9/11/18 thread

[Totem Polar]

‘Morning. Off to teach. I still vividly remember my second week ever of teaching class, and all of us finding out that the towers were hit.

For the first time this year, I have a good number of frosh students for whom 9/11 is not memory from their lifetime. By next year, they’ll all be that way. Sort of sobering.

[Peally]

I was in middle school, every classroom had teachers with the news on TV. I remember at the time not particularly appreciating it (I was 11) and only somewhat appreciating that something important was on the tube. I also remember being home in the kitchen and having my old man tell me it'd be a day I wouldn't forget. Again, I didn't have a full grasp of what happened or its impact on the world.


17 years later I could walk into a recruiting office today, join the armed forces, and be engaged in the same war that day led to. Those in school now have known nothing but US boots in the middle east their entire lives. Thinking back on it now it's crazy how much the world has changed in so few years. Every year I read recaps of the events via news, AARs, strategic and tactical timelines, memorials, policy changes, etc. They still piss me off.

Never forget, never forgive.

[HCountyGuy]

I was in middle school, didn’t hear a thing about it til the bus-ride home despite TVs in every room. Got home and turned on the TV. Watched Building 7 of the WTC fall. I sat for hours in stunned silence.

The school bus the next morning was lively. The thought on everyone’s minds: who’s asses are we about to kick for this?

Watched the news coverage in classes over the next several days.

[blues]

I was messing around at home after a late night working when I got an email or message online from a friend that said to turn on the TV.

I've had that same sick feeling in the pit of my stomach since I got up today and can't seem to shake it, even after my workout.

Never forget.

[LockedBreech]

Sometimes I think 9/11 just made us afraid, and that makes me angry.

Other times I think 9/11 just woke us up to what the world outside was actually like, and that makes me sad.

I do know that I was 12 years old when it happened, and no part of my life after that has felt as innocent and pure as the era before. It's hard to know where the line is between nostalgia for childhood and an accurate perception of a changed reality. I watch late-90s TV clips and I don't think it was just me. I think for a very, very brief window in the late 90s we were moving past race and petty differences and it felt hopeful. We watched it on a cart-TV in the library. When the second plane hit the teachers turned it off and wouldn't let us watch any more.

The 9/11 terrorists took a lot more than lives. It was a monumental and permanent loss of what should have been a beautiful era.

That day should be condemned throughout history as one of the foulest crimes perpetrated against humanity. Not committed in war, not in famine, not against soldiers or politicians, just an act of pure hate against pure innocents living their day-to-day lives.

I try to choose one good person to focus on each 9-11 rather than think about the hijackers. Today's was Rick Rescorla, a security officer and veteran who died in the South Tower and probably saved a great many lives by jump-starting the evacuation process. R.I.P. Rick and all the good people we lost.

[Duelist]

I was at ARCENT. We all stood around, switching between staring at each other, and staring at the Colonel's tv.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hHsRK2isrig

[WobblyPossum]

I was in homeroom at my junior high school. I looked out the window where I could see the Manhattan skyline and saw smoke coming from the World Trade Center. I don’t remember if only the first tower had been hit at that point or if both had. I pointed it out to the teacher. The rest of the day is a blur of assemblies and sitting in the gym. I remember my best friend at the time was worried because his dad worked at WTC 7. I don’t remember if the city busses were running or not but I remember walking home instead of taking a bus. I can’t remember the world before 9/11. I only know world after.


My posts only represent my opinions and do not necessarily reflect the official policies and opinions of my employer. Any obvious spelling errors are likely the result of a tiny iPhone keyboard and autocorrect.

[fatdog]

I was sitting in the airport at my gate, I had 3.5" one hand opener folding knives in each pocket (no problem, drop them in the little bucket with your watch, keys and wallet as you go through security) and watched it all on the news at our gate. Our flight was delayed for other reasons, when the second plane hit, and the ground halt was called I was still sitting at the gate, I left for home.

Only to find my wife (USAF reserve air evac flight nurse) had gotten a call from her unit to report (National Emergency Medical Response Team or something like that) and she was home from work furiously packing gear. She called me going through the gate at Maxwell AFB that afternoon and I did not see her again until the following week. Sadly there were no casualties or burn patients to air evac from NYC to other hospitals across the country, everybody was dead, so they sent the crews all home and canceled operation "Noble Eagle". Five real tours were to come for her in the ensuing 15 years.

What I remember most is how the country changed that week, and was at least briefly very united it appeared. People started flying American flags who had not even owned one before. The surge of patriotism and support for Bush'43 and all that swept up most of the country in a way that had never happened in my lifetime.

I recognize now that there were many people who hated all of that patriotism, but kept a low profile about it. So many fumed and resented the unbridled unquestioning flag waving, the rush of so many to join the military, and those people were severely pissed off by the sudden shift of support for Bush, and moving toward foreign adventures.

I think our national reaction at so many levels would be different today for such an event. I don't believe we are the same country in so many ways.

