September 11

[IrishLion]

In remembering the events of September 11, 2001, and thinking of the victims, the heroes, and the profound effect on the world that resulted, I was having a conversation with my boss this morning, and we got on the subject of "where were you?"

So, where were you on 9/11?

I was in 6th grade Algebra class. Technically, we were between classes. I was the last one in the room with the teacher, as I had been doodling after the lesson had ended early, and I wanted to finish my drawing before packing up.

Two other students from a science class down the hall ran in just as I was about to walk out, and started telling our teacher, "a plane hit a building in New York. You should turn on the TV."

I didn't think much of it... I was young, and figured a small plane of some sort had accidentally crashed or something. I left the classroom before our teacher got the TV on.

My next class was an 'enrichment' class, Arts and Humanities. We had a long-term substitute teacher there in place of our normal teacher, and she was the worst. Some kids were talking about what was happening when we got to class, and telling her what had happened, but she just said, "that's enough of that, it's time for class."

About five minutes in, there was an announcement by our principal over the PA, telling us that two planes had hit the World Trade Center Twin Towers, and that America might be under attack. He instructed teachers to stop their lessons and turn on the TV's for us.

Our teacher turned on the TV, and we watched replays of the second building getting hit for a few minutes... then our teacher stepped in front of the TV. I will remember these exact moments for the rest of my life, because even then, having no idea what a profound event was unfolding before us, I at least knew that it was something we needed to see.

Someone said, "Oh my God, the building is falling!" and our teacher turned around, said "that's terrible," and then stepped back in front of the screen. Someone else said, "Do you think the other one might fall?"

The teacher said, "I've heard enough. I turned on the TV like Mr. Sandlin asked, but we are going to have class. We have to keep going about our day. Kyle, please start reading the section about 'french horns' out loud."

F*cking French Horns. I will never forget looking down at the textbook on my desk, seeing a picture of a stupid french horn above a block of text, and wondering 'This can't be right, can it?'

I don't remember much about the rest of the day. I think we ended up having an early dismissal. I know football practice was cancelled that night, and our games that weekend got canceled. I was excited that practice got cancelled because I hated the coach I was playing for that year. I said something to that effect, and my stepdad explained to me the significance of what was happening. He said "don't worry about your tv shows or your playstation or football practice. This is going to be on TV all week, probably all month. We might be at war. We don't know. You need to pay attention to this. Things are going to get bad."

I had known earlier in the day that it was an event that we should have been watching. But I learned from my stepdad that it was an event that was going to have an effect on everything in our lives, and that it was about more than just the planes hitting the buildings.

 

[ACamp1900]

I had just returned from school after four years plus a summer and was in my "The Graduate" styled lazy daze mode. I got used to sleeping in pretty late fairly quickly and was fully in that 'last great lazy season of my life' mindset. So,... it was quite a surprise when my mom woke me up telling me a plane had hit the World Trade. I immediately thought of the palne that hit the Empire State Building back in the 40s and thought nothing of it and tried to go back to bed. Soon after she woke me again saying another plane had hit and it struck me like a lightning bolt, "We're under attack." I jumped out of bed and was glued to the TV from there. Being a work week and me having not found a job out of school yet I was the only member of the family who was home all day. I received phone calls all day from family wanting news updates. I forget who now but everyone thought it was another well known terrorist (at the time) until Bin Laden and his people took responsibility or however it was they learned of his connection because I remember relaying that information to my father and you could hear him shouting "Bin Laden! It was Bin Laden!" to his co workers on the other line.

I remember how scary the whole thing was. After the Pentagon and Pennsylvania crashes it felt like this was going to go on for hours and maybe even for days. Bombings, hijackings, it was surreal. I remember how exciting it all was in a weird way. I was very sad, felt sick for those who died and their loved ones. I was scared because you didn't really know what was happening. You knew we were going to war with someone, somewhere. At the same time it I had an odd, guilty kind of excitement to it all. I remember being very aware in the moment that, "This is our Pearl Harbor."

This all played right into the baseball season that year which to me made 9/11 the longest day ever. It really didn't seem to end until the the World Series ended about six/seven weeks later.

 

[NorthDakota]

4th grade. Returned from music class. Teacher was watching the news instead of her soap operas. Had us huddle around and watch. We didnt think it was that big of a deal.

None of us had ever heard of muslims before. Obviously not a great introduction to a generation of kids.

 

[IrishLax]

