Speak Out : Remembering 9/11
September 11, 2001. It’s a day that not many of us will forget. We won’t forget where we were when we learned the terrible news about the planes that hit the World Trade Center, The Pentagon, and the lone field in Pennsylvania.
I was starting a new job in the medical field and was in orientation when they came in and told us that planes had hit the towers and the Pentagon. I was young, 19 years old and didn’t know what the World Trade Center was. I remember calling my mom to see if she had heard from my sister, whose husband worked at the Pentagon in construction. They had just finished a remodel there and thankfully had finished the job a couple of weeks before the attack.
I remember getting in the car to go home and tuning on the radio to hear the updates and finally getting home and turning on my TV and seeing for the first time the first plane hitting the first tower. I knew then why my mom was crying when I had spoken to her earlier. The immediate devastation and lives lost was finally realized on me. I couldn’t take my eyes off the TV as they showed the second tower getting hit and eventually the collapse of both towers.
The next few days, everyone was glued to their TVs for news of survivors and eventually for victims. Everyone was trying to learn the details of why something like this could happen, and how. I became (and still am) obsessed with 9/11. Every year I watch whatever documentary I can find. Right now, my DVR is 60% full of programs that I have recorded off TV, not to mention the items that are in my Netflix que and the DVDs that I have.
I even made a video montage and reedited it at the 10th year anniversary, which is included in this blog. Next year is the opening of the 9/11 Memorial in New York and I am going to plan to be there and I will remake the video to include pictures of the Freedom Towers that have been built in honor of the thousands of people who died.
Now, 12 years later, we are teaching our kids in school about this day. It is no longer an experience that everyone saw on TV, it is something that is being learned from text books, family members, pictures and documentaries. It’s hard to believe that it has been that long ago.
So, where were you on 9/11 and what are your memories and thoughts?
Jason
I remember when this all happened… I was at work, the radio blaring, saws running, and compressors going. The news came across the radio and everyone just stopped and stood around looking at each other. The next thing we all knew is other attacks were going on and we decided to go home to our families. We did not know what to expect next.
Now, today, they make too much of this day, even mentioned making a holiday of 9/11. This is not what a holiday should remind us of.
I, too was young and confused that horrific day. I had just sat down in my second grade class and got my paper out for our test, I wrote my name and numbered to 10. As soon as I got the 0 on 10, the principal come over the PA and told the news. My teacher flipped on the tv in our room to the news and began to cry. I asked her why she was crying because it made no sense to me at the time. She told us that this is a very sad moment in history. We never took the test. We had to stay late at school because they didnt want anyone on the road. We finally left the school at 4:16 pm and I never will forget.
Wow…. all those images… that day just came flooding back to my memory after watching this.. not that i had forgotten by any mean.. but watching this I can remember absolutely every detail of what i was doing and when. My mother had called me at work early that morning to invite me over for dinner…while we were talking on the phone the first plane had hit the tower. My mother said she would call me right back. My corporate office had just moved out of the tower Sept 1 to new offices north of the city. My thoughts immediately went to those people. I called the girl who was my assistant to come into my office and there we turned on the TV and watched. My mother called me back just as the 2nd plane hit the tower. I stared at the TV screen dumbfounded. I had never experienced these feelings before. I was completely overwhelmed and all I could do was sit at my desk and cry. It was the most helpless feeling I believe I had ever had in my life. Watching this video I could feel all that same raw emotion. I also sort of chuckle when I hear someone say a movie made them cry, or they tear up watching some of these wedding purposals online etc… but this video brought back every moment of that day. I get to NYC often as my corporate office is located there and I have made several trips to ground zero. I am looking foward to the opening of Freedom Tower and I hope that will serve as a symbol that we can overcome and move forward, but as grand as it may be museum and all the 3,000 lives lost that day will always be the true meaning of Patriot day for me. I thank you for posting this video and I look forward to your update when you have visited the Freedome Tower. God Bless you all.