[Trukinjp13]

Tech center during high school. Was in the advanced math class. I remember halfway through the class my teacher got a call and turned on the news. I still remember sitting their in a level of rage I have only felt once in life. That day really changed the way I viewed life and how I looked at politics.

I think of all the people bitching about security when I fly somewhere. And it makes me wonder about all the lives that had to be lost to reach this level of security. Or how many other things we take for granted that can be changed in the blink of a eye.

Our country is not the same now and I wonder of we could band together or fall apart if the same tragedy happens in this day and age.

[LockedBreech]

As a follow-up, when the plane got stolen out of SeaTac I noticed how rapidly the F-15s were airborne, afterburning, and fully armed, in contrast to the sluggish and unarmed air response on 9-11 because we never even considered an air attack we wouldn't see coming.

If nothing else, that's a positive. We're much more primed to defend the home front now, and if the SeaTac plane thief had it in his head to try to go out with a bang there's a good chance the Eagles could have shot him down first.

[breakingtime91]

I was in fourth grade.That and the subsequent wars on TV left a lasting imprsssion on me. Seven years later I would join the Marines and a year after that to deploy to Afghanistan to fight in the same war I had watched on tv eleven years prior. Today I taught six year olds about that day and the subsequent events. Sobering when a six year old asks if you got any of the guys who supported the attack.


Never forget and never forgive.

[willie]

I was 53. I told my students that soon we would be at war. Though I never said so to others, that day I feared that we would use a nuclear weapon in retaliation.

[TC215]

English class, junior year of high school. Watching all the police officers and firefighters on TV rushing to get to the towers while everyone else ran away had a profound effect on me, and would eventually lead to a career in law enforcement.

[willie]

Sadly we do forget.

[TGS]

With the emotions that come flooding back on this day for so many, think about those emotions the next time you think you don't need to carry. If you're a federal LEO, think about the rate of contraband that gets through screening, and think about what's more important: you flying armed, or you flying unarmed so that you can have that shitty airline cocktail that you can't afford more than 1-2 of to begin with.


English class, junior year of high school. Watching all the police officers and firefighters on TV rushing to get to the towers while everyone else ran away had a profound effect on me, and would eventually lead to a career in law enforcement.

There's a video I once saw (a few hours long) taken by an independent journalist who ran down to the WTC to document what was going on. He ran into some of the buildings and did quick ad-hoc 1 minute interviews with some of the fire and LE personnel he found who were working or acting as "hall wardens".

It really hit me, because he walked away to other buildings and then the first tower fell.....and it dawned on me that everyone he just talked to was now dead.

Personally, that had a more profound effect on me than watching the towers fall on TV from my high school classroom.

_____________________________

If you guys haven't seen it, here's a pretty good Tom Hanks mini-documentary about a often forgotten facet of that day:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDOrzF7B2Kg

[JRB]

I was 19 that morning. I was on the phone talking a friend out of freaking out about it - telling him it had to have been some kind of crazy accident or something - then we both went silent as we watched the second plane hit.
I'd fully intended to walk into a recruiters office on 9/12 but my family collectively freaked out at the idea. It really hit home with my Mom, who would confide in me a few years later that after hearing the story of Flight 93 she just cried and cried, because she knew that I'd have been one of those fighting to the end had I been on that plane.

That would delay my enlistment for another 7 years. As it stands, every 9/11 I can't help but wonder what my life would have been like had I walked into a recruiting office on 12 SEP 2001. I knew the whole world had changed and not for the better.

But moreover, I can't help but feel an even deeper appreciation for everyone who heeded the call in the aftermath - leading them into careers as LE, firefighters, medics, military, or intelligence community/Federal service.

[JAD]

I was at work. I worked for a passionate Zionist and walking stereotype. He called us together and said, "if you were planning travel, keep your plans intact. If you weren't planning any, get the fuck out there. They win if we stay home. Plus, our competitors will be chickenshit, and we will call them on it."

I was too selfish -- in love with my job -- to enlist. That's on the list of things I don't like about myself very much.

[blues]

I was at work. I worked for a passionate Zionist and walking stereotype. He called us together and said, "if you were planning travel, keep your plans intact. If you weren't planning any, get the fuck out there. They win if we stay home. Plus, our competitors will be chickenshit, and we will call them on it."

I was too selfish -- in love with my job -- to enlist. That's on the list of things I don't like about myself very much.

Everyone has reasons. In the late 70's I pursued a career in LE because a girl I had broken up with a month or two earlier was mugged and beaten severely in Brooklyn...to where she had to spend some time in Kings County Hospital recovering. The "what if I had been there" guilt was eating me up inside. When a detective in her precinct realized I was planning something a la Charles Bronson, he planted the seed in my head.

One of my greatest regrets was that I was not working in NYC on 9/11 so that I could have done my part alongside the brave souls that gave their all that day and in the following days. (Being reassigned back to our group which was part of the JTTF, I at least had a hand in working on securing the air and sea ports of Miami.)

[Kevin B.]

I was a rifle company commander and in the field the morning of 9/11. I still remember the anger/sadness I felt that day. I was in Afghanistan a few months later and returned several more times.

