Trade Building. We thought that it was a small plane. Then we heard another plane hit the other building. All we heard was sirens from fire trucks, ambulances and police cars. Transit was shut down. The only way to get off Manhattan was to walk or get on a boat. I had to walk in the direction that everyone was walking from. I live on the lower east side. On my way home I stopped in a church to say a pray and passed a hospital waiting for victims and there was none coming. No phone service. If you did not have cable there was no TV. The antenna was on top of the World Trade building. My area was shut down. You had to show ID to get back in the area. We had to keep our windows shut and air conditioner vents close against the smoke. But if you went out you smelt it for months. It is smoething I will never forget. My dad live through the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the attach on our country on Sept 11th.
ReplyDeleteLois, I have friends in publishing who lived in New York at the time, and several of them mentioned the unforgettable smell that hung in the air for what seemed like days afterwards.
DeleteThat morning I opened the door to the workmen who were there to install a new gas stove in our 3 season room in our Minnesota home. I was told to turn on the TV. I don't recall if both planes had hit the towers by then but I was watching when the towers fell. Horrifying. My son was in the Army, based in Germany, and managed to get a call through to me, totally outraged that this attack was made on civilians. Their base was on lockdown and high alert. Of course a couple of years later he was at the tip of the spear in the Iraq invasion. My husband called to see what was happening. They had no TVs at work, and evidently no radios either. He went out to buy one. Mom called from the Dallas area later that day. She had the urge to check up on all her children. The events of that day were beyond belief.
ReplyDeletePat, one of the common threads I'm seeing in all our narratives was that urge to check up on our loved ones, to touch base and reassure ourselves that they were okay. It's good to know that when something terrible happens, that's the basic, loving instinct of so many people.
DeleteI was home sick that week with a sinus infection and bronchitis. I had been up the entire night tossing and turning and feverish, and unable to sleep. In the morning I turned on the TV, trying to find something mindless to watch that could take my mind off my headache. I saw a news bulletin of an office building with smoke pouring out of some windows, and the caption said something about a plane having crashed into a building. I assumed it was a small plane, perhaps it was a student pilot who made a fatal error. It seemed very sad. I kept changing channels, but they all showed the same thing. It soon became clear that something much worse had happened. I watched the coverage for the rest of the day. I saw the second plane approach and then crash into the second tower. It was hard to believe this wasn’t a horror movie. As the morning went on, I watched as each tower collapsed. My mind couldn’t wrap itself around the fact that all of this was real. At some point I remembered that one of my nephews worked for a Manhattan company that installed computer networks in office buildings. I knew that most of their clients were in the twin towers. I called his mom, my sister, and asked if she knew where Dan was working that day. She began sobbing and sobbing and sobbing, and I feared the worst. Finally she was able to get out the words “he’s OK, it took me over an hour to hear from him because the phones are down but I finally got an email from him, saying that he’s OK. He never left the office today.” He was subletting an apartment in Brooklyn and had no idea how he would get back there that night.
ReplyDeleteA coworker who lived in NJ invited him and a couple of others to stay with his family. They tried unsuccessfully to get a ferry to NJ and ended up being offered a trip on a private boat that was going to NJ.
I can’t bring myself to watch the annual memorial services, even though I didn’t lose anyone on that day. It’s too unsettling.
DebRo
DebRo, agreed. That's not something I need a memorial service for; I couldn't forget the happenings of that day, and the days after, if I tried.
DeleteI think it's time we move passed this. I don't remember what I did last week, never mind 20 years ago. The country is a mess and we need to look forward. Nothing will bring these people back. Live for today!
ReplyDeleteI was at the high school teaching math to my special ed students when the television (all rooms had them) came on (office staff did it throughout the building)-everyone just stared at the images in silence- Then at about 10:30 I got a call from my daughter who lived in Boston that she had heard from her brother who was in a classroom at St.John's college on Long Island. He could see the smoke from there. Did not hear from him again until phone service was back a couple of days later. It was some thing no one should forget.
