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-   -   Where Were You 10 Years Ago On the Morning Of 9/11??? (https://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13019)

Greene's Basin Girl 09-10-2011 11:45 AM

Where Were You 10 Years Ago On the Morning Of 9/11???
 
I imagine that everyone remembers where they were on the morning of 9/11. I had recently won a radio contest on WHOM. The morning of 9/11 a friend and I were traveling to the base of Mt. Washington. We were suppose to meet Jared from the Subway commercials and ride with him to the summit. We were then scheduled to have lunch with Jared. Needless to say when we arrived we learned about the events that were unfolding in NYC. Everyone around us were in shock. We were told by the radio personnel that the meeting with Jared was off. We decided to go up to the summit by ourselves anyways. We reached the Tip-Top house and we found that the few people that were in the building were clued to the summit's TV. The situation was very surreal. We were so lucky to be in one of the most beautiful majestic NH landmarks, but we felt like we were in a dream. It was horrifying to watch the twin towers burn and fall. It made me realize that we need to appreciate each and every day that we have with our family and friends.

Nagigator 09-10-2011 12:42 PM

I remember clear as ..........
 
I had a dentists appointment that morning. Sitting on my bed, I was flossing, and watching the Today show's extended coverage, as it was past their 9am sign off. The second plane hit the tower, live, and Matt Lauer was stunned into silence. The strangest thing I noticed was in the following week. My house sits on the flight path of jets going to and from Logan. We always have the jets coming by, way up high. The entire week was silent.......just one small change that occured because of this unspeakable tragedy...

VitaBene 09-10-2011 01:00 PM

I was sitting at my desk listening to Howard Stern (who did an unbelievable job of covering the event). I stayed there for an hour or so, then went home to watch coverage. I remember feeling numb and angry.

I work as a security consultant. 9-11 had a profound impact on how I look at facilities and the threats they face.

Nagigator 09-10-2011 01:02 PM

I was listening to Howard, too.........that show provided a great service to the city of New York that morning.

jkjoshuatree 09-10-2011 01:42 PM

I Was Working On The Waterfront In South Boston...
 
...I had picked up my jobs for the day and the first was on Channel St. in Southie.

I was listening to WAAF (Tool was on-Forty Six & 2-one of their best songs) and I remember Greg Hill stopping the song for the announcement.

I looked across the water and noticed immediately that there wasn't ANY activity at all happening at Logan.

No planes over head (like Nagigator said) and not a soul on the tarmac of the run ways. And of course no planes landing or taking off. It was surreal. Like everyone just disappeared.

My second job that day (how weird is this?) was at the World Trade Center. Granted, it's completely different than the one in NYC, but still eerie. A co worker called and told me not to go. So I didn't. No one had any idea what was going on yet.

I ended up in Charlestown eventually and it was so strange to actually notice the absence of planes in the sky.

At one point, I heard one overhead and people stopped their cars, go out, and looked up. We were freaked. It was a fighter jet and boy was it loud and scary.

Finally, around 2:30, I was in a woman's apartment taking her phone jack apart and she had the TV on (I hadn't SEEN anything yet...only listened on the radio).

I was mesmerized. I asked her if I could sit down and watch for a little while. She said of course. We watched the footage in stunned silence.

I couldn't think of a thing to say.

robmac 09-10-2011 02:18 PM

I was at work at a Chevrolet dealership in MA. when I was walking out of service toward my office when several employees called me to the waiting room to see tv coverage. I can remember that for the rest of the day the phones barely rang,normally customers especially comercial would blow up the phone lines all day. It was very quiet,nobody really even talking for the remainder of the day.

martbri7 09-10-2011 02:39 PM

I was listening to Howard Stern that morning heading to my parents house to do some laundry....I had the entire broadcast on a old school ipod....Howard was talking about being at a club with Pamela Anderson then breaking news...I stayed glued to the Howard/tv all day. Baba Booey Baba Booey

Meredith lady 09-10-2011 04:09 PM

i was home that fateful day. Glued to the TV and the phone. Our family lost Garnett (Ace) Bailey (of Boston Bruins fame). Such a tragic and sad day.