I had some exciting times and some hard times since then. I made some incredible friends, brothers really, and lost a few in the fight. Regardless, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to go, and to fight, and in some small way to respond to the naked aggression inflicted on our country that day.

[Chance]

Around this time of year, I'll often watch "As It Happened" videos of news coverage from the attack. No matter how many times I see them, they still give me that same feeling of stupefied numbness I had when I watched it live.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

I was living in the Pacific NW then as a professor. I was on the way to work and stopped in a McD drive through as I was running late for a sit down breakfast. I had on the radio and heard the first reports. I called my wife to turn on the TV and continued to work.

At work, we had a rump class. We had TVs on and then the school pulled the plug. I went home. We were scared as our daughter lived up the Hudson valley a touch south of Albany. It took several hours to get through to her. As parents, we were scared that she might be in the city. As it turned out, she was at the WTC a month before with a friend from Europe seeing the sights. Phew. This was the second time, she dodged the terrorist bullet. She had gone to an overseas study in France. She had to take a train from Lyon to Paris. The week after, the same train was bombed by terrorists. I also worked in Wall Street at the NYSE in college. I knew the area well.

One consequence, I mentioned before, was that November, I had to fly on business. I had an automatic lead pencil. The security guard took it apart and it had a little wire that held the lead in place. She started waving it around, kind of yelling What's That? A NG captain in full gear (Rifle, etc.) had to come over and calm her down, that it was just a pencil.

Watching the videos again, still tear me up. My heart goes out to all involved.

[Rex G]

I remember.

I had worked the previous night shift, police patrol, 2200-0600, Houston, Texas. I would normally have been asleep, already, but something, now forgotten, perhaps a late call going into OT, had altered that pattern, and I had arrived at home later than usual. I had seen that that the garbage truck had been late, so I went back outside to add more trash to the bin. That was when the neighbor asked me if I had heard about the two planes hitting buildings in NYC. Without a moment’s hesitation, I knew it was terrorism. One might be an accident; such things had happened before. Two planes; terrorism. Being a serious student of world history, I had expected radical Islam to visit us much sooner.

I took a quick look at the TV, and called the office, to see if we were being full-force-mobilized. (We were not.) I reported for roll at 2200 hours, and learned we would work an extra shift in the morning. As planes were ground-stopped, the logical threats were truck/car bombs, package/backback bombs, and the old-fashioned juramentado/berserker charge, with light weapons, targeting critical infrastructure and symbolic targets. For my second shift, at 0600 hours. I was assigned to post-up in front of the building containing the Israeli consulate. Interesting times.

I was subsequently annoyed by those pundits and experts who said that such unprecedented attacks could not have been anticipated. Bovine excrement! We had talked about hijacked planes being used as misguided missiles, against government buildings and symbolic targets, in my world history class, in high school, in the late Seventies. The concept was not new: Kamikaze, v. 2. Yes, there were some unusually smart thinkers in that class, but certainly others in the government and military could reach the same logical conclusions as high schoolers.

I remember.

[jwperry]

I'm surprised at the age demographic of our members; I thought a lot of you guys were older.

I was a senior in high school. I exited chemistry class when my then girl friend told me "the US is under attack". No way I thought. My next class was some sort of PE, but there were TVs adjacent to the gym that we flipped on just as the 2nd plane hit. That's an image burned in my mind's eye. A few others stood there in silence. We all went to the Army JROTC teacher (none of us were in it) to see how to enlist. He wasn't much help.

That weekend my buddy and I found the Marine recruiting station and enlisted. My buddy Adam is still in, deployed like 7 times. I dislocated my knee & tore my ACL playing football 5 weeks after signing papers and never served. Failing the PT standards and not getting a waiver has always been a sore spot for my ego.

[trailrunner]

I was in Orlando leading a session at a conference on that Tuesday morning. One of the organizers came in and whispered that I should schedule a break as soon as the speaker was done presenting his paper. Three days later, I teamed up with with three people from Aberdeen Proving Ground, and since I had the biggest rental car, the four of us drove back together. It was 855 miles to my house in northern VA. They dropped me off and drove the last 100 miles to Aberdeen and dropped off my rental.

At the time, I was working 5 miles south of the Pentagon, and I used to go there once or twice a week. Two of my co-workers were on the way there when the plane hit and saw the aftermath. I know many people who were in the building that day when the plane hit.

Now I work in the Pentagon, in the section that was hit. The chapel and inside memorial are right down the ring from me, and I walk through the corridor of quilts every day on the way to and from my office. When I go outside to check my phone and get some fresh air, I can see the outside memorial. I'm a nothing special civilian, but every time that I see the young enlisted tour leader with a group of high school kids walking backwards down my corridor and talking about "that day," it makes me proud to know that I'm doing my part, no matter how small.

[Redhat]

I was sitting in my wife's recovery room at Camp Lester Naval hospital..our first son had been born a few hours earlier. We celebrated his 17th birthday yesterday.

I saw the news on tv and knew it was going to be game on.

