Just Jack Posted September 11, 2016 Posted September 11, 2016 I was walking into the Emergency Operations Directors office for Onondaga County right when the second plane hit.
mead107 Posted September 11, 2016 Posted September 11, 2016 I was sleeping on the couch. Woke up thought it was an advertisement for a movie. Was good morning America
Johnny Hammersticks Posted September 11, 2016 Posted September 11, 2016 I woke up in my dorm room (after a heavy night of drinking) at around 11:00, walked across the hall to take a shower, and notice people in the hallway sobbing and hugging each other. Didn't think much of it, as I was really hung over. It wasn't until I got out of the shower and turned on the television that I realized what had happened. Classes were cancelled. Very sad day, as many of my close friends were personally affected.
Mike in Horseheads Posted September 11, 2016 Posted September 11, 2016 I was at work listening to local radio when they cut in and said "something has happened at the WTC and they were watching it on tv". I went to a conference room and turned a set on and thought OMG.....
Gugny Posted September 11, 2016 Posted September 11, 2016 I was working nights at the time, so I was sleeping when the first plane hit. My wife woke me up and I ran out and watched the rest of the day's events unfold. That day changed me forever. God Bless the USA.
CowgirlsFan Posted September 11, 2016 Posted September 11, 2016 Working the drive in as a teller at the Chase Bank in Grand Prairie Texas on Main St.
Marv's Neighbor Posted September 11, 2016 Posted September 11, 2016 I was still in bed. We lived in Seattle at the time, so still early in the morning for us. My Wife & I are both retired from United Airlines and lost friends & co-workers on 2 of those planes. It's a very sad day, even now.
Guffalo Posted September 11, 2016 Posted September 11, 2016 (edited) I posted this the following morning after the attacks, I had been at the game on Sunday the 9th, and flew in over the trade center that night after the game. golfed with a guy (Patrick O'Shea) who ended up missing that day. this was the account I wrote the morning after: I almost feel ashamed looking at this board, since football is far from my mind right now, but my home page is TBD... When I was on my way to work yesterday, I was on the #1 express from Penn down to WTC, at 14th a couple got on and said they saw a plane hit the trade center, I figured it was a light plane, and continued on. There was an announcement by the conductor that said "Due to a fire at WTC there will be no service to Cortland ave (in the wtc), I got out at chambers street and started walking..as I turned around to face the north tower I saw people just string up in awe..there was a hole in the tower with smoke and flames, I asked some guy what happened and he said, he saw the plane go in.. and then he said 15 minutes later the other tower exploded.. (we were on the north side so he didn't see the 2nd plane , only the impact) I tried my cell phone (no good) so I tried to find a pay phone , I thought of my wife wondering if I was in there, and just the worry that the rest of the family would have when they heard..I was able to get through to her voice mail, and then I called our office on 36th st ( I am a consultant assigned to 4 WTC since last September). The office wanted me to try to locate another employee, and we started using my cell phone with the two way radio feature. I started looping around to the east of the buildings, trying to find my co-worker, as I walked near the post office, I saw debris and broken concrete, small puddles of blood, shoes ,lots of shoes and I picked up a warm hunk of metal ( I have no idea why) it was almost hot and it was heavy and it was oily or greasy... I dropped it when I saw a wheel or turbine that was 20 feet away, high density aluminum about 6 feet wide.... Using my radio to my boss, I kept chatter back and forth and kept moving towards where I figured Marcia would be (we went through the bombing in 93 and had always said, head for the water by the Seaport). Police were busy on Church so I moved to Broadway by J&R Music and continued the radio chatter with my boss, he said Marcia had not checked in yet, keep looking, he also told me he saw video of the 2nd plane as it went in, he said it had been hijacked as well as the first one, he also told be about the Pentagon being hit. I had worked my way to Nassau street, a pedestrian mall about 3 blocks east of the towers. My radio was quirky, sometimes the frequency was jammed, sometimes you could get through, so I told my boss I was going to keep it on once I get a signal. As I was walking up Nassau I left the center of the street and stayed along the storefronts, I was talking to Doug and he heard me say "Oh @#$%^! something's happening, oh my God something went off", and he could hear the rumbling as the first tower went down, I felt a shock wave and wind rush as I ducked into a doorway (from the narrow street you could not see the tower) I knew that one of them had fallen and I assumed it had toppled over like a domino, not the gentle slide that I saw later. The dust and debris cloud came next as I peered out of the doorway the cloud came east towards the Nassau area, I started sprinting north and got one block, as I looked over my left shoulder I saw a huge cloud of debris/dust coming our way, as we ran I saw a woman fall, someone slowed down to help and they were trampled ( I know I should have stopped, but I was thinking about wife, kids etc, and she went down pretty hard) As I rounded the corner near Beekman Hospital emergency personnel were waving us away I zigged through the waiting stretchers, and headed to the Seaport, I slowed down to catch my breath.... The smoke/debris cloud was covering us with something that was making me choke and burning my eyes, it looked like snow... I started towards the Brooklyn Bridge, but I was afraid that if