Hshag 09-10-2011 05:22 PM

I was in Brewster Massachusetts replacing windows listening to Howard Stern on my earbuds. I turned on the TV in the house when I heard the breaking news . I stood there watching the burning building on TV wondering how an airplane could hit the WTC…….......Then the 2nd plane hit.

Hshag 09-10-2011 05:41 PM

My wife had a friend Bobbi Arestegui. She was a flight attendant for American Airlines. She was on Flight 11 September 11th . She was the first to die. Bobbie was killed in rush to the cabin.
Still thinking of you Bobbie
http://www.flightattendants.org/Memo..._Arestegui.htm

Mink Islander 09-10-2011 06:18 PM

I flew to San Francisco the night before
 
Since I had several bankers heading with me for client calls, I insisted we fly one of the el cheapo airlines rather than the much more expensive flights on AA to conserve our travel budget. We would normally have taken the morning flight on AA that was one of the two that flew into the WTC. I will never forget that. So much in life is simply chance.

SF was an eerie place that day. Completely shut down. After two days we rented a Ford Excursion and drove X-country non-stop back to Boston in two and a half days. Got home just as the airports were reopening.

SAMIAM 09-10-2011 06:29 PM

We were on vacation at Popham Beach, Maine.....spent a quiet day exploring and enjoying the day. We didn't find out until we returned in the late afternoon and a friend called and told us what happened. She told us first, that my daughter, who lived in NY city at the time, was all right....and then explained what happened. Couldn't believe it.....still can't.

eillac@dow 09-10-2011 06:34 PM

I was at a red light on Mass Ave near Boston City Hospital, listening to Matty in the Morning on Kiss 108. He broke into the song and told us that a plane had hit the World Trade. he is kind of a jokster on the radio and I remember him saying....something like...people, I like to joke around , but what I am saying here is real...it is true.

I called my husband at work, continued driving and another plane hit. Went to work in the Prudential Center...all of us glued to TVs and then left. Went to the school and grabbed my kids out school and just went home.

What a horrific day. I will remember it always.

God bless all those that lost their lives. God bless those who assisted in the rescue. God bless all of their families and God Bless us All.

NoBozo 09-10-2011 06:40 PM

TODAY SHOW: Watched the first building hit..watched the second building hit. Had a doctors appointment in Boston..Mass General. Hit the road from RI. It's an hour ride. On the car radio...Pentagon HIT. Made a U-Turn at the Rt 24 -128 junction and headed back to RI. Didn't want to get into Boston's TALL buildings... NB

SteveA 09-10-2011 06:49 PM

I was at a Sales Managers meeting at our corporate offices in Elyria, OH. We we're in a large conference room when one of the office staff burst into the meeting to say a plane had hit the WTC. At first we went on with the meeting until the word got out that a second plane hit. We had giant projection TV in the Conference room and they turned it on and we watched the story unfold. Horrible!

That night we were scheduled to have about 30 of our major customers coming into Cleveland for a training program that was planned for 9/12. We were supposed to have a reception for them that night at a Marriott Courtyard right near the Cleveland Airport. The only customer that made it was a local guy that drove to hotel.

We all ended up watching the events unfold in the lobby TV area at the Courtyard.
That night the crew from Delta 1989, that was for a period of time, thought to be a 5th plane. The entire crew sat with us and watched the TV and told us all about the confusion that had forced them to be ordered to land in Cleveland. They spent hours on the ground being interviewed by the FBI. They were one shook up bunch of people.

The whole story of Delta 1989 is told here.
http://www.911myths.com/index.php/Delta_1989

My brother worked for Raython in North Andover, (still does), two close friends he worked with died that day on one of the flights from Boston.

I ended up having to rent one of the last cars they had at Cleveland airport and drive back to NH. I carpooled with a guy that I dropped off in Springfield, Mass.

Bear Islander 09-10-2011 06:56 PM

It was our 25th wedding anniversary and I was opening a card my wife had just given me when I saw the WTC burning on the TV.

Before that day September 11 was just my wedding day.

Now it's our 35th.

Hermit Cover 09-10-2011 08:36 PM

I was driving on Interstate 95 in Springfield, Virginia on my way to McLean, Va. to meet a truckload of furniture being delivered to my brother in law's home there....upon reaching the Capital Beltway I decided to take the Beltway Tyson's Corner route....I usually would take the 95 to GW Parkway route which...goes directly past the west side of the Pentagon....By the time I reached McLean the plane had hit the Pentagon.....