[CSW]

I was a volunteer fire fighter in River Edge, NJ.
4 miles from NYC.
By noon we had been mustered, and sat with about 30 + other companies on the NJ side of the GWB, waiting for the go button to send the deployment to assist.
Instead, they parked the entire deployment in Overpeck Park in Leonia, NJ until after 10pm.
The order was given to stand down, return to quarters and await assignments.

Ultimately, my department ended up going to Arthur Kill, and popping doors on crushed vehicles, for Dr's to make pronouncments, and recoveries, and for the authorities to recover weapons from crushed L. E. vehicles.
Very dark days, very somber duties.
Because our ladder truck was very similar to several that were lost that, my company was called upon by the FDNY to carry several caskets, strapped to the aerial, from the viewings to the the cemeteries.
I believe that we attended about 6 funerals.
I'll never forget.
R. I. P. 343FDNY

30127

[45dotACP]

Celebrating my little brothers 5th birthday. I recall vividly, the feelings I felt when I saw the news at 9 years old. But my family still celebrated my brother's life and to this day we see the blessing of today as opposed to the curse.

Still...days like today, I reflect on my life decisions, having chosen the path I did as a nurse instead of enlisting...I had started shooting in the local 4H at that age, was taking up martial arts.

In spite of all that, I was a nerdy kid, interested in science and math. My wish to serve manifested as a career in critical care nursing. I love what I do, but still feel pangs of guilt for not seeking blood for my country and those assholes who fucked up my brother's birthday.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[revchuck38]

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to go, and to fight, and in some small way to respond to the naked aggression inflicted on our country that day.

At the time, I was teaching French in a state-wide distance education program in Louisiana. I walked into the IT guy's office, where the TV was on, in time to see the second plane hit. I knew it was just a matter of time before my Army National Guard unit would be called up...about a year and a half, as it turned out. I spent about five years back on active duty, in Iraq, Afghanistan and CONUS. Like Kevin B., I'm grateful to have had to opportunity to pull my end of the saw in response to the attack.

[rcbusmc24]

I was at MEPS, waiting to go to parris island, I had enlisted earlier in March of 2001, cause I was bored with college... finally made it down to boot camp on Sept 24 2001. Still in the Marine Corps 17 years later. NFNF/ ETH....

[ranger]

I was at work in an engineering consulting office in Savannah, GA. When the news hit, I got a call through to my Infantry Brigade HQs for the GAARNG to see when we were going. It would take a few years but we went to Iraq in 2005 and that BDE went to Afghanistan a few years later and is preparing to deploy again now.

[TheNewbie]

To all those of you who went and fought these evil doers, thank you.


God bless America, the greatest country in all of history.

[Clusterfrack]

I remember hearing it on the radio as I was getting ready for work. I remember we had a houseguest and all sorts of details that make that day unforgettable.

I ended up working on defense contracts related to military robotics and some other stuff that brought me into the .mil environment. It was good to be able to contribute, and to meet some of the guys who were on the ground.

[LSP552]

I was at work at LSP watching it unfold on TV in the office. Thank you to all that fought and served!

[revchuck38]

I was at MEPS, waiting to go to parris island, I had enlisted earlier in March of 2001, cause I was bored with college... finally made it down to boot camp on Sept 24 2001. Still in the Marine Corps 17 years later. NFNF/ ETH....

<thread drift>
I told my son that he was going into the military after he graduated high school in 2001. (It wasn't a hard sell.) I would've been satisfied if he had enlisted in the USAF as a cook for two years. Instead he enlisted in the Army as a Cav Scout (19D) and started basic in August 2001. One of the high points in my life was meeting up with him in April 2003 in Udari right before I went into Iraq. His unit came in later at the beginning of the insurgency and he was in the nasty part of that fight.
</thread drift>

[RevolverRob]

I was 15 (almost 16) and going to an eye doctor's appointment that morning. My dad had the news on and we watched as the second plane hit. I remember him saying, "This is terrorists and we'll be going to war soon." Up to that point in my life, war was mostly abstract. Sure, I was alive during the Gulf War, but I was barely able to read and that event was over in short order.

A couple of years later, I was 18. I was working for the family business and started going to college part time. I intended to either go law enforcement or major in language through college and then enlist and get a commission. Two of my best friends joined the Army, neither having the family-provided opportunities I had.

One came back, one didn't. That broke my heart and enraged me simultaneously. He was a good man, he was a medic, he just wanted to help people. They set an ambush and injured some of his squad and on the way to render aid, they blew him and his CO up with an IED. I wanted to get on an airplane and fly to Afghanistan and find the motherfuckers who blew up my friend and kill them all.

And then the one who came back, came back broken (spinal injury) and had to learn to walk again. I spent my time helping him recover. And before I knew it, the rage had died, replaced only with frustration at the loss and injury of good men...

Though my rage died - My hate didn't. I hated the people who did this to them. I hated them all. I wished nothing but prolonged pain, torture, and suffering for taking from me, taking from their families, taking from the world, good people.

And I just couldn't anymore. I've regretted and not regretted joining.

