Lest we forget—thinking about September 11

[Scott Tschirhart]

I was in my law office in Waco, Texas and I remember watching the live shot when the second plane hit the World Trade Center.

Only at that point did I realize that this was no accident.

[GunnyMack]

I was on a job site, installing a giant angle bay window on a second floor. We had this monster window on the scaffold ready to go in when the homeowner burst through the front door saying the trade center was hit.
We rushed to get the window in not knowing if we were under military attack or what!
It was then that the 2nd plane flew over us and I remarked that was strange because where we were was no where near the flight path for EWR,JFK or LGA airports. By then we got inside to see the TV and the 2nd impact.
On the way home that afternoon there was a spot that was high enough that I could see the smoke from the fires, 60 odd miles away.
Had a friend of the family that worked not far from ground zero, she was lucky enough to run for her life and catch a ferry out of Manhattan.
My Dad had just taken off , taking charter passengers to Virginia about the time the 1st hit. By the time they crossed the Maryland/Virginia boarder he had a pair of F16s along side and the over the guard channel he was ordered to land asap or be shot down. He found the nearest airport and landed. The folks he was flying rented a car and continued on, he was stuck with the plane for 4 days until his company told him to drive home- after that he kept extra underwear in his flight bag!
I'll never forget what happened that day.

[Bill in Oregon]

Having gotten home from work at the newspaper at 1 a.m. on th morning of the 11th, I had just woken up and flipped on the Today show. It took me a few moments for it to register what was happening. We were a morning daily, so I normally started work as a wire/copy editor at 4 p.m. On that day, we held our first front-page meeting at 11 a.m. I was editing the AP wires that day, and we remade Page One several times. The big Goss Urbanite usually started rolling and roaring at midnight sharp, but we started printing at 10 p.m., and literally "stopped the presses" multiple times for remakes both on the front and inside before the final run about 1 a.m. It was physically and mentally exhausting work -- I swore I would burn numerous holes in my stomach lining that sad day -- but it was only after I had gone home that I had time to really process the tragedy in all its dimensions.
A red-letter day on Satan's calendar if there ever was one.

[AmBraCol]

I was actually in NE Colorado staying with some friends. I got up, showered, dressed, packed my bag and went upstairs. They greeted me with a cup of coffee and "A small plane just flew into the World Trade Center." We sat around their breakfast nook sipping coffee and watching the TV coverage and saw when the second plane hit. It was obvious that we were under some kind of attack. After breakfast I packed the car and headed towards Gering, NE. All along the way I saw the gasoline prices going up.

Meanwhile people were calling my wife on Colombia's Caribbean coast and asking if I was OK. Their knowledge of US Geography tends to start and stop with NYC and/or Los Angeles. A couple weeks later I flew back south and saw the beginning of the idiotic "safety measures" that have since been foisted upon the peaceful population by those who refuse to differentiate between a religion that spread by the sword at the instigation of its founder and the true religion of peace founded by the Creator Himself Who stated "“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” I met a Mennonite couple flying to Colombia and they confiscated her tiny embroidery needle. Just the first of the idiocy that continues to this day. I still don't understand what kind of threat a Mennonite grandma with an embroidery needle would pose to an international flight.

[Rockrat]

I remember that morning well. The one morning I didn't turn on the TV for news. Dropped the kid off at school and went into town, listening to the radio. Heard the news and thought the DJ was playing a sick minded joke. Hit the grocery store and made it home and turned on the TV and just sat there kind of in shock. Thinking of the people in the Trade Center and what was going on. Then reports of the Pentagon being hit made me think of a cousin of mine that worked there. Called Dad and he said that my cousin had retired a week earlier and was fine.

I certainly won't forget 9/11

[COSteve]

I was at work in a closed area talking to our customer. He started yelling and there was a huge commotion in the office in Washington behind him. He said he had to go but "WWIII might be starting" and hung up.

I sat there stunned and then called my director and told him what he had said. He already had gotten a call from a colleague in Gaithersburg, MD and he said that the place was going nuts.

It stopped regular work as we got on secure lines and tried to find out what was going on and what we could do to help. That's when the plane hit the Pentagon and everything hit the fan big time. Our guards got out their tactical gear and long guns and closed our building to anyone and the main facility closed at the gates.

By noon, no civilian aircraft were flying and we had fully armed F-15s and F-16s patrolling the Denver, Ft. Collins and Colorado Springs air spaces. All of the military bases in the entire state had cancelled leaves and been put on high alert.

Sadly, a friend and neighbor, Jason Dahl, the Captain of UA Flt 93, the plane that went down in Pennsylvania lived in our neighborhood. We shared a love of flying and he once took me to the UA training center at DIA where I got to 'fly' a simulator for a bit. The neighborhood erected a small memorial to his memory that stands today.

PXL_20230911_143226451.jpg

I go over to visit it every 9-11 to pay my respects to a friend, fellow pilot, and neighbor.

[Old No7]

I too recall hearing at work that "a small plane had hit the tower..." And my older brother had turned down a job interview at a firm in the 2nd tower the business day before all of this, or he would have been there at that time (and some of those folks he was to see did not get out).

Picked up our son from school (5th grade) and through tears he asked "Does this mean we can't go to Disney?" (the trip was scheduled 2 weeks out). Then a year + later when we did go to Disney, they pulled my petite 8th grade blonde daughter out of the line for "an additional security search, in private" -- my wife was livid -- as was I, as they did NOT pull 2 bearded shaggy looking dudes from "that part of the world" -- they sailed right through.

Oh, the tragedy -- and all the lunacy that followed......