I was in school at the time. Like middle school. It took my time in the military to really fully understand everything that happend that day. I didn’t know how to react to it when I was younger and grief was an unknown concept at that time…Speaking for myself and myself alone I pray for the families of the innocent people we lost, and pray for their safe passage. And I pray that innocent people stop getting put in the crossfire of someoni else’ murderous intent
Thank You Jason
OH yes where to end those memories it”s still yet two early.
Well isn’t this interesting. NO POSTS. Seems fitting for a life style constantly parading in the streets naked every year demanding equality. How gays are not understood, recognized, allowed the same rights, and on, and on, and on. The very ground and country us losers live upon….and not but one word about the very people who attacked us..what they would do to our fagot asses if we were in their country. I find it despicable. Maybe us fags are just so happy the Macy’s building didn’t get hit so we can continue to shop and dish and display our totally non-consequential lives compared to the people who were killed so the fags can continue to have their Starbucks and dish about the other fags on the street.
It’s no wonder this country despises us. SO few of us actually contribute to what really matters. Those gay folks in the armed services demand so much more than reading our fag magazines about co tour, and products and fashion. Where were all you fags when those two buildings were knocked down and the 3000+ people killed.
I’am gay. I have lived in NYC, MIA, ATL, SFO, LAX, and PHX..and I am frankly DISGUSTED. Take your OUT mag and the rest of them and jam them up your wide assholes…I’m sure you will enjoy it as that is all this society understand.
Whatever prejudice and persecutions the US has for us..I feel now is justly deserved. Our’s is a society a flaming cowards..no matter the season.
My mother had a heart attack 1 month ago before 9 11. this lady name Abby came to see my mother while she was in the hospital. My mother never knew but she worked in the World Trade Center. This woman was one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met in my life and she would truly give the shirt off her back for anyone that needed anything that’s how sweet you was. When the plane hit the tower I did not know this nor did my mother know that she worked in the World Trade Center when the second plane hit the second tower she just happened to working there that day.I remember Abby’s daughter running into the building where I work screaming and crying that her mom was the tower. I Rember his because her mom never made it out to tower. As a fellow New Yorker now living in Michigan 9/11 holds a special place for me. Because she was a woman the visited my mother everyday while she was in the hospital. I can’t help but think about the kindnees she shown to my mother. I don’t know if you believe in heaven but I do know this is Abby should be in heaven.
I was volunteering at a landfill where they was taking everything from the world trade center to. This new york police officer came to me and asked me if we had any board games in which they could play because they wanted to play games in between breaks. I told them that we didn’t have any games and he walked walked away. I called my mother and I asked if she had any board games? She told me that she had a bunch of games. I asked her if I have them and she said yes. I went to my mother house and I picked up ten board games and I took them to the landfill. I watched as the FBI in New York City Police Department played Monopoly that day. I asked the police officer did he enjoy playing Monopoly and he looked at me and he said thank you very much. Then he handed me this card. He said to me if you should ever get pulled over you should show this card and I promise you you will never get a ticket. One day me and my friends were driving around in Manhattan and I made a turn on a red light what you can’t do. This police officer pulled me over and he began screaming and curseing at me about making a turn on a red light. the police officer asked me for my drivers license and I have it in my wallet and he saw that card then he looked at me and said next time please be careful and he walked away. What I didn’t know was the card he gave me was and insurance card that they use whenever they go to the doctor. For one full year everytime I got pulled I showed that card I never got a ticket.
On the morning of 9/11 I was at school taking Indiana’s graduation qualifying exams, and was on break when I found out something major was going on. I thought it was some sort of attack in the Middle East. It wasn’t until my lunch break that I learned what really happened. By that time all was said and done, and the world watched in stunned amazement at pictures and videos of attacks on the U.S. that have never be known since Pearl Harbor. I was 15 on September 11, 2001, and it seems almost as 12 years, was yesterday.