Mostly though, I regret the transition of a Post-9/11 America. We are a country that is vastly different now and that doesn't value the things it once did. We lost more on 9/11 than the people who died and for that I am angry - still so angry - but after 17-years, a lifetime for kids now almost old enough to vote... We seem no closer to finishing this fight - it seems that we're farther away than ever before - generations of Americans - destroyed first by the violent attack against and then by the war we waged. After all this time, I am angry at the people who did this to us, but not just for the violence, but because they destroyed something very different. And I think after all this time, though I will never forgive the people who killed my friend and injured another - I no longer hate them. Because I think what we lost on 9/11 with the lives of the innocent was our ability to not hate others for taking those lives and the only way to gain that back, is to no longer let hate for them into our hearts.

Never forget, do not forgive, but do not hate.

[ragnar_d]

I've had that same sick feeling in the pit of my stomach since I got up today and can't seem to shake it, even after my workout.

Never forget.
Ive had the same feeling the entire day. I'm just a "young pup" to a lot, but today this hit me...hard. I was thumbing through Instagram during my lunch and someone had posted the videos of the planes hitting the towers and the towers falling. I had to put the phone down and take a walk, I just couldn't shake it.

I was a sophomore in high school 17 years ago, didn't even have my driver's license yet. The planes hit while I was in Chem 1, didn't know anything was going on. When I got on the bus to go to the football field for marching band (school and football field were not on the same property), everyone was talking about planes hitting a building in NYC. I thought they were full of shit or there was a Cessna that flew into something. When I got to the field, the director announced to us what had happened.

Fast forward 7 years, I'm graduating from college and going to work for a defense contractor who had to expand massively to meet the demands of their government customers due to what we now call the GWOT. I was building equipment for men and women on the front lines in Afghanistan and Iraq rather than designing the next F150 I thought I was going to be doing (given how the automotive industry was doing in 2008, maybe that was for the best?). Equipment that my friends from high school and college were carrying into battle. 9/11 literally molded and started my professional career and, consequently, the family that I would end up starting years later.

After thinking about it for a while, I started to understand why this particular anniversary hit me like it did. I was just shy of 16 on 9/11/2001, this year I'm just shy of 33. 17 years of war . . . over half of my life, and that ratio is only going to keep going up at this rate.

On top of that, my little girl will be three this year and the world I knew in 2000 is something I wonder how I'll explain to her when it's time. She'll never know the pre-9/11 world, but I'll do what I can to get her to understand it as best I can.

Also, I shared this post from Ash Hess of KAC/P&S today and I think it summed up a lot of what was going through my head today:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180912/a3435962c329a4e88161d96902b1758f.png


Sent from my fruit based pocket computer using Tapatalk

Disclaimer: I work in the firearms industry as a designer and engineer. My posts do not represent the opinions or positions of my employers, past or present.

[MGW]

I already had a DD214 in hand and a great job teaching high school classes and coaching. Joined the National Guard and deployed to OIF and OEF over the next nine years. I’m still in. Still volunteer for as much as I can and still hide that fact from my family. And still I think everyday that I could do more. I still long to go back there and struggle to suppress that feeling with family responsibilities and meaningless work.

This all sounds so self centered and selfish. I hesitate to post it but 9/11 always digs these feelings up.

[AMC]

I had worked a swing shift the night before. My grandmother called and woke me to tell me the news. My wife was in Washington DC for work (USDA) that week. I turned on the TV, and suddenly my neighbor (former Marine) was pounding on my door, making sure I had heard. Saw the news about the Pentagon....then started hearing all the rumor news....truck bombs in NY and DC, etc. Couldn't get ahold of my wife until that evening, while I was at work....that was a long day.

I remember several co- workers commenting on the thanks and appreciation we got from the public over the next several days...that NOW folks appreciated us. That things would be different from now on. I knew it wasn't so and said as much. "Nah. They're just scared right now, and think they need us. Pretty soon they'll go back to resenting us. I give it six months, tops, and they'll hate us again." Sadly, my cynicism was proven correct.

Whenever I think about that day, or see images, I remember not being able to contact my wife amid all that, having to go to work and handle calls....and the cold, murderous fury I feel towards those who did it, or would try to outdo it. I would shoot those SOB's in the face without a thought.

[Tabasco]

I did IT for a large Investment Bank (Banc). I was swapping out computers for one of the traders and everyone was looking at the TV's. I asked what's up? A jet crashed into one of the WTC towers. Wow. Maybe a FU like the B25 that crashed into the Empire State Bldg.? When the second one crashed into the other tower, it was obvious it was an attack. When the Pentagon got hit, I gave told everyone to swap contact info. and go home, as the San Francisco Federal Reserve bldg. was right across the street, and everyone hated the Federal Reserve, right?

[BehindBlueI's]

I was out of the Army and working night shift on a help desk for my budding IT career. My grandmother called me and woke me up. I didn't own a television and my truck's radio didn't get reception near my house (I lived in a valley in a very wooded area). I drove to her house to watch it on her TV. Howard Stern was broadcasting real news on the radio once I got to where I had reception. 9/11 honestly changed the entire trajectory of my life. I rapidly became bored with IT work and felt like I had no purpose in life. That led to me to consider either going back into the military or becoming a security contractor, and I chose the second.