Old No7

[Tycer]

I know exactly where I was. I watched it unfold with my customer’s dog in my lap. The dog absolutely couldn’t have cared less. All she wanted was my attention. She allowed me to watch rather impassionately compared to my coworkers.
All those souls lost to evil that will never be avenged on this earth. God has it though.
Another tinfoil hat added to my collection.

[lthardman]

I was teaching a sales training class in, of all places, a casino hotel. A large part of the class included a simulation. The participants watched a video, and then answered questions about what they saw and how they would handle the depicted situation. A participant complained about the temperature in the room. While the class was busy in a workshop, I stepped out to get someone from maintenance to adjust the temperature. That was when I learned what was going on. I came back to the class and talked with the group's manager. I asked him if he wanted to tell the group of 30 or so what was happening. He did not. He asked me to. So I brought everyone together and shared what I knew, which at that time was not much. I called for a one hour break and told people to call their families to tell them they were okay and for them to get some assurances that their families were well also. (Most of the participants were from out of town.) Ironically, quite a few of them thought that I was staging this as part of the simulation. As I think back it seems unbelievable, and I understand why they might have suspected it was a not-so-clever ruse. I only wish I did make it up.

[Griff]

I was sitting in my truck waiting to get rolls of paper unloaded at the plant that prints the Chicago Tribune & others. I was on the cell phone with Sprint and instead of Musac, they had the news on. Half listening, I thought how strange a program, not yet realising it was the news. I thought to myself that this must be what it was like when Orsen Wells "War of the Worlds" was broadcast over the radio. About that time one of the forklift operators came out and asked if I knew wht at was happening. Went inside to their break room in toime to see the second tower get hit. Got the last of the paper off and beat it out of Chicago.

[Ysabel Kid]

I was in my home office hopping on a teleconference that started at 9:00am. It was a large teleconference, and as people were joining in, someone mentioned that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. You heard a bunch of TV's snap on, including mine, to watch the news while we waited for the teleconference to officially start.

Then the second tower got hit.

Dead silence now on the phone. Then someone asks, "was that a replay?"

"No, a second plane hit the World Trade Center".

Pretty much all the rest of the people turned on their TV's, then muted them. They started the teleconference, but no one was paying attention, and a few minutes later the meeting organizer said he'd reschedule the meeting. Smart call.

I thought about it all day today. As most of us did. And as we have for 22 years.

It was eeiry at home. We live near the airport and along one of the flight paths. You get used to the sounds of jets. And for days it was silent.

I will never forget, or forgive.

[COSteve]

I will never forget, or forgive.

This.

The attack on Pear Harbor . . . The attack on the World Trade Center . . .

Two cowardly acts I will never, ever forget nor forgive those who instigated them.

Those we all lost will live on forever in my heart.

[jeepnik]

405 freeway just south of the 10 freeway enroute to Thousand Oaks. For those that know where that is.
We had no idea what might happen next. L.A. next?

[Tycer]

I will never forget, or forgive.

This.

The attack on Pear Harbor . . . The attack on the World Trade Center . . .

Two cowardly acts I will never, ever forget nor forgive those who instigated them.

Those we all lost will live on forever in my heart.

Yes

[gamekeeper]

Over seeing some contractors on a out of town service station when the news of the first plane came in and as a lot of folks thought "tragic accident" then the second tower hit and we all knew this was a world changing act of pure evil.

[COSteve]

And after 22 years, Saudi Arabia has still not be held accountable!!!!!!!

[AJMD429]

.
There was an organization called the American Pilots Security Association or something like that, who spoke at the Second Amendment Foundation conference held later that September in 2001, in Cincinnati/Covington. They said that up until August the rules the FAA enforced still allowed pilots to have firearms in the cockpit, although it was a pain in the butt depending on where the plane was going and which airline it was. For no explained reason, in August of 2001, the rules changed, and all of a sudden pilots couldn't use any of the work-arounds some had used to be armed.

That always made me suspicious that the road was paved for those terrorists. In each case, an armed pilot would have completely turned the tables.

[Paladin]

I had retired from the state police and was a Federal Special Agent. My wife had gotten home from surgery the day before and I was making her breakfast when she called to turn on the TV. I saw the aircraft hit the second tower and told her it was not an accident. I got dressed and walked my daughter to school (a few hundred yards). The principal was out front saying they were trying to decide if they were shutting down the school and asked me to stay with him until they got the students returned home. I was still in a National Guard Special Forces unit and was called to stand by for reporting to the unit. I earned the bumper sticker in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Africa with an M-14

[jkbrea]

I was a Sgt of our detective bureau at the time. I was getting ready for work and turned on the TV. I was thinking some pilot just screwed up until the 2nd plane hit.
A week later I drive to Wyoming with my brother to hunt elk. I remember every town we went through had people collecting donations at intersections carrying firefighter boots. Sadly, lots were scams.

[Grizz]

.
There was an organization called the American Pilots Security Association or something like that, who spoke at the Second Amendment Foundation conference held later that September in 2001, in Cincinnati/Covington. They said that up until August the rules the FAA enforced still allowed pilots to have firearms in the cockpit, although it was a pain in the butt depending on where the plane was going and which airline it was. For no explained reason, in August of 2001, the rules changed, and all of a sudden pilots couldn't use any of the work-arounds some had used to be armed.

That always made me suspicious that the road was paved for those terrorists. In each case, an armed pilot would have completely turned the tables.

I have my Dad's flight bag from his airline days. He sewed a holster and carried a revolver on every flight. He didn't ask and he didn't tell, but he did say something to the effect that "NO @#%$^&%^%$ )&*(^& was going to steal his airplane OR hurt his passengers ! ! ! ! !"

that was in the sixties, never found out if he continued to retirement, he was flying DC9s to MX by then. Happily he never made the news in that regard.