Beautiful day in NYC–the air was especially crisp and vibrant that morning. By chance our company had been scheduled until a week before to be up at Windows on the World that morning. And then it was all gone so quickly.
i was home as i was off from work when i turned on the tv and saw this i started to shake and cry i then recieved a call from a friend that lived in nyc i asked if he was ok he said yes i was chatting with him when my pager went off for my fire company i responded to the fire house where my chief said we are on stand by to go to nyc if we need to go i rushed home packed my clothes and fire gear that day and night was a nightmare for everyone ill never for get it for 3 days we the fire companey stayed at the fire house waiting for the call to leave we never did go to this day 12 years later i still cry and shake as i lost brother firefighters and emts and police officers u will not be forgotten u are all in my heart a ny fire fighter from a small town CFD”86-1″
I remember that day very well. I had just enlisted in the Navy and finished my basic training at Great Lakes and was standing at a dress white inspection at Lackland Air Force Base. As we came back inside the barracks we saw the 2nd plane hit. We asked what movie was on. The sailor standing watch told us it was the news. We stood in awe and then watched as the first tower fell. Those of us with cell phones went to our rooms to call our families and let others call as well. We spent the rest of the day in the TV lounge watching. I then spent the next 3years serving on a minesweeper in the Persian gulf.
What is 9Eleven?
I was at work, and some of my coworkers were freaking out… “Oh my god we’re under attack!” I just remember thinking that we’re gonna see a swell of patriotism for a few months, and then we’ll be back to (ab)normal and people will look at it as not that big of a deal.
@Baywolf: Good lord, simmer down there. Have you never heard of posts being moderated/reviewed before they’re posted for people to view? There could be zero, or even one post…but there could be 70 waiting to be accepted before they can be posted up as well.
Obviously we care about what happened. The lack of comments could mean many things though, and not that “most of us fags were happy the Macy’s building didn’t get hit.” Have you ever heard of people not WANTING to recall that day out of the pain they feel when they have to think about it? I’m sure some of the “fags” out there lost family members that it tears their heart when they have to think about it. Some of us didn’t have that exceptionally large emotional impact since we knew nobody affected by it…so we may not feel right posting about it. There’s far more reasons than simply everything you said in your absurd post.
For example, like Rio Riot, I was in school at the time that it happened. I didn’t fully understand what was going on, partially because I walked by just as I was seeing the towers fall on the television. Even after hearing the full story, I wasn’t really that affected by it either, partially because I didn’t know anyone that was in that area. My best friend at the time was over in Staten Island, and I knew he was alright.
But I just can’t get up on expressing how I feel about it 12 years later outside of just not completely understanding why we have to have to be constantly reminded about it EVERY year. Yes, it was a tragedy, and I’m sure I’d be more sad about it if, again, someone I had known was killed. But at the same time, even if that WAS the case, I’d still feel the same about having to be reminded about it. It’s called being able to move on from said tragedy, and when you’re being reminded about it, you’re being denied the chance to move on because you’re always going to be having to access that dark memory and have it take you to that equally dark place. To use you as an example once more, look how defensive and upset you got in your post simply because you thought people didn’t reply. To me, that shows that despite it being 12 years later, it’s still a fresh wound to you.
I was in middle school, and I flipped on the tv that morning. I always watched the Today show in hopes that they’d have someone cool sing. I started ironing my shirt, and saw a plane crashing into the towers. I was thinking it was a movie I’d like to see. I knew the image was still on the screen, but I didn’t really pay attention. So when I finished ironing and noticed the plane was still on the screen my mouth dropped cause i realized this was real life. I ran down stairs and my mom had turned off the tv. My dad said “The chickens have come to roost.” but didn’t really explain what was going on. So when I got to school the teacher explained it all to us.
I had just got out of the shower, switched on the TV and thought I was seeing an advert for some new movie. I remember thinking about how cool it was that they were doing that to those ugly buildings, because I had always thought they were an architectural eyesore ever since they were built. Then they went to the news desk and I finally realized that it was really happening and not a movie advert. It was rather shocking to say the least.