I remember how scared and confused my grandmother was. She told me "they are bombing us!" but had no idea who "they" were. By the time I got there she'd learned it was airplanes flown into the towers, etc. It's still eerie how quiet everything was. So little traffic, no airplanes overhead, etc. People just hunkered around the TV waiting to see who did this to us and why.

It certainly changed the trajectory of my life.

[Hawker800]

I was scheduled to fly a group of people from Monterey, CA to Santa Fe, NM that morning. Got a call at 6:30 from dispatch to turn on the TV. Of course the trip was canceled but by that Thursday, Part 135 operators where allowed to fly. Picked up a bunch of people at the Hayward, CA airport and landed at Teterboro, NJ. Long story short, we spent two weeks on the 20th floor of a Secaucus, NJ hotel with a view across the river.

[FrankinCA]

I was driving to work. I had NPR on. When I heard the initial plane hit, I pulled over . I couldn’t grasp what happened.

I drove to Burbank, but our offices were closed. I drove to a restaurant to get some food and get some sort of update. The television was on and kept replaying those terrible images.

[OlongJohnson]

I was in my 20s, but had reached a point where I had traveled extensively for work. I had chosen my career significantly in order to see as much of the world as I could, and that after studying a foreign language twice as much as required and traveling internationally in high school. I deeply appreciated the cultures (mostly European) I came in contact with, but also had a deeper appreciation for what it meant (to me, at least) to be an American, and what America was and what it meant. I was grateful and proud to have been born here, and to be a part of this thing.

I remember thinking that day that everything was different now. And it wasn't a loss of safety I saw coming, it was the loss of peace. But I couldn't imagine how different.

It's been alluded to here a couple times. Every country in the world now contains a generation that doesn't know a world in which the U.S. was not actively fighting a war in the Middle East. A young American registering for the Selective Service (I assume that' still a thing), registering to vote, or signing the ultimate blank check to their countrymen. Even those now graduating from college may or may not remember seeing the towers fall on TV that day. And similarly, a young Afghani, Iraqi, Syrian, or Saudi Arab who is now an adult has no first-hand recollection of that place not being a war zone, with our soldiers, our contractors, our machinery over there. There are young adults living where the drones fly who have only known a world with drone strikes.

By coincidence, I took 1984 with me to read on the long flights across the Atlantic in the spring of 2003, just as we were invading Iraq. I was familiar with the idea that the book was a dystopian story of what it would be like if the Soviet Union managed to take over the U.S. Of course, Orwell dispatched with that explanation very specifically in the book, but forty years of being united against Communists, and some movies that didn't bother to make the point, had effectively suppressed that aspect of the warning. I spent much of that trip slapping my forehead in astonishment as I read what was unfolding as a staggeringly accurate description of global politics. One key element being a neverending proxy war between the great powers that rolls back and forth between northern Africa and western India, grinding and churning the ground and the people with the misfortune to find themselves in its path.

I've started typing about four or five next paragraphs, but none of them go in a direction I want to include in this thread. So I'll stop here and go plug my telescreen into its charger.

[lwt16]

I was asleep when my wife awoke me (I had a 1000-1800 hour shift that day) and we both watched the second tower strike live.

I knew then that it was terrorism. Had about five years on the job at that point.

I turned to her, kissed her and our baby boy she was holding, and went and got my class B BDU uniform on and hit the streets. Our city has a military installation on it and a metric ton of defense companies so I figured it would be all hands on deck. I wasn't far off the mark.

I ended up posted at City Hall and was told nobody gets in without their city ID. I think I ended up working 12 hours that day. Only had one city councilman challenge me a bit to get to his office but after gentle persuasion and expert people skills, he reluctantly dragged his overstuffed wallet out of his pants and fished out his ID. All while rolling his eyes.

Regards.

[HCountyGuy]

Saw this on social media, seems pretty accurate

30147

Crazy to think how far we’ve fallen in those 17 years. The reflections of what all was really lost on that day and the aftermath are spot-on. We’re not those people anymore it seems, and it sucks. The only thing that seems to moderately unite us anymore is disaster.

[JFK]

HCoudntry,

That is an inspiring find. I do understand that.

That day I was home. I flew in to visit the family 9/10. I remember watching the news early. My mother, step father, sister, and two brothers were watching trying to figure out what was going on.

My most vivid memory feel like a movie. I distinctly remember the feel of the coffee cup my mother was handing me, what the smell of the house was, even where the sun was coming through the windows. I heard my brother screaming “No! No! No!” He was the only one that had his eyes on the TV when the second plane hit. I can never forget the tone of his voice. We all knew the world just changed.

That day I was supposed to catch up with a friend of mine that was starting his training for Customs. Later he became and ICE agent. We couldn’t just go about our day, so we ended up drinking coffee in an Applebee’s.