Mrs. Hermit Cover worked for many years in NYC at One Liberty Plaza...the former US Steel Building...across Liberty street from the South Tower of the WTC. Her 8th floor office faced the Mezzanine Floor of that South Tower. She had left that building and that employer a year before. The Brooks Brothers Store on the ground floor of One Liberty became a triage point for casualties....the west side of One Liberty was blown out by the blast and subsequent collapse. For a time , you'll remember, it was feared One Liberty would also collapse. Today it is Nasdaq Headquarters....:(

Just Sold 09-10-2011 09:06 PM

I was doing a volunteer home painting project in Plaistow, NH when my best friend called me and kept saying that "Donnie Ditullio, his brother-in-law, and his girlfriend Janis Lasden were on that plane" until I got him calmed down and he explained what he was talking about. That Donnie was on the 1st plane that had hit the World Trade Center. He had not known which flight Donnie was on he just knew that it was that plane that had hit the World Trade Center. We had the home owner turn on his TV and watched the 2nd plane hit. I spent the rest of that day and the week that followed with my friend and their family and took care of their elderly mother while they delt with the tragedy.
There were more things that happened after flight 11 crashed that were very erie. Like Janis' premonition the night before (told to her neighbor) that the plane would crash to her last will and testiment written the night before and sitting on her computer when my friend arrived at Donnie & Janis' home the night of the crash and there were others.

Donnie's mother and 2 sisters are in NYC for the 10th Anniversary of 9/11.

My nephew was in NYC that day and in order to get out of town with no public transportation running he walked north thru Manhattan to rent a Ford Escape and drive it back to Minneapolis, MN.

upthesaukee 09-10-2011 11:13 PM

At work at Staples in Rochester
 
One of my coworker's husband called and said a plane hit the WTC tower and wanted to know how a plane could be that far off course (I was an air traffic controller in my prior life.). I told him I couldn't fathom that happening. After the second plane hit the second tower, he came to the store to tell us all what happened and that it wasn't an accident. Not a good day.:(

Janet 09-11-2011 05:21 AM

I was an administrative assistant for one of our hospitals in the Dallas area. I was completing some paperwork for the director of the psychiatric unit. Walking back to my office I overheard one of the patients on the phone telling a friend a plane had crashed into the WTC. I immediately wondered what medication she was on. It wasn't until I got to my office and called my sister who confirmed what this patient had said. Having been born and raised in New Jersey we had been to the WTC and knew the area quite well. Of course hospitals can't stop work and at the time TVs were only in patient rooms so I kept informed with calls to my sister. I'll never forget her saying, "they're gone, those buildings are gone". A friend of mine in New Jersey said one of the saddest things was to drive by the train stations and see the same cars sitting in the parking lot of the Park and Rides day after day waiting for their drivers who never returned.

fpartri497 09-11-2011 06:41 AM

I was eating breakfast at the old bay diner that morning on the way to the marina. sat there and watched the second plane hit the tower, on their TV. It was the worst day of our lives.

:eek:

gtxrider 09-11-2011 07:48 AM

bad morning
 
I was off from work that morning sitting on my bed watching the news trying to fiqure out how a plane could hit the world trade center, just as the second plane hit the WTC. No accident!

After a qucik prayer, I called in to the AT&T Network Operations Center and asked the boss did she need me? I was sent to our disaster recovery center (secret location). As I drove west on RT 78 in New Jersey I could not believe the convoy of emergency vehicles heading in the opposite direction headed for the city and the smoke in my rear view mirrors.

ishoot308 09-11-2011 08:07 AM

I was at work and was very concerned as I had 4 employees on a Southwest airlines flight from Manchester to BWI. That flight fly's right over NYC which they did just a couple minutes before the first plane hit the twin towers.

There was a lot of confusion that morning in the office as we were also working on a project called the "Twin Towers" just out of D.C. across the river in Arlington, VA and we had a crew of men there. We received a call from my operations manager in DC that the "Twin Towers" had just been hit by an airplane. Needless to say chaos ensued in our office. Unknowingly it wasn't the same building.