the other tower went it may drop towards us, so I started to go towards Chinatown. As I was walking I remembered my radio.. the (last transmission I sent was Oh my God and the rumbling in the background) when I finally got through my boss was excited, he thought I was a goner. A woman stopped be and asked to borrow the phone, I told her there were no calls in or out, she then started wandering back towards the site and I stopped her and asked what she was doing, "I have to get my pocketbook" I said that would not be a great idea, and I asked her where she lives, we were going the same way and started walking together, we saw a cab (empty) so we got in and the driver said "I'm only going north" (well hello....that was an understatement, who the hell wants to go back there!!!) In the cab, Doug (boss) confirmed that the tower had fallen, we looked back and saw the new skyline with just one tower standing up. A short time later Doug asked where we were, I told him in a cab, and he told us the second tower just went down, we looked out the back window of the cab as the debris and smoke filled the air in the distance. We were up to the village, and I saw the Empire State building looming in the distance.. I told the driver to stop and let me out, the girl (Valerie) said why get out now??? I pointed to the building/target and said"what would be the next landmark to get hit?? I got out and gave the girl some money for the cab , she insisted on paying me back and made me give her my card ( amazing at a time like this the etiquette thing still remains in some people). I started west to avoid the Empire State Building and went around it to get to our office located 2 blocks north of the ESB. I got upstairs and changed, called the wife ( she heard my voice cracking on the messages and she cried every time she heard news of my progress) We watched the news as others straggled in (Marcia had gotten up there too). Once they opened the Long Island Rail Road, I left and got on and headed home.. I never figured out whose shoes those were.. I am home now, and I suggest the following: Don't complain about doing your kids homework. Say I love you whenever possible Try to keep in touch with your loved ones, Whatever you think is very important today, may seem like a pimple on the ass of an elephant tomorrow. God Bless us all Guff Edited September 11, 2016 by Guffalo
Mike in Horseheads Posted September 11, 2016 Posted September 11, 2016 I posted this the following morning after the attacks, I had been at the game on Sunday the 9th, and flew in over the trade center that night after the game. golfed with a guy (Patrick O'Shea) who ended up missing that day. this was the account I wrote the morning after: I almost feel ashamed looking at this board, since football is far from my mind right now, but my home page is TBD... When I was on my way to work yesterday, I was on the #1 express from Penn down to WTC, at 14th a couple got on and said they saw a plane hit the trade center, I figured it was a light plane, and continued on. There was an announcement by the conductor that said "Due to a fire at WTC there will be no service to Cortland ave (in the wtc), I got out at chambers street and started walking..as I turned around to face the north tower I saw people just string up in awe..there was a hole in the tower with smoke and flames, I asked some guy what happened and he said, he saw the plane go in.. and then he said 15 minutes later the other tower exploded.. (we were on the north side so he didn't see the 2nd plane , only the impact) I tried my cell phone (no good) so I tried to find a pay phone , I thought of my wife wondering if I was in there, and just the worry that the rest of the family would have when they heard..I was able to get through to her voice mail, and then I called our office on 36th st ( I am a consultant assigned to 4 WTC since last September). The office wanted me to try to locate another employee, and we started using my cell phone with the two way radio feature. I started looping around to the east of the buildings, trying to find my co-worker, as I walked near the post office, I saw debris and broken concrete, small puddles of blood, shoes ,lots of shoes and I picked up a warm hunk of metal ( I have no idea why) it was almost hot and it was heavy and it was oily or greasy... I dropped it when I saw a wheel or turbine that was 20 feet away, high density aluminum about 6 feet wide.... Using my radio to my boss, I kept chatter back and forth and kept moving towards where I figured Marcia would be (we went through the bombing in 93 and had always said, head for the water by the Seaport). Police were busy on Church so I moved to Broadway by J&R Music and continued the radio chatter with my boss, he said Marcia had not checked in yet, keep looking, he also told me he saw video of the 2nd plane as it went in, he said it had been hijacked as well as the first one, he also told be about the Pentagon being hit. I had worked my way to Nassau street, a pedestrian mall about 3 blocks east of the towers. My radio was quirky, sometimes the frequency was jammed, sometimes you could get through, so I told my boss I was going to keep it on once I get a signal. As I was walking up Nassau I left the center of the street and stayed along the storefronts, I was talking to Doug and he heard me say "Oh @#$%^! something's happening, oh my God something went off", and he could hear the rumbling as the first tower went down, I felt a shock wave and wind rush as I ducked into a doorway (from the narrow street you could not see the tower) I knew that one of them had fallen and I assumed it had toppled over like a domino, not the gentle slide that I saw later. The dust and debris cloud came next as I peered out of the doorway the cloud came east towards the Nassau area, I started sprinting north and got one block, as I looked over my left shoulder I saw a huge cloud of debris/dust coming our way, as