There was actually quite a few people there. The staff, was not really working. They were sitting with everyone else watching. When someone wanted something they would go and get it.

Eventually everyone centralized in the bar area at the high tops. 20ish strangers, patrons and employees. We ended up talking about peoples kids, my friends training, vacations we wish we took. There were tears in between. All strangers, connected and compassionate. Talking and sharing as if we all knew each other. Americans first.

This lasted for 5 hours. I don’t remember paying for anything. I don’t remember the names, or some of the faces I met that day but I love them all.

[Lost River]

I was out shooting precision rifles with my state police work partner when we got the word. Lots of things changed to say the least, and like any other veteran who was now stateside, I was never going to be happy sitting on the bench. A few months later I was asked through unofficial side channels to provide a training opportunity for a special mission unit, who was going somewhere. I did not ask, and it was none of my business. With our mountainous terrain it was not hard to figure things out. That training opportunity and the connections made set the wheels in motion to become a contractor. Life has not been the same since. Perspectives change dramatically. Coming back and re-joining LE, I was severely disgusted at the level of professionalism, and half assed attitudes. Every day I just wanted to be with back with my Brothers, even though when I was downrange, I just wanted to be in the mountains of Idaho and with my daughter. It pulls you both ways.

[ACP230]

I was on the computer on a gun board.
Someone posted "Turn on your TV."

I had planned to go to the range and then do some
trout fishing. After the second tower was hit, just
minutes after I turned the TV on, I spent the rest of the
day watching the news. I was furious, and can still feel
that though it is removed from the level it reached that
day.

Too old to make any real contribution to the effort to
strike back. Have watched from the sidelines all these
years.

[Rex G]

I was on the computer on a gun board.
Someone posted "Turn on your TV."

I had planned to go to the range and then do some
trout fishing. After the second tower was hit, just
minutes after I turned the TV on, I spent the rest of the
day watching the news. I was furious, and can still feel
that though it is removed from the level it reached that
day.

Too old to make any real contribution to the effort to
strike back. Have watched from the sidelines all these
years.

Never too old to be a part of something bigger than yourself. Go to ready.gov, and click on Citizens Emergency Response Team. This is the real thing, plugged into FEMA and local OEMs. CERT is a part of the Incident Command System structure that is set-up at disaster scenes. Theoretically, a highly-motivated, well-connected CERT volunteer could be placed in command of a major disaster scene. In actuality, local OEM/LEO/fire folks are most likely to be an Incident Commander, but in an extreme situation, perhaps if the local officials have become casualties, or are trapped by local hazards, FEMA could look to a Average Joe volunteer CERT member to hold the fort until FEMA and the National Guard can arrive.

Disclaimer: My wife is a CERT instructor.

I never got into CERT, because I was an LEO, until very recently, and had a duty to respond as ordered. Being a gopher and pack mule for some of my wife’s CERT classes, however, I know they teach relevant stuff. Most important, in my opinion, was the part about how to rescue folks from collapsed buildings, without adding to the casualty list by hurting yourself and/or fellow rescuers.

Another option is to look for like-minded local folks. Not all local OEMs have adopted the CERT concept. The “Cajun Navy” is an example of local folks who rose to the occasion for a local mass disaster-level flood in southern Louisiana, then helped with the aftermath of Harvey in Texas, and have grown into a highly-motivated, organized force, prepping to move into the Carolinas and Virginia after Florence passes.

[UNM1136]

I had worked the night before and slept late. We were staying at my inlaw's house getting it ready to sell, and the people that came by asked if we had seen the news. Turned TV from the toddler's cartoons to Fox News. Within an hour I went and rummaged through some old magazines and found a Soldier of Fortune with a pull out picture of Bin Laden. Now I can't remember if it was a wanted poster or a target, that was already a few years old (Khobar Towers? US Emassies? I can"t recall but it may still be in storage) and told my wife "it was him".

Tried to enlist in 5/19th SFG(a), and a childhood history of asthma was a disqualifier. Spoke to a friend in the unit, and began getting ready, as he would make same calls and give me a letter for a waiver package. Spent the next several years hearing from friends who were deploying, supporting them, moving, changing departments. Still had an In in the unit, and waiver help. By the time. A few years later, I was in the best shape of my life, had two more kids (three total, two four and under), had two pulmonologists certifing me as asthma free. I had run several marathons and half marathons, including a half I ran in boots and BDUs. Enlistment age by that point had been lowered to 35 years old, and the 18 X-Ray program was so successful that at 37 years old I could not get a waiver. I was crushed.

As a side note, while getting ready for Bataan, and some other Marathons I met Pat Rogers, who I met at Tactical Forums, with Daryl B, and later Lightfighter, who's internet signature he graciously allowed me to put on t-shirts:

"Remember those that died. Remember those that that killed them."

pat

[UNM1136]

Oops... Double tap.

[11B10]

Yesterday JDM sent me this photo that was taken on 2001-09-10:

30103

Tom, a simply great photo - thanks so much.

A couple things for me. First, on 9/11/78, I helped bring my first child into the world. On 9/11/01, she called, crying, and said: "Dad, I'm never having another birthday." The years have helped her gain some perspective, thank God.