ReplyDeleteJo, I've heard from people older than me who were in high school when JFK was assassinated, and they've described everyone sitting, stunned, in their classrooms. I imagine it was much the same for people who were in high school in 2001.
DeleteHard to believe it has been 20 years. Memories of the day are still so vivid to me.
ReplyDeleteI had just flown home from the second Trixie Belden Convention. We were in Williamsburg that year, and I flew home on 9/9. Some others had stayed in Williamsburg a few extra days and got stranded there. Others had gone to New York City. Yes, they were all safe, but it was still scary.
I was home that morning getting ready for work when I got a call from my friend asking me if I had the TV on. When I said no, very confused, he said I should turn it on. Being in So Cal, the second plane had already hit by the time I turned the TV on. I watched the coverage for a few minutes in complete shock.
Yes, I still went into work. Yes, I got a few things done while also searching the news for the latest. And trying to make sure my friends who were supposed to be traveling that day were all safe. That evening, I actually did go look at an apartment I would move into in about a month with the friend who had called me that morning. Then I went home and watched as much news coverage as I could handle before putting in my DVD of Toy Story. I needed something fun to take my mind off all of it.
I also think back to how united we were as the United States at the time. And I look at how divided we are now. It saddens me that there is so much hate, so many calls for those we disagree with to lose their jobs and be shunned in society. I pray we can find common ground again without another horrific day like this to bring us together.
Mark, I agree. We pulled together, and felt truly united during that time. I would like to see that sense of something greater than us as individuals again - hopefully, without leading to war as happened after 9/11.
DeleteOh, and you've brought something up I just remembered. Ross and the kids and I sat down to watch Aladdin together. It was the kids favorite, and we adults desperately needed something to make us smile.
I was at work in a small town on the South Shore of Massachusetts. I remember a woman from the DPW came rushing into my office to say that a large plane had just hit one of the twin towers in Manhattan. We all jumped up and ran to the main conference room to watch the news. To my horror, it was just as the second plane hit. All of us were just stunned in silence. How can this be? I remember it was a day when we all worked 8-4, then came back from 5-7 in the evening. I told the boss that none of us were coming back that night, that we all just wanted to be with our families. To this day, when I watch the news footage on the 11th, and hear the names, tears just course from my eyes, to run unchecked, for our heros that day.
ReplyDeleteI got an early call from Mom because she knew I getting ready for work. I think I saw the second plane slam in the tower when I turned on the news. I still had to go to work. There was, ironically, an All Staff Meeting planned for that day were the emergency preparation committee was making a presentation, lead by me. The first meeting was fine, people responded and commented appropriately but in the second meeting a smart mouthed person asked what might happen if they (he) didn't follow the guidelines.... I stared for a minute, I think my response was something like...did you see the news this morning? Mind you, we weren't in a highrise and our committee was more for natural disasters, but really.
ReplyDeleteI always have Altar Guild duty the Sunday after the 9/11 anniversary. This year I arranged white roses with a single stream of red roses flowing through each arrangement. I always post the arrangements on my Facebook page. (I'm using my phone today so just in case the blogger can't identify me - this is Deana Dale)
What a lovely tribute with the flowers, Deana.
DeleteI walked off the elevator into my workplace and saw people gathered around the tv in the reception area. A plane had hit the WTC, and I thought "Those idiot amateur pilots again!" Then I watched - in real time- as the 2nd plane hit, just a few miles from where I was standing. Later I learned my husband, on the elevated portion of his subway ride, saw the sky full of papers and the conductor stop the train and come out of his booth in tears. It was a beautiful bright blue day in NY, and at lunchtime, there was not a sound in the midtown streets.
ReplyDeleteDon and I were in Yuma Arizona, on our way home from our niece's wedding in California. We had gotten away late and spend the night in a motel in Yuma. We went down for breakfast and found practically everyone in the motel crammed into the breakfast room, glued to the tv. No one knew yet exactly what had happened, why, or who did it - yet the bloodthirsty comments about bombing the entire middle east back to the stone age I was hearing from others in the room compounded the horror of the situation. I got the most horrible sinking feeling as I realized nothing would ever be the same again.