It is a day I will never forget, but would like to...

Dan

Kamper 09-11-2011 08:11 AM

I had taken the day off to do some chores and projects. I had some ABC talk-show on and they cut-away to the news team a few minutes after 8:46am. They said they had reports that a plane had just hit the North Tower and no other info was available. They were speculating on what kind of plane it could have been when they got camera feed.

I had my head down working on something when one of the anchors gasped and I looked up to see the exit wound opening up from the South Tower. At that moment I recognised the situation was not an accident.

fatlazyless 09-11-2011 08:17 AM

...live today at 4-pm from New York City!
 
Ten years ago today, I was totally bored out of my mind, with nothing better to do, so I was right here on the www.winnipesaukee.com forum, and absolutely nothing has changed in ten years.......duh! ....hey, when you is a local loser....you remain a local loser....people do not change!


Hey.....say.....hey....live from Flushing Meadows in the Bronx today, this afternoon, and within sight of where the Twin Towers used to stand....today at 4-pm on CBS-tv, Channel 4-Boston, it's the women's finals at the www.usopen.org with Serena Williams (USA-obviously) vs Samantha Stosur (Australia) starting at about 4:15 or something what with the 9-11 ceremonies taking place on the tennis courts.

It should be a great tennis match because Sam Stozur beat Serena last time they played which was at the French Open in Paris, May, 2009!


What will Serena be wearing for this New York City, Sept 11, Ten Year Memorial, major sports event?:D:)


What will Samantha be wearing for this New York City, Sept 11, Ten Year Memorial, major sports event?:D:)


There's about 23,500 seats at the tennis court. Every seat will be filled seemingly with many New Yorkers since it takes place in Flushing Meadows, Bronx, New York City, site of the 1964 World Fair, and people pay big big bucks to get into this, the biggest U.S. tennis event of the year.....it's the U.S. Open......live from NEW YORK CITY.....in case you missed that piece of info the first time!

CateP 09-11-2011 09:03 AM

About the Memorial
 
If anyone is interested in more information about the the hauntingly beautiful memorial in NYC check out the web site.

http://www.911memorial.org/memorial

GrandmaBig6 09-11-2011 05:58 PM

On my way into NYC
 
I was on the LIRR on my way into NYC for a job interview. We got to the Jamaica train station and we were told the train would be terminating and no trains would be going onto NY/Penn Station. As we got out of the train we could see the black smoke coming from downtown. As I got on the train to come back home the conductor came over the intercom and told us what happened. When I got home I turned the TV and saw the second plane hit. I was glued to that TV for hours. Just could not believe what I was watching!

Cristen 09-11-2011 06:07 PM

10 years ago today, I was at my office on Boylston Street in Boston. I remember looking out of my office windows at the Hancock Tower....wondering if a plane was going to crash into it. It was a scary day for me and all Americans.

WakeUp 09-11-2011 06:24 PM

Appologies
 
My sincere appology to the Forum for an off-color remark made earlier on this thread. Sometimes my honesty comes back to bite. Again, sorry about that.

AC2717 09-11-2011 06:28 PM

Well
 
I woke up in my college dorm my junior year, to two of my roommates watching the TV, and I said that looks familiar what movie is this???
They both turned to me and said this is live and is happening right now, and I said what and just then the second plane hit right on CNN.

It was terrible...

RLW 09-11-2011 06:43 PM

I was up on Alton Mountain watching the artesian well drill just go past 723' and wondering when it was going to come to a stop. At the time I was extremely nervous and it was more important than what I was hearing on the radio as the drilling just continued to go down.:(

Bear247 09-11-2011 07:01 PM

I was on vacation down in Aruba. Wondering if we were going to be able to get home at some point...

Rattlesnake Guy 09-11-2011 09:31 PM

I was also in a dentist chair. When I got to the car and turned on Imus I called my wife and told her to turn on the TV as something huge has happened but I don't know what it is. My work family spent much of the day in the conference room trying to make sense of it all. Several of our coworkers were in DC and found their way home with an unreturned rental car.

kauriel 09-11-2011 11:16 PM

I had just started my freshmen year of college 10 years ago and was showering for my 10:30 class. I remember walking down the hall from the shower and seeing everyone glued to the TV. I walked into a friends room and watched the events unfolding in NY. As 10:30 approached I went and got dressed and ready for class as I was not sure what the protocol was for something like this. This was the first time our class was meeting and it was a freshmen class so no one had ever met the professor before. He walked in and started teaching like nothing was going on until a staff member walked in and announced what had happened and that all classes were canceled. We were then released and I drove home to be with my family.