The second thing..I've been driving vehicles, part time for about a year now. Two weeks ago, I met a couple from Long Island, the husband was one of the chief electricians for the Trade Centers. On 9/11, he and his crew were heading back to the towers, where their main office was - and they decided to stop at another location first. If they had kept going..well....anyway, Mark walks into the other location and everyone tells him a plane just hit the first tower. Mark says: "get outta heeerre" -but they tell him it's on the tv in the next room. He walks in just as the second plane hits. He said everyone just sat down and started crying. He said he knew literally hundreds of people on a first name basis - that died that day. They moved to Central Pa. 3 years ago.

[Arbninftry]

I was an Executive Officer for an Infantry Company on Ft Benning, GA. I watched as one of the planes hit a tower. I sent the Armorer to BN to get the keys to the Company Arms room, and I went to the Motor Pool. We would need the Bradley's for whatever guard duty we would be pulling. The post locked down shortly after. Back then all the posts were open, meaning every rabbit trail to 4 lane road onto post would have someone posted, and in our case we put Bradley's on all the dirt roads. As the XO, myself and the 1SG took turns running chow and coffee, for two weeks, until all the ways into post got blocked by the Engineers.

Then the real work began.
Had some good friends in Regiment depart not to long after, and we all new it was a matter of time before we all would be heading someplace.


C Co 1-15 Can Do. Audie Murphy

[HCM]

Remember 9/11 was not a date chosen at random:

30190

30191


https://youtu.be/9mGPnud_IjE


I was in NYC on 9/11 settling my fathers estate. First trip back to NY after transferring to tne SF Bay Area. I was in my MIL’s house doing paperwork and saw the second plane hit. It’s been a game changer. I still get angry every 9/11.

[TGS]

Remember 9/11 was not a date chosen at random:


Damnit, HCM. You fucking Gen X'rs and your metal.

This song is going to be stuck in my head all day now. I've already listened to it about 5 times.

ETA: My god they have a Rorke's Drift song too......

[HCM]

Damnit, HCM. You fucking Gen X'rs and your metal.

This song is going to be stuck in my head all day now. I've already listened to it about 5 times.

ETA: My god they have a Rorke's Drift song too......

“We remember, in September...”

[ragnar_d]

Damnit, HCM. You fucking Gen X'rs and your metal.

This song is going to be stuck in my head all day now. I've already listened to it about 5 times.

ETA: My god they have a Rorke's Drift song too......

Yeah, I fell down the Sabaton hole a while ago and didn't even draw the September 11 connection...though I did know about the Hussars and their General bad assery.

But the music is good and brought my attention to historically significant events that I wouldn't have known about. Plus, their albums seem to be good for dropping my pace on my runs . . . down to 10:00 miles from 13 since the beginning of the year. [/thread_drift]


Sent from my fruit based pocket computer using Tapatalk

Disclaimer: I work in the firearms industry as a designer and engineer. My posts do not represent the opinions or positions of my employers, past or present.

[Dagga Boy]

“We remember, in September...”

I just saw this portion of the thread. As a big military history buff and metal head....my iTunes just got hit for 4 albums. Thanks for that, I had never heard of Sabaton. Saw the Scorpions and Queensryche Sunday night.

9/11/01 was a huge change for many of us. I watched it live as the second plane hit while getting ready to teach a rifle class. Got called into the Chiefs office later and was told I could carry a rifle in the helicopter. From then on I carried an AUG daily. We flew a SWAT mission that night. Really weird with no air traffic. We were the only non military aircraft in the air west of the Mississippi. A lot of lessons were learned about mindset and it was a different world. Truly the Pearl Harbor of my generation. Sadly, in the last 17 years a lot has been forgotten.

[Rex G]

My Polish father-in-law often spoke of the Huzaria, led by King Sobieski.

Eastern Europe remembers.

[HCM]

My Polish father-in-law often spoke of the Huzaria, led by King Sobieski.

Eastern Europe remembers.

Not a coincidence Eastern Europe in general and Poland in particular has refused the waves of military aged male “refugees” flooding into Europe.

[Dagga Boy]

9-11-1683 was the last day the Muslim forces were winning....thanks to the Poles, by end of business on 9-12-1683, it was a new situation. So....9-12 is really Winged Hussar Day, and 9-11-1683 was the beginning of the end of the Caliphate.

[JCS]

I spent the day in Emmitsberg at the national fallen firefighters memorial. It gives me chills thinking about all the brave lives lost that day. I’m so thankful to all the men and women who fought and also are still fighting for my freedom and are committed to defeating evil. I salute you! 30225

[Arbninftry]

Our Generation may have entered into its own "Hundred Years War" not the first time in humanity that ways of life have collided. But, one day, there will be lots of stories of true heroism on all fronts. This will even be at our own precious doorstep.

Some dude named Rogers once said " keep your powder dry and hatchet scoured"


To all of you FUCK YA GET SUM

Thomas Jefferson even said "Team AMERICA"