OT: In Remembrance

[BleepingBeauty]

I've been very pensive today. Just wanted to post something in remembrance of all the innocent people who lost their lives eight years ago today. All the heroes and all the ordinary people. Going about their business. Getting to work. A bright, sunny Tuesday morning, like any other. And then it wasn't.

My sincere condolences to anyone here who lost someone that day.

[katiemo]

My thoughts are definately on this today.

[TheDreamer]

I kind of remember this day....I had slept-in as usual...and was trying to sneak into work unnoticed....

What I found was everybody standing around outside the meeting room watching the news. I think i asked somebody what was going on... and things were still strange for a few days after that.

And, then some....

The Dreamer.

[twokatmew]

I remember that day, too. When I got to work, everyone was scrambling to find a TV or radio, and the first plane had hit. I'd driven with the radio off, so I was oblivious ... for a short while.

The world has never been the same.

My sincere condolences as well.

Margaret

[Muse-Inc]

I had a live link into the George Washington Bridge surveillance displays (I was doing screen captures, etc). Running late the morning, I was not listening to the radio that morning. Co-workers rushed me in from the parking lot to bring up the link in order to view details...I was horrified as they brought me up to speed as I powered up, logged in, brought up the link -- the entire screen was flashing red. Every single sensor had been put into alarm status. We had a TV with no antenna and lousy images but we watched shocked as the clips were replayed. We had 3 engineers up there for a 9 AM mtg on the 10th floor of the first Tower that went down. With phones out, the company was frantically trying to find out where they were. Finally, we got word that the meeting had been re-scheduled to 10 AM, but no one knew where anyone scheduled to attend was. Unreported in the news, several bomb threats had been phoned in to the police so evacuations of those sites added to the absolute chaos. It wasn't until late inthe day that our engineers and onsite staff were found...all safe; some of the Port Authority employees we worked closely with were not so blessed. Our company rented a van to get our staff back home; they also called our customers and offered rides to any employees stranded in NYC in need of transporation. I called home and warned my mom, who was running late with a strained knee, not to go into work at the Federal Center that day; the message when she called in was to stay home, the govt sent all staff and contract workers home. While I lost no one I knew, I was like everyone else...horrified. That incident cost me my job as not-yet-started contracts were cancelled, Pearl Harbor Day that year was my last day and the anniversary saw my unemployment run out; in all, I was jobless for 4 yrs. Forever etched in my memory, when I relive that day as I do every year, I am once again where I was then emotionally. I remember the silence in the days afterwards, no planes, no helicopters, no loud noises, marked politeness, flags quietly posted, TV ads with scrolling text of sorrow and memory...it was an altered time.

[JayC]

I didn't lose someone personally that day, but, indeed the world changed that day. I remember it like it was yesterday, AND it seems far longer ago than 8 years........

[karessamom]

I will never forget! All I wanted to do that day was hug my children! and stay glued to CNN. it was a nightmare for real. I didn't know anyone but before then I never once thought that we'd be attacked on our own soil--then I realized just how vulnerable we were. God Bless the families who lost loved ones and God bless our military who make the sacrifices so we can be free and safe.

[KSMike]

There are still no adequate words and I don't think there ever will be.

I participated in a nationwide effort by hobbyist woodworkers to build flag cases for the families of the victims.

Today, work & other obligations kept me from giving a lot of thought to it until late tonight when I started watching History Channel. Now I'm just shaking with rage all over again.

[jdm2857]

I grew up in a town about 13 miles due west of Manhattan. There's a county park on a cliff overlooking the city. Although I was working in the Philly area on that Tuesday, I left work early and headed there, mostly because I couldn't think of anything else to do. So many people were at the park that the police had to set up crowd control. I'll never forget the view. The day was so calm that at about 5 PM, there still was a vertical column of smoke, the top of which was slowly drifting south, where the WTC once stood. No air traffic. No cars on the NJ Turnpike in the distance. If you looked hard, you could just barely make out the Air Force fighter planes that were patrolling Manhattan. Just an absolutely unreal sight.

[sagesteve]

WAKE UP AMERICA!! http://islamoncapitolhill.com/Home_Page.html

[deerslayer]

this is the patch on the back of this vest i have on in my avatar . --- http://cgi.ebay.com/NYPD-FDNY-PA-911-SE ... 286.c0.m14

[howkim]

I was working for The New York Public Library at the time. I was on my way to work in Manhattan. As the subway train was approaching the Williamsburg Bridge (not underground at that point) folks started murmuring about the first tower. We watched the smoke from the first tower billowing up. Then, the second plane came into my vision, swerved and went into the tower. Lots of screaming, crying, moaning and praying. I'm not Catholic, but I was saying the Hail Mary with the rest of the folks around me. It was stunning.

[drj130]

I was stationed here in Germany about to get released for the day. Word came down of what happened and that the unit was put on full alert. Soldiers were sent to guard the housing areas where the families lived, others were added to the force protecting the base. I think that for the week after that happened, I was able to sleep for 5 hours total. I was in charge of ensuring that our Soldiers got to where they needed to be to ensure our families were safe. No one, not even family members were allowed on base. I didn't get a chance to change my uniform or shower for 3 days. The next day, the Germans who lived near the post started placing flowers, candles, etc near the gates of the base and near the housing areas showing their support of our mourning.

[elader]

As a New Yorker living in Texas, I was in shock for weeks and simply wanted to go back to NY to do something, anything to help the city that I grew up in. My wife's HS sweetheart was killed as was his mother in law. My sis i law was late for work in the north tower.

What still stuns me to this day is that 10% of the people who died in NYC were firefighters and other rescue personnel. The ridiculous courage it must have taken to charge into those buildings to try to rescue people. Unbelievable courage and sacrifice by the FDNY.

[DoriC]

I'll always remember my son who's medical practice is in NYC running on foot several miles down to St.Vincent's Hospital where he stayed on duty for 24hours treating fire and police personnel for smoke inhalation and exhaustion. That is all he was willing to share with us, but he has never discussed to this day the other injuries they suffered or anything about the patients brought in from the buildings. Somehow he has found his own way to deal with this disaster and our family respects his silence on that subject, but we're proud of him.