Back home being closer to Logan it was eerie not hearing the usual planes landing and taking off and it was very frightening when some planes flew overhead while flights were grounded. I had nightmares for several years following the attacks but they have finally slowed down.

Greene's Basin Girl 09-12-2011 12:22 AM

I want to thank everyone for sharing their stories. I am glad i started this thread because even after 10 years I think it is helpful to remember that tragic day. Our world has never been the same since. There were so many heroes that day. Let us never forget.

Smith Point 09-12-2011 05:32 AM

Ten years ago today I was installing kitchen cabinets at the “Cambridge condo job” I was inside a cabinet at 9:00 in the morning in full swing, screwing down a counter top, my pager was ringing off the wall, (way too busy to look at my pager), when Chris Sullivan walked in the door and asked me if I knew what was going on? I said no but my pager is going nuts (it must be something big) he told me that a jumbo jet just crashed into the world trade center! My first thought was in Boston? No New York City! I was just stunted; I didn’t know what to do. I turned my radio to WBZ am (it was on WBCN, probably way to loud for that time in the morning) walked outside to see a couple of guys and a backhoe prepping for a concrete side walk. Put my hand up to my through and told them to cut it! He shut down the machine and we listened to the radio in amassment. Just then a 2- F15 fighter jets flew overhead at full throttle I’m thinking what the (heck) is going on? We were listening to the radio and learned that another jet just hit the south tower! Everybody is just walking around like zombies in total disillusionment. We can’t believe what’s going on. The looks on our faces as well as the other people around me were just in astonishment, were thinking what do we do now? I called my wife at Putman investments at 1 PO Square and told her to go home! She said she was already in the parking garage and that she had a call coming in, got to go. She Called back and told me what I already knew. She Called back again and said the traffic out bound was so bad to just stay there. So I did, got the job done. It will be a day that I will “never forget.”

Peter 09-12-2011 06:36 AM

I was stopping at the grocery store on the way home from work. Ran into someone in the parking lot who asked if I heard about the plane hitting a building in NYC? I told them that I wasn't surprised that it hadn't happened before with so many tall buildings in NYC. Went home and turned on the TV and was talking to my wife when the 2nd plan hit. That is when I realized it wasn't an accident.

Working in the financial printing business, we had been faxing work back and forth with a client in one of the buildings when all of the sudden the faxes wouldn't go through anymore. Very sad.

jmen24 09-12-2011 07:37 AM

I walked out of my apartment thinking that it was a great day to turn 20, the weather was great and that dinner at my folks house that night should be good. Steak tips on the grill. I proceeded to work and loaded my trailer with the mowing equipment I would need for the day and headed from Pembroke to Gilford, to mow at our complex up the hill from the airport convience.

On the way up 106, listening to Howard Stern, he broke in about the report of a plane hitting the WTC. Deciding I wanted to see what was going on I headed up 129 in Loudon to stop in at my folks place to see the action. With GMA on I watched the 2nd plane hit the tower. Called my boss on the 2-way and talked about what was happening. She was able to read the emotion in my voice and said it would be OK if I wanted to take the day off, my reply was that I would take a few moments but would continue my day as planned.

I left my parents house just after 11:00 to finish my task. I have always been a person that needs to keep busy, knew that I had to get away from the TV.

Before that day, Sept. 11 was just my birthday, but it hasn't felt the same since. Just doesn't feel right to celebrate when I watched so many people lose their lives. Dinner was quite.

rrr 09-12-2011 07:42 AM

A vendor was taking us on a lunch cruise that day - what a great day for a lunch cruise! It was departing from the world trade center - in Boston, which is very close to Logan. So when I heard a plane hit the world trade center - I'm thinking Piper Cub, and Boston. They turned on a TV in one of the conference rooms and just as I was about to sit, the second plane hit - that was all I could bear to see. I went back to my office just as they announced the building was being evacuated (federal building and proximity to Logan). I got a call from my husband assuring that we were both okay and both headed home. Good thing because after that it was difficult to get through on the cell phone.

