Where Were You On 9-11?
All this week, the media has been remembering 9-11 since this year marks the 10th anniversary of that fateful day.
Things have changed a lot in this country. Some good. Some bad. There was a lot of armchair quarterbacking after the fact, but I think for the most part the US acted correctly. We grounded all air traffic and scrambled the F-16s.
That was the big picture, but you hardly ever hear about what happened to the individuals, one human to another.
On September 11, 2001, I was living in Dallas. Greg lived on the Texas Gulf coast (still does). I had just finished a staff meeting when I passed by a cubicle with the radio on. At first the reports were sketchy. We all thought it was a horrible accident--until the second airplane hit the other tower.
Within minutes I started receiving frantic emails from my family in Chicago and a phone call from Greg. Everyone wanted to be assured the other was safe. A couple of hours later, when our worst suspicions had been verified, I got a call from the director of our company ordering me to send everyone home.
It was just as well. The only thing on our minds were our families.
Greg was at work. His chemical plant sits directly under the flight path of the city's main airport. Plane after plane came down in a thunderous cascade that didn't stop. As soon as he heard the abrupt landings, he realized immediately that the US was throwing out a security net. We had to separate the good guys from the bad guys.
Meanwhile in Dallas, I debated the wisdom of keeping two households. Dallas had had a few warnings and evacuations because of bomb scares. It was even less safe on the Texas coast where petrochemical plants became secondary targets.
Security protocols were tightened and every threat was considered serious. A terrorist bomb at a chemical plant with toxic chemicals could kill millions. Nobody was taking any chances.
Greg, who is an Incident Commander on the Industrial Rescue Brigade was put on standby. His group, as well as dozens of others were ready to mobilize at a moment's notice. At my company, we industrialized entire departments to build food banks, blood drives, and care packages. Some of my younger friends enlisted in the military that very week.
We were sucker-punched, but the bad guys didn't even come close to bringing us down.
For the first time in a long time, I was really proud at how people put aside their differences to help total strangers--not just in this country, but all over the world.
I remember that day like it was yesterday. I felt vulnerable not having Greg nearby, but I also felt empowered, knowing that other people depended on me.
When Greg finally came home to me a week later, I kissed him hard, not just for myself, but for all the people who weren't as lucky as I was that night.
Where were you on September 11?
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And then i had to go to work at B&N
The alarm, to get me up for work, had gone off and instead of the expected music all I heard with "the Trade Center has been hit." Yeah, jack-knifed out of bed. At first That Man and I thought it was another bomb but then we turned on the TV.
The towers fell as I walked into work. We were in a daze all day. The small airport near by and Intel went into lock down.
A very surreal day. You never realize how much traffic and noise we live with until it's suddenly gone. Our house was in the flight path for the international airport, and it was eery.
Being on the west coast there was no real fear we'd be hit, at least not at my level. Lots of phone calls back and forth, lots of family dinners and being thankful we were together, gathering of care packages, and sending friends off to help.
I agree with you on the noise level. When I lived there, I drove past DFW, one of the largest airports in the world. There wasn't any hour in the day I didn't see 5-6 airplanes in the sky at one time. But on 9-11 and for several days later, the skies were eerily still.
It'll be interesting to see how we'll get our news ten years from now.
Since today is probably going to be filled with a lot of gloom, here is a story about 9/11 that I've always found really interesting. It's about how the town of Gander doubled its population to take in American flyers.
It's a big day there. The American ambassador to Canada is going to be on hand. -- http://m.ctv.ca/topstories/20110908/gander-remembers-911-110909.html
And, a little happy video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxaxrlusQC8. Sometimes, in the darkest moments, we discover that most people have huge hearts.
Another Canadian community created a convoy to carry many of the USians back to their homes by car. Some traveled as far south as California.
When I mentioned how proud I was of the international community, this is what I was talking about. Thank you.
--of course, lately, I never seem to go anywhere. :)
I was glued to the TV all day.
My hubby eventually banned me from watching anymore because I was getting so upset and emotional and he was worried about the baby.
Like you, I remember it like it was yesterday too.
The feeling I had, worrying that my mom might be dead, feeling my country was under attack, listening to people laugh as the news showed the planes crashing into the building... I experienced a terrible helpless rage I had never felt before and hope never to feel again.
(My mom was ok, btw. Her trip had been postponed, thank goodness.)
Jennifer: I don't doubt your hubby banned tv for you.
As frightened as you were for your mother, I can only imagine what she must've been feeling for you. I hope you managed to get out of there as quickly as possible.
How ironic to be there for humanitarian reasons only to be subjected to such hostility.
You are one very brave lady.
My husband's friend, Charlie, worked at Windows on the World, the beautiful restaurant that sat at the top of the World Trade Center. Charlie went into work early that day and never made it home.
My family was lucky. My aunt did come home. She raced out of the building like so many others that day by using the staircase - fifty stories down. As the Towers came crashing around them, she got pushed to the ground my a stranger who covered her body with his own. We still don't know the stranger's name, but we are so thankful for him. It took hours upon hours for her to walk - as no public transportation ran that day - through downtown Manhattan, over the Brooklyn Bridge, and into Brooklyn. When we finally got the call that she was alive - and needed a ride - I hopped in my car with my uncle and rushed to get her. The look on her face, the soot on her clothes, the lack of one shoe, broke my heart and yet, I was so thankful she was alive.
September 11th changed so many lives. I still grieve for the families who couldn't pick up their loved ones that day and pray that the memorial gives them a sense of peace.
Every Savage Can Reproduce
As I read your story, the emotion was palpable. I cannot even imagine the fear and anxiety you must have felt that day.
Your story haunts me.
Tara: That instinctive desire to protect took me off guard. I've seen people go out of their way to help, but never so many at one time.
Julie: I think it's that feeling of helplessness that stabbed me the hardest. I remember sitting in a chair giving blood, thinking, is there anything more I can do.
Suzanne: The tragedy was absolutely unprecedented. Even Pearl Harbor was an attack on military forces not innocent civilians.
I suspect the bad guys hoped to derail morale. On the contrary, they made our resolve stronger.
As I got up for work this morning on Sept. 12th, 2011, I admit I was fearful to ride the train and to walk to my office (I work only a block from the Empire State Building), but I have to continue to do so every day. I can't let fear hold me back from living my life.
I hope fear holds none of you back either.