https://irishsportsdaily.com/forums/1/topics/26083

I was on the 66th floor of the South tower when the first plane hit the North tower. It felt like the air conditioning in the building had kicked on. I was in an interior office and opened my office door and looked out at what looked like a ticket tape parade - confetti everywhere. A friend of mine was having breakfast with a client, and had been in 2 WTC in '93, and he came rushing down the corridor and said, "they're back". He later told me he had watched the first plane come right for his nose and then it swerved into the North tower. There was a group of us that took the elevator down to the 44th floor, which was the sky lobby. There was a guy - who perished while trying to save someone - there with bull horn telling us to go back to our offices because the building was secure. Some of my cohorts did go back to their offices, but I just happened to look to my left and saw the exit stairwell and decided to leave. I was still carrying a cup of starbucks coffee as I entered the stairwell. The stairwell was full, people walking two abreast and it was pretty orderly. When I reached the 19th floor, an announcement came on over the speakers in the stairwell, repeating the message to go back to your offices the building was secure. There was a door that would have let me reenter on the 19th floor, but I thought that the elevator would have to take me down to the main lobby, so I could take the elevator back up to the 44th floor. I actually calculated that it was taking me about 20 seconds per floor so I was going to be in the lobby in about 8 minutes anyway so I continued down. That decision probably saved my life because the second plane hit when I reached the ninth floor and had I been in an elevator I would have been incinerated. I didn't know a plane had hit the building, all I knew was that the building shook so violently that I thought the North tower had collapsed into ours. The stairwell immediately filled with dust and people began to panic. I remember putting my cup of coffee down and we were basically running down the stairs. I came out on the second floor lobby and walked down the escalator, which had stopped working, to the main lobby and went to exit out on to Liberty street. When I got to the doors, I went to exit through the revolving doors - because that was what the sign said to do - but it was so blocked with debris that the doors wouldn't revolve. That hesitation probably saved my life because when I went to exit through the other doors, I huge chunk of the building came down right in front of the door I was exiting. There was a young woman next to me and I grabbed her hand and said, "lets go" and we ran out towards Liberty street. We parted and I crossed Liberty and turned around and saw the damage to the building and the smoke coming from the upper floors. I attempted to count the floors and concluded that it had hit the building around the 70th floor (it was actually the 78th-82nd floor) and assumed many of my colleagues were dead. My firm occupied the 44th to 78th floor inclusive. I then turned and walked toward the Greek Orthodox church that was in the parking lot across from 2WTC. I then looked down and saw an arm severed at the elbow. I knew it was a man's arm because he had a wedding ring on his finger very similar to mine. As I looked around, I was shocked to see many body parts and piles of bloody goo all around where I was walking. I later concluded that these were from people who had been in the first plane that had hit the North tower and were shot across the mall. It was gruesome.The whole area looked like a war zone with cars smashed and on fire. I was staying at a hotel across from 1WTC so I started walking back to my hotel room. As I was walking I noticed people all around me standing on the street looking up at the towers. I looked up and saw a speck in the sky and then it dawned on me that it was a person falling. I watched that man fall with his arms and legs grasping vainly at the air until our eyes met just before he landed on the roof of the carport connected to the North tower. I can still hear the sound of his body landing, but I can't describe it. I think of that man often and the awful decision he made to jump. I will never get over the look on his face. I stay angry at those who did this.

Never forget!!!

Crazy.

 

[bobbyok1]

I was in my freshman Old Testament Bible class @ Mid America Christian University in Oklahoma City, just beginning my undergrad studies. Just 6 years previous the people of that city experienced the OKC bombing of the Federal Building and I had visited the memorial not long before Sept 11th. I spent the rest of the day in my tiny dorm bedroom watching the news on a 13" TV I had at the time. Was a strange day emotionally and mentally in many ways. Lots of questions, lots of pain. I went to college late at 25, so it ranks right up there with the Challenger tragedy when I was 9 years old as the dramatic and sad national events that stand out in my lifetime.

Today my oldest boy turns 5. He is a reminder to me each year on this day of what great hope and what wonderful lives we can experience in the face of great evil in our world.

 

[T Town Tommy]

Isn't there a poster out here that is a fireman in NYC and was there working as the events unfolded?

edit: FDNYIrish1 is the poster.

 

[arrowryan]

I was in 2nd grade. Certainly a day I'll never forget. One of the reasons why I became a firefighter.

 

[TDHeysus]

So, where were you on 9/11?

I woke up a little late that morning, and was in a hurry to get ready and get to work. Back then, I used to listen to Howard Stern on 97.1 KLSX.

At one point while getting ready I thought I heard Robin Quivers say, "the 2nd building just fell....". I was like wtf are they talking about.

Then while driving to work (in a hurry) I started to get up to speed with what was going on while continuing to listen to Howard Stern on 97.1.



I do remember this, my supervisor telling us that morning that "Today is just a regular work day. Just a regular work day."

I had a pre-planned home support visit with a district board member that morning where we had to be there at 8am.

 

[IrishLax]

I was in middle school, and no one knew what was happening because they weren't letting teachers turn on TVs or talk about it. The only information getting out is half-rumors and whispers overheard from teachers talking to teachers. Mid-morning the third plane hits the Pentagon which is when shit really gets crazy...

Living in Northern Virginia, a lot of kids had parents that worked at the Pentagon. They start calling kids down to the office one by one to talk to their parents after they've located them safe and gotten them on the phone. These kids then come back and like any human (much less middle schooler) would do start talking about what's going on. The situation gets out of control quickly, with the kids who haven't been called down to the office yet assuming their parents have been killed in a terrorist attack. Having only a few landlines to the principal's office made the situation agonizing for those involved.

Shortly thereafter, they start prepping us all for early dismissal. It's not until my mom picks me up from the bus stop in tears that I even begin to fully grasp the gravity and severity of the situation.