When I walked into the building that morning (about 7:15) I flashed my badge at the protection officer. When I left 2.5 hours later, there were metal detectors and x-ray machines set up and ready to go! That was scary.

I remember thinking it was a beautiful day, and I could get so much done. When I got home and turned the TV on - I was glued to it. The only time we moved was when we heard F15's scramble out of Hanscom.

The coworker that was going on that lunch cruise with me suffered a fatal abdominal aortic aneurysm 6 days later.

KPW 09-12-2011 09:00 AM

I had just come from Cow Island. I was throwing my trash in the dumpster at Harilla, when Brett, from Goodhue told me that a plane had hit the WTC. Listened to the radio on the way to the steamboat meet at Lee's Mill. 1st visual was on a tiny black and white portable TV at Lee's Mill. I went back to the island. The friend that was with me was upset with me because I refused to leave the island any sooner than we had planned, and that I shut the TV off after a while.

LIforrelaxin 09-12-2011 09:16 AM

This is a great thread...As all of us as American's where effected by that tragic day... we all need to share are stories from time to time...to realize that we where not alone in our feelings....

I myself remember the day very well... I was well engrossed in my work day, sitting in a co-workers office, try to figure out if we needed to order a handler kit for a new product I had coming in. In the middle of our meeting, a third person came in, and asked if we could get on the internet, something about a plane flying into the world trade center... We tried but the network was overwhelmed. So we shrugged and decided it was probably just a small plane... and went back about our meeting. It wasn't until I left his office that I realized that something major had occurred, as I took the short cut from his office to mine, across the test floor, there was not a soul to be found. I got into my office area, and heard silence... I wondered into another co-workers cube and asked what was going on... I simply pointed to the screen where there was a picture of the first tower falling... he then switched to another window and pointed at the screen a picture of the second tower burning... I fell into a chair in his cube, and he said, "you didn't know until now did you"... he filled me in, and as many others we sat there staring at the screen.

I was able to get through the rest of the day, and got a little bit of work done. However it was that evening where I felt my world change. I was single, and convinced I would be a bachelor for the rest of my life. But I sat feeling alone in the world, and finally decided to join a neighbor to watch the news unfold, with him and his family. I realized I needed more in my life...

10 years ago I was single and alone going through life... Now I am married with to Step Sons, who brighten even the worst days...

joey2665 09-12-2011 10:35 AM

I remember it like yesterday. Normal morning at the office in Queens, NY about 4 miles from JFK, then I recived a call from my brother in law who was making a delivery in downtown NYC and he told me to look out my window and that there was a fire at the WTC (I had a beautiful view of WTC from my office window). I immediately turned on the radio to WINS, the 24 hour news station in NY and it was originally reported a small plane had hit.

At that time I had to leave for a meeting in Coney Island and as I traveled along the Belt Parkway which is on the south shore of Brooklyn and Queens I had seen flight 175 hit the second tower and also the first tower fall. By the time we arrived at our meeting we were glued to the TV and watched the second biulding fall.

From my concrete plant in downtown Brooklyn we could see the huge plumes of smoke and dust and later that day the yard was littered with all kinds of dust dirt and a trenmendous amount of office paper. This location of ours is only 5 miles from the center.

As the first tower fell my brother in law had to hide under is truck to avoid being struck by debris.

It was a very emtional and difficult day for us, my best freind is a now retired FDNY Captain how we had no contact with us for two days, a friend and tax client of mine just started on that Monday with Cantor needless to say is no longer with us and his with was pregnant at the time. Cell pone lines where jammed and I was desparetely trying to contact my wife we had just had our 1st child in June.

I actually had a doctor appointment that evening which was obviouly canceled and I still keep the appointment card in my wallet til this day.

I must tell you that it was indeed a very worrisome and troubling and upsetting day but although it is not talked about often the 12th was almost as bad. I had to travel to work to make sure our plant in downtown Brooklyn was ok and my brother in law (who ened up leaving his truck and walking over the Brooklyn Bridge to get home) where on the LIE at 5 am and from Long Island all the way into Brooklyn we literally did not see one car on the road ther where no people out, it was the most unsettling and eary feeling I have ever had in my life, LI and the boroughs were a ghosttown.