Well I heard it is all rebuild the wall , there is water running thru and twin towers even taller, second in the world , like nothing ever happened , Newyorkers are rich , 12 years now better than ever , all we have to do to celebrate instead crying , have good home made food , beer and wine and be happy for us we are still alive , so no more crying no more sadness , be happy and enjoy youre life , for instance I could trip fall and break my neck , you see what ever it is whether terrorist or natural disaster to stupid ridiculous accident all matters to be happy as much is possible and spread the love and I know is hard believe me it is hard in this world . so lets be happy and enjoy the life we have and let go of the past, every moment every person counts. Hope Love Happiness
One would think that as the years pass this would be easier and sadly you become more and more numb. I am one of those people all say OMG What was it like, did you see or hear or think…and all say lucky to have survived. Yes, I am one of the many and 12 years ago I was tossed into hell for almost 12 hours and with melted shoes and covered in Ashes made it out of the twisted Skelton remains of two amazing buildings. Every year all remember those who lost their life. Every year i battle guilt that I survived and so many I knew did not and i morn a nameless homeless older black man with teeth missing that rain or shine was greeting people in his made up language and a smile. He would open the door of the south side of the south tower and was thrilled simply when someone smiled back. I noticed him and wondered for a decade if anyone missed him. If anyone mourned him. The ancient Egyptians did not have a word for death and believed that no one was gone until they were not spoken of. I have also never forgot the sound both buildings made before they came down. The sounds, smells, sights and all that transpired etched in my mind forever and hope I never forget. Strange considering it has impacted me in so many ways and not a day has gone by that I have not run through it all in my head and not a day that I have not shed a tear. But I realized something this year and that all of you who watched from safe places you honor and pay your respects to those who died and those like me feel invisible. Don’t forget us we are alive, yet feel dead at times and are haunted by our experience which seems like yesterday. I also realized I survived so I could tell this story and keep the homeless man alive. Please never forget because when we do we are doomed to repeat history.
I know I am totally late on this subject, and nobody will probably read this, but this is a subject I am passionate about and I want to get my say, even if nobody ends up listening.
First, where was I on 9/11? I was living in a dirty little Mississippi River town in Iowa with my father and step-mother, attending a community college, and trying to work two part time jobs and keep up with “rent” that my father charged me as well as the weekly chores he mandated. I still remember waking up that morning with my alarm tuned to a radio channel and hearing that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I didn’t think much of it besides assuming that it was probably a single engine plane that had gotten lost or just had pilot error and maybe killed the pilot and a few unfortunate people in the offices. I hit the snooze button for that blissful nine minutes of argument that I like to have with myself every day that rest isn’t officially over yet. The next time my alarm sounded it was immediately silenced and I turned on my TV in my bedroom to lull myself awake. I tuned to Fox News (hey, what can I say, I’ve learned from my mistakes) and they were covering the smoldering hole punched in the side when 20 seconds later a plane entered view and struck the second tower. It was like a scene out of a movie, I literally could not believe this was happening. I got ready and went to school in shock and expected to do nothing else in my classes besides sit around, watch the news, and have forum and discussions in every class about the events unfolding that day. I was dumb-struck that every class was business as usual, and even among the students, nobody was talking about this! I asked myself, does nobody else realize that this day is going to live in infamy and change our daily lives? I was calling it my generations Pearl Harbor before the media had even latched on to that phrase. I am still slightly angered by that establishment’s apparent lack of foresight, understanding, and dialogue on that day.