we ran I saw a woman fall, someone slowed down to help and they were trampled ( I know I should have stopped, but I was thinking about wife, kids etc, and she went down pretty hard) As I rounded the corner near Beekman Hospital emergency personnel were waving us away I zigged through the waiting stretchers, and headed to the Seaport, I slowed down to catch my breath.... The smoke/debris cloud was covering us with something that was making me choke and burning my eyes, it looked like snow... I started towards the Brooklyn Bridge, but I was afraid that if the other tower went it may drop towards us, so I started to go towards Chinatown. As I was walking I remembered my radio.. the (last transmission I sent was Oh my God and the rumbling in the background) when I finally got through my boss was excited, he thought I was a goner. A woman stopped be and asked to borrow the phone, I told her there were no calls in or out, she then started wandering back towards the site and I stopped her and asked what she was doing, "I have to get my pocketbook" I said that would not be a great idea, and I asked her where she lives, we were going the same way and started walking together, we saw a cab (empty) so we got in and the driver said "I'm only going north" (well hello....that was an understatement, who the hell wants to go back there!!!) In the cab, Doug (boss) confirmed that the tower had fallen, we looked back and saw the new skyline with just one tower standing up. A short time later Doug asked where we were, I told him in a cab, and he told us the second tower just went down, we looked out the back window of the cab as the debris and smoke filled the air in the distance. We were up to the village, and I saw the Empire State building looming in the distance.. I told the driver to stop and let me out, the girl (Valerie) said why get out now??? I pointed to the building/target and said"what would be the next landmark to get hit?? I got out and gave the girl some money for the cab , she insisted on paying me back and made me give her my card ( amazing at a time like this the etiquette thing still remains in some people). I started west to avoid the Empire State Building and went around it to get to our office located 2 blocks north of the ESB. I got upstairs and changed, called the wife ( she heard my voice cracking on the messages and she cried every time she heard news of my progress) We watched the news as others straggled in (Marcia had gotten up there too). Once they opened the Long Island Rail Road, I left and got on and headed home.. I never figured out whose shoes those were.. I am home now, and I suggest the following: Don't complain about doing your kids homework. Say I love you whenever possible Try to keep in touch with your loved ones, Whatever you think is very important today, may seem like a pimple on the ass of an elephant tomorrow. God Bless us all Guff Amen
KD in CA Posted September 11, 2016 Posted September 11, 2016 (edited) I was heads down at my desk on the 15th floor of a building on Park Place (near Church - two blocks north of the North Tower) getting the final deck ready for that morning's board meeting; my north facing window open as it usually was on such a spectacular summer day. Had I looked out my window exactly 15 years ago, I would have seen the plane that seconds later I heard roaring past; it was quite notable as jets don't buzz NYC very often. That thought lingered only a moment before I heard (and felt) the explosion as it struck the building. After 15 minutes of stunned gaping at the hole in the tower from our conference room, we went into evacuation mode after the second plane hit. Anticipating the closure of major transportation systems, I headed immediately to the subway and made it to Grand Central in time to catch the 10:07 out of the city. Spent the afternoon with a friend sitting at an outdoor table at a bar in Norwalk, CT, far, far away from any televisions. Didn't have the stomach for that until later that evening. Edited September 11, 2016 by KD in CA
LewPort71 Posted September 11, 2016 Posted September 11, 2016 I learned about the attacks here on twobillsdrive. Then most of the rest of the work day was spent in the conference room huddled around the TVs located there.
Dr. Fong Posted September 11, 2016 Posted September 11, 2016 Was on my way to see a friend off at the Bangkok airport when another friend called me and asked if I'd seen that a plane had hit the Empire State Building. Went inside the airport and everyone was glued to the TV screens.
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted September 12, 2016 Posted September 12, 2016 I was at work when those bastards attacked us.
ExiledInIllinois Posted September 12, 2016 Posted September 12, 2016 The 9th was OpeningDay v. New Orleans... As usual, a loss. Was home in S.Cheektowaga for that game... Gregg Williams first game. That Tuesday morning we were packing up the car... Getting my 3 year old son into the car seat when a neighbor relayed the news that a plane just crashed into the WTC. Was driving back to Illinois for 8 hours while the whole thing was unfolding. Hard to believe it is 15 years later and my 3 year old boy is 18 and a freshman @ the University of Iowa. My daughter, born in April 2002... Wife was pregnant @ time of that somber and surreal drive back to Illinois. Hard to believe that my baby girl is now a freshman in high school... How time flies... God Bless all, living & deceased. My mother passed away in February of 1999 (ovarian cancer), I am sorry she missed out on seeing my family. In a way I am not sorry that she missed out on seeing what schitstorm what some evil people can do to humanity... Yet, she did live through WWII and other events.
Saxum Posted September 12, 2016 Posted September 12, 2016 I was off at home and got a call from DISA ensuring that no one was lost that day since my boss neglected to mention I asked for day off.
Recommended Posts