Gearhead 09-12-2011 01:44 PM

I was in Buffalo on business. I was scheduled to fly out of Buffalo-Niagara at 2:00 and I was in a conference room finishing some last-minute details when people rushed into the room and turned on the TV. We watched the second plane fly into the building and I thought "we're getting invaded!" I drove my rental back home to NH, watching convoys of 20-plus state troopers F-L-Y-I-N-G down I-90. I still remember the large lighted sign over the highway saying that all traffic into the city was closed.

The next day I drove to Hanscom to pick up my car and there was a group of four strangers (three men, one woman) who were all driving to Texas and were waiting in the terminal for someone to bring in a rental car.

My company also had a trade show in Las Vegas (PMMI) and a large contingent of them were "stuck" at the Bellagio. One of the salesmen who drove there from Los Angeles BOUGHT a new Suburban, then loaned it to eight or so co-workers to drive back to South Carolina, then Massachusetts. Imagine the mileage writeoff!

Lucky1 09-12-2011 01:55 PM

September 11, 1912 was my dad's birthday. Yesterday he would have been ninety nine. So that date will always be special to me.

On September 11, 2001, I was right here at my home on the lake with my oldest daughter and her friend when the phone rang. It was my daughter out in CA. I looked at the clock and it was before nine. I thought, "Gee Why is she calling before 6 in the morning her time?" I knew something important was happening. She asked if I had the TV on and I said that I did not. She then said that I should turn it on as a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center Towers. She also said that her husband was in the air for work and had had his plane grounded and was going to rent a car and drive back home. That simple act by our government may have saved lives if there were other attacks that might have happened but we will never know that for sure.

The attacks have not been able to dampen my feelings of love for my father and for the wonderful day on which he was born!! I still say every year, "I love you Dad. You had a good run. Look over all of us here on earth." My mother will be 95 October 7th and has Alzheimers so she is in assisted living near to her favorite son in VA. These people survived Pearl Harbor etc. Let us hope that we all survive and thrive no matter what people try to do. The United States of America is the greatest country on earth! We are blessed to be Americans!!

VitaBene 09-12-2011 02:44 PM

Shared Bday
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by jmen24 (Post 168479)

Before that day, Sept. 11 was just my birthday, but it hasn't felt the same since. Just doesn't feel right to celebrate when I watched so many people lose their lives. Dinner was quite.

You share a birthday with my wife!

tricia1218 09-12-2011 03:48 PM

I remember thinking before I left my house that morning how nice the weather was. Later I was on 495 South in MA on my way into work listening to Howard Stern on FM radio when the 1st plane hit and I thought this can't be real, by the time I got to work the 2nd plane hit.

VitaBene 09-12-2011 04:34 PM

Stern
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by tricia1218 (Post 168514)
I remember thinking before I left my house that morning how nice the weather was. Later I was on 495 South in MA on my way into work listening to Howard Stern on FM radio when the 1st plane hit and I thought this can't be real, by the time I got to work the 2nd plane hit.

It is interesting to see how many forumites were listening to Howard Stern on 9-11

I thought he did an unbelievable job that day. He is a brilliant interviewer. I will be shocked if he does not "retire" to an interview gig on cable.

VitaBene 09-12-2011 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bear Islander (Post 168408)
It was our 25th wedding anniversary and I was opening a card my wife had just given me when I saw the WTC burning on the TV.

Before that day September 11 was just my wedding day.

Now it's our 35th.

Happy anniversary!

Nagigator 09-12-2011 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VitaBene (Post 168519)
It is interesting to see how many forumites were listening to Howard Stern on 9-11

I thought he did an unbelievable job that day. He is a brilliant interviewer. I will be shocked if he does not "retire" to an interview gig on cable.

Yesterday morning, Sirius radio replayed the Stern show from 9-11..........we watched some of the TV coverage of the ceromonies with the radio show playing for sound. It took you right back there, to that day.........

