The stories of bravery from that day still get to me. Watching the selflessness of the police officers and firefighters, going up the stairs while everyone else was coming down, when I was a junior in high school literally shaped the rest of my life.Originally Posted by LittleLebowski
I highly recommend this book.
I had worked late the night before, working narcotics cases in Miami. (I was doing a stint for a couple of months as punishment for being a burr in the saddle of management, per usual.)
The morning of, I got a call to turn on the TV and sat numb while watching the towers coming down. I had worked blocks away in the federal building some years earlier.
They reassigned me back to the unit I had been in which was part of the JTTF, in order to continue investigating terrorism related matters as I had been doing previously before the exile.
I volunteered to go up to NYC but they said they had enough folks there, as our offices were located within the WTC complex, at #6. I was disappointed but could understand.
I then suggested to the bosses that we needed to come up with a plan to secure the air and seaport, spearheaded by our group, but was overruled by local management who were concerned with an audit of the evidence room scheduled to take place by HQ the following week. I nearly lost it pleading my case that the audit could wait.
Everything from that and subsequent days is etched in my mind as if it were yesterday. My admiration for all those who sacrificed everything in those hours is boundless.
There's nothing civil about this war.
I watched it sitting in the waiting room at MEPS while waiting for the bus ride to BWI so I could ship off to Parris Island.... I had signed up back in March of 2021 for a Sept ship date, hoping to finish up that summer class session at the local community college before I left. I was going to go in and do my four years, hopefully do a taxpayer funded cruise around the mediterranean sea or two if I was lucky, earn the GI bill, and then go back to college, that was my original plan...I remember watching one of the recruiters go and lock the front doors of the MEPS after the second plane hit, and realizing that all my plans had just changed. Never made it to the airport that day. Ended up not shipping down to bootcamp until Sept 24th of 2001. Retired last Oct with 20 years 1 month and 6 days of service, two months after we pulled out of Afghanistan. This event defined my entire Marine Corps career, and I never did get that Med float.
"So strong is this propensity of mankind, to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions, and excite their most violent conflicts." - James Madison, Federalist No 10
From the cover of We Were Soldiers Once and Young. Hal Moore said Rescorla was the best platoon leader he ever saw.
Just a dog chauffeur that used to hold the dumb end of the leash.
Hiked up to "Flag rock" to commemorate. 9/11 surely changed the trajectory of my life as I'm sure it did for many others.
Last edited by EMC; 09-11-2022 at 05:35 PM.
Sitting in Camp Lester Navy Hospital. My oldest son had been born the night before. He turned 21 yesterday.
We had a typhoon going on so we were stuck there until it cleared.
[QUOTE=LittleLebowski;1394209]This one has always hit me hard.
I was abroad in Africa, in the bush, when the attacks occurred. We got a call on the sat phone late on the 11th telling us what happened.
My mother in law was on a tour bus near the Pentagon when that plane hit.
I didn’t find out until I returned home that he had saved most of our colleagues in the towers.
I recommend “Heart of a Soldier” by James Stewart as a fitting tribute to Rick’s life.
Never forget, never forgive.
Shumba
Yep, same here.
Definitely a better man than I
RESPECT
Don’t just sit there – do something short sighted and stupid!
On 9/11 I was working in a large Federal building in northern VA and as I went into the cafeteria to get coffee I ran into a coworker who said that a plane had hit the WTC, but didn't know any more details. I went off to a meeting and when I left it I ran into the same guy and he said a second plane had hit and it was obviously an attack. I wasn't doing CT stuff at the time and we didn't have a tv in our office, so we were standing around waiting for some direction from the F.O. The phone rang at the secretary's desk, she answered and after a few seconds she started to cry. Then she said it was her daughter on the phone who had told her smoke was rising over the Pentagon. I'll never forget the look on the secretary's face - fear, horror, shock all at once. The boss told her to go ahead and go home. All the time I was thinking how we were right under one of the main approaches to Reagan National airport and that we were certainly on AQ's short list of desirable targets. Shortly after that we were told to evacuate the building.
Like a lot of people, I no longer look at a passenger jet flying in a clear blue sky the same way. It's a small thing, I suppose, but it reminds me every time just how much we lost.
This is a pretty interesting read:
https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=793059
It’s the transcript of a conference call on 9/11 between the National Military Command Center, NORAD, the FAA, PEOC, top military officials, SECDEF, VPOTUS, etc. It illustrates the confusion, chaos, misinformation, and communication issues at the top levels of our government that day.
It’s long, but worth it if you’re interested. Discussions about changing the DEFCON status, implementing SCATANA, shooting down civilian aircraft, etc.
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