ReplyDeletePS Where I live is not too far from New York's financial district. Where the WTC was. And we have a fire station right here, just a couple of blocks away. We used to see those friendly firemen in their boots and raincoats,shopping for their firehouse meals in the local supermarket. And on 9/11, whoever was on duty went racing to do their job when the planes hit...That still haunts me
ReplyDeleteI was working for an airline when the news came from that the planes that hit the trade towers again another announcement came I know their plane had hit the world's raid towers Then another kit from the podium again put your calls on hold please Rio get to inform you that a plane he's hit the pentagon and finally put your calls on hold please we regret to inform you that flight 93 has crashed in Pennsylvania Managers walked around with us as some of the people from our office and come from the Baltimore Mandy thought of there love ones who were in the Washington DC area when president bush left Sarasota all telephone calls we're stopped we were then given an opportunity to return home and I love the office that day and watched for the rest of the day I still remember the calls from my passengers that they won from a military officer who said excuse me mam I don't need to book the flight all of us all our travel plants have been canceled I was then put on furlough and didn't return to work for 3 months afterwards
ReplyDeleteI walked off the elevator into my workplace and saw people gathered around the tv in the reception area. A plane had hit the WTC, and I thought "Those idiot amateur pilots again!" Then I watched - in real time- as the 2nd plane hit, just a few miles from where I was standing. Later I learned my husband, on the elevated portion of his subway ride, saw the sky full of papers and the conductor stop the train and come out of his booth in tears. It was a beautiful bright blue day in NY, and at lunchtime, there was not a sound in the midtown streets.Law
ReplyDeleteHoping I am not being picky,but I wrote the post (above) now also listed as from "Sourav show". Don't know how it happened but I did not post 2x.
DeleteI know it's now Sept. 12th, but I meant to visit the blog earlier and didn't get to it. My "where was I" story was I had just dropped off my son at middle school, and my daughter, who was in high school but still at home, called to tell me a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Like everybody else, we didn't know what was going on, and it wasn't known yet that it was a major airline passenger plane. There was talk of a small plane getting off course still. I got home right away, and Ashley and I watched in horror as the second plane hit the South Tower. This time, it was clear what kind of plane it was. At some point, Ashley went on to school, but I was glued to the television all day. Ashley was a senior, and the University of Kentucky was scheduled to have a college information night that night. I thought for sure the university would cancel it, but they didn't. So many brave people tried to save others, and some succeeded. The passengers of Flight 93 saved many lives by sacrificing their own. I remember crying a lot about all the families being torn apart by the blind hate behind the attacks.
ReplyDeleteDid someone refer to a poem by W. Auden? I was trying to remember.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have several memories. My surgeon was in New York being interviewed by Good Morning America on September 10th and he made it back to CA before the 9/11. I was home in CA with my family.
A neighbor's husband (now ex husband) was one of the American Airlines pilots and she was freaking out because she thought he was one of the pilots in one of these planes that crashed. He called to let them know that he was OK. He was never the same again. Every time we saw him, he was exhibiting symptoms of PTSD. Then suddenly he decided to get a divorce.
A deaf man was working in his office in the Towers and he died. It was in the deaf news.
Last memory I have was reading the news about a blind man and his seeing dog. They got everyone out of the building because all of the electricity went out, including lights!
Diana
You know, I was thinking in my previous post about how many families were affected that day by the tragedy of losing loved ones and how so many lives were cut short, and that will always be the thing that resonates most with me. But, there was also fallout for people who weren't directly affected. By the next year, in Oct. 2002, I would see the beginning of my husband being gone for sixteen years from living in our home, beginning with him being called to active Army duty and the Pentagon being the first place he served. I was able to walk the halls of the rebuilt interior of the Pentagon where the plane destroyed it and have a surreal sense of history. Everyone in this country saw their lives change in so many different ways as a result of 9/11. And, now with the pandemic, it seems that "normal" was some long ago place with nostalgic meaning.
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