CateP 09-12-2011 08:48 PM

I am struck by how many people thought it was an unusually beautiful day BEFORE anything happened. I remember thinking that too.

ghfromaltonbay 09-13-2011 09:51 AM

Unfortunate birds-eye view
 
I was at work in northern NJ on what started as a beautiful late summer day. Someone in another cubicle called out that a plane had just hit the WTC and we thought "how could someone not see the building in this clear weather, perhaps the pilot of a small plane had a medical issue", but then she screamed that a 2nd plane had hit the other tower. We rushed into the break room to see the TV and just outside the door I met a colleague who was white as a sheet. He told me his brother-in-law worked on the upper floors of WTC I at Cantor Fitzgerald. We watched the TV and prayed that all would be able to get out. The towers were less than 10 miles from our job. When they collapsed we were all stunned. As I drove home for lunch I could see the large plume of smoke where the towers had stood. I'll never forget the feeling I had in the pit of my stomach looking at what seemed like a nuclear mushroom clould. Unfortunately, in the next few days I learned that not only had my colleague lost his best friend (his brother-in-law), but my cousin lost her brother-in-law @ Marsh McLennan, my beautician lost TWO nephews who worked at Cantor Fitzgerald, and another former colleague at Verizon lost his 26 year old son who was in tower 2 @ AON. Every Sept. 11th these men and their 11 children who lost their Dad's are on my mind.

These days when I drive on Interstate 80 East near Giant stadium I can see the new tower going up at the 9/11 site. The skyline really has changed since 2001. Every time I re-watch my favorite movie Moonstruck I get a chill when the opening shot shows the twin towers with all the lights twinkling. I visited the top once back in the late 1970's and the view from the top was gorgeous. How life has changed since 9/11/01.

MDoug 09-13-2011 05:14 PM

Where Were You 10 Years Ago On the Morning Of 9/11???
 
I had just finished teaching my 8:00 a.m. class at Waycross College in Georgia when my colleague told me that some fool had flown into the World Trade Center. He and I thought it was an accident (we had no TV nearby). Then the second plane hit the South Tower. "My stepson is at Sandler O'Neill!" I shouted. Rich and I bolted for the lounge and the television there.

Then I remembered to call Ann, Freddy's mom. She taught art at Ware County High, a few hundred yards from the college campus.

As we drove home to wait, hoping Freddy would call, there was a blue sky, a beautiful day near the Okefenokee.

No call came. Ann saw one lone cloud in the shape of a cross, and she said, "He's gone, Mike."

Greene's Basin Girl 09-14-2011 02:51 AM

Very sad. I am so sorry.

MDoug 09-14-2011 05:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Green's Basin Girl (Post 168650)
Very sad. I am so sorry.

Thanks. We really appreciate the kind support from everyone through the years.

NoRegrets 09-14-2011 09:05 AM

I was working with a colleague in my office. Someone stuck their head into my office and said a plane hit the WTO. We started to discuss the story of the B-25 that hit the Empire State building in the fog in 1945 but then someone said it was a commercial passenger and a second plane just hit. TV's were being setup in the halls and we were all stunned at the flow of information flowing across all media sources.

September 13, 2001 my wife left me a voice mail message that I saved and still have it on my machine.

Her voice was shaken: “Hi Honey, it's me (sob) its three o'clock and I just got some news that one of our neighbors had died on flight 11. So I'm pretty upset about it (two more sobs). So umm (her voice started to break up into a partial cry) I'll be okay but I just wanted to let you know (pause) I saw him every night when I took my walk. He had the dog and a little girl in a stroller (more sobbing) so I just want to let you know that I love you - Bye.”

David’s 9 11 story http://www.legacy.com/sept11/Story.aspx?PersonID=91838

Thank you for the thread and all the stories.

CrownRay 09-14-2011 12:39 PM

I was working as a field service dispatcher for the company I worked for. I got a phone call from one of the engineers in NY. He told me a plane hit the WTC. He called me because we are both pilots. We were discussing how it was weird that on such a C.A.V.U. (Ceiling and Visiblity Unlimited) day that a plane could be so far off course. Then, suddenly he said he had to go, and hung up (when the second plane hit). Turns out he was stuck in traffic on one of the bridges the whole time. I remember I told the nearest co-worker to me. Nobody in the office knew yet...I was kind of the barer of bad news....


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