Now as time has passed, I have become more and more obsessed with finding out fact from that day, and I mean everything. It started with why the terrorists hated us so much. Then, how were they able to pull it off. Then things started to turn. I began watching watching YouTube videos and found all the conspiracy theorists. At first I brushed them off, I mean it seems like a political figure can’t fart without there being some nut job out there crying “conspiracy!” However the more I delved into the subject, the more and more their questions started making sense. The biggest one that started my doubting if the “official story” was how did tower 7 collapse? Most people are unaware that 3 buildings fell on that day, two were hit by planes, but tower 7 was a 47 story tower that was part of the World Trade Center complex that was hit by debris from the other two towers falling, had a fire burning throughout the day, and collapsed at about 5:30 pm on September 11th 2001. Not only did it collapse, but it globally collapsed, neatly into it’s own footprint, semetrically, and at close to free fall speed. This can only be done if ALL of the support columns were destroyed at the exact same time, otherwise it would have tipped over, not fallen straight down. From that point the questions that the conspiracy theorists were asking were making a lot more sense. Why did it take them (the government) over 400 days to start an investigation, and only was done after family members of victims demanded it. Why did the investigation commission receive so little funding? Why did Bush and Cheney only testify together, not under oath, behind closed doors, where only a select few on the investigation commission were able to hear their testimony, couldn’t take notes, and were forbidden from discussing it with anyone even their fellow commission members? Why did the government confiscate all the surrounding CCTV and surveillance tapes from business around the Pentagon and threatened any employee that may have seen the footage to keep their mouth shut only minutes after the plane hit it? Why has the government only released 5 frames from a grainy gate camera on the Pentagon that doesn’t show a plane at all, just a small streak and the resulting fireball? Why are there reports that the flight that went down in Shanksville, PA actually landed at Cleveland Airport on September 11th 2001? There are literally millions of other questions that can be asked and have been left unanswered. I believe that we as citizens owe it to the 2,997 people who died in the attacks on that day and the millions of other citizens that died in other countries by out hand with the “War on Terror” to do another investigation where the facts won’t be omitted or corrupted and is transparent. I use this as a gage when I am getting to know people on how in-tune they are to the real world. I generally find that if they believe the governments story that they have either done absolutely no investigating on their own, or are happy to be sheeple and would never question anything the government says or does because they believe that they would never lie and only does things with their best interests in mind. If you think I a tin-foil hat wearing nut, then I humbly ask that you don’T believe a word I’ve said and educate yourself by doing your own research and drawing your own conclusion. If you believe me, I ask you not to and ask do your own research and form your own conclusion, unless you already have. We owe it to the victims of that day and the victims of our government that have used that day to prance around the globe and invade sovereign nations that had nothing to do with the attacks, otherwise we’re just the bully on the global block and we all know what happens to bullies, on day they get theirs.
If anyone reads this and wants some starting points please feel free to contact me on a4a, the name I used is my profile name. If people want to call me names and insult me feel free to contact someone else, my first suggestion would be the Westburo Baptist Church. They love to act pious and call other people names, you might find some like-minded friends there (and don’t forget to tell them that you’re gay, believe it or not, they got an opinion about that and they’ll be glad to tell it to you without mincing words!)
way late but here I go, I was sleeping because I was working night shift normally waking up about 1pm,Damm phone kept ringing all morning pissed off I finally got up to answer it wondering why the answer machine was not working, I picked up the handset my buddy Lenny screaming turn on the tv I said what channel he said it didn’t matter and it didn’t. I cussed him out that I didn’t care about a new movie. still groggy from being woke up not understanding what I was seeing, he was telling me what was happening about that time the 2nd plane hit. I was stunned and in shock and fully understanding the events. then getting pissed off, I was glued to the TV while getting ready to go to work. As the day went on I got madder by the minute thinking about the events. By the time I got to work I was ready to kill some terrorist. The next day I Tried to rejoin the military they said I was to old that didn’t help my mood.but any way the reason i’m posting here today I saw this vid and was reduced to tears of the horrible day. then I thought of the attack in Paris last week and more tears for those victims of terrorist and got pissed again.We as a tolerant world are failing badly. we should be able to speak our minds about whatever we want I’ve been mocked from my youth and yet I’ve never killed anybody. It’s time the united world put a end to this kind of shit. France would not stand with us in the war on terrorism before NOW? I hope that the world has had enough of these kind of events everybody needs to be aware of everything that’s going on around them. If somethning seems wrong it prob is if you need to act do so don’t wait for the cops we all know how that has worked out lately, Please lets all be humane to each other and don’t let the terrorist control us