 

[arrowryan]

I had no idea Muffet McGraw was scheduled to on the second plane that hit the towers. That is nuts.

https://und.com/news/2018/9/11/womens-basketball-memories-of-9-11-remain-fresh-for-mcgraw.aspx

 

[notredomer23]

a Barstool blogger lost 7 people on 9/11 and it's really an incredible, must read piece of writing here: https://www.barstoolsports.com/newyork/911

I myself was in second grade scared shitless over some guy named Al Qaeda and trying to figure out why he wanted to kill me.

 

[ACamp1900]

Mark Wahlberg was supposed to be on one of the planes too but slept in and missed the flight or some such...

 

[IrishTusker]

Memories Of 9/11 Remain Fresh For McGraw

I'm sure some of you will have heard this story. McGuff is currently the OSU coach.

 

[dublinirish]

was in secondary school back in ireland and the teachers didn't know/never told us about it. Learnt everything when i got home that evening.

 

[ACamp1900]

It always amazed me afterwards to think how many people actually made it out of there considering the tens of thousands of people that worked at or visited the WTC daily. Add how many first responders were on site. Not that it was a small amount of people who perished, don't get me wrong, but the death toll could have been much, much higher.

 

[T Town Tommy]

Was on the night shift back then and was asleep when the first plane hit the tower. My wife calls me a short time later and tells me to turn on the tv. My emotions went from complete sadness for those that were killed to complete madness as to who and why people would do such a thing.

I have since been to lower Manhattan several times and each time I go I see family members at the memorial site and those emotions become just as real as they were that day. God bless those that fell and God bless their families.

 

[goldandblue]

Went to Toots in Bowling Green KY that Monday night to watch MNF and to drink as many pitchers of beer and eat as many wings as we could. There were about 7 guys that went up. We came back to TN crashed at Jasen Jones' house. I woke up to piss and get some hydration the next morning and the TV was on in the living room. I noticed that it was a news special and there was a building on fire and the headline read "Plane hits World Trade Center" I sat and watched it trying to figure out what the hell was happening. I'm pretty sure I was still about half drunk at this point. Then the second plane hit and I started running around waking everyone up and telling them to "Wake the F___ up!!!! We are under F___king attack!!!" We sat and watch in disbelief as the rest of the days events unfolded.

 

[BeauBenken]

I remember standing in the hallway by the library. Teachers were gathered around a small TV on a stand as we all waited for them to tell us what was going on. I got a glimpse of the TV and a burning building. Next thing I know, my dad was pulling me out of school and speeding us home. I think he had me stay in the basement of our home for at least the next few hours. I had never seen my dad scared before in his life and never would see something like it ever again.

 

[greyhammer90]

Middle school. Same story as everyone else of that age. Teacher comes in, tells us to shut up, turns on the TV and the world was different. Looking back on it, I'm still awestruck by how raw the footage was, and how much the news was willing to show in the moment. Watching desperate souls, one after another, jump off of a skyscraper on a live feed is one of the most fundamentally incorrect things I've ever experienced. I felt the wrongness of the whole thing in my stomach even at that age. People having the most intimate moments of their existence displayed on global news for horrified spectators.

 

[ACamp1900]

Middle school. Same story as everyone else of that age. Teacher comes in, tells us to shut up, turns on the TV and the world was different. Looking back on it, I'm still awestruck by how raw the footage was, and how much the news was willing to show in the moment. Watching desperate souls, one after another, jump off of a skyscraper on a live feed is one of the most fundamentally incorrect things I've ever experienced. I felt the wrongness of the whole thing in my stomach even at that age. People having the most intimate moments of their existence displayed on global news for horrified spectators.

yeah,... could you imagine being a loved one there? Honestly the mix of emotions on that day is something stuck with me. I was 21 so I was young/old enough to have a strange mix of child like yet adult emotions, feelings, reactions all at once. It's pretty difficult to put it into words now but I've never before or since had so many different emotional states going on all at once. It was an intensely scary, saddening, surreal, adrenaline inducing, disgusting and riveting day... I know I'm describing it poorly but that was one of the key things I remember. It was a roller coaster where every emotion was happening all at once rather than in cycles.

 

[OhioIrish31]

It always amazed me afterwards to think how many people actually made it out of there considering the tens of thousands of people that worked at or visited the WTC daily. Add how many first responders were on site. Not that it was a small amount of people who perished, don't get me wrong, but the death toll could have been much, much higher.

There is one (now somewhat famous) photo of a young firefighter going up the stairs with this look on his face like "I'm not coming back down" or "I know I'm going the wrong way". It's heart wrenching to see knowing that he was compelled by a sense of duty and obligation. I get/got so caught up in what must have been going through the minds of everyone effected as well as what the hell I would of done if thrown in the same circumstances. God bless those people who perished and the families they left behind.

 

[NDBoiler]

I was on campus in my senior year at Purdue. I was waiting in the hall outside my next class (I think it was an 8:30 class) when another student said a plane hit the WTC. At first I thought it was a small prop plane that got lost and wasn’t a huge deal. I decided to go to the computer lab quickly and look up information and saw that it was obviously much worse. I went to class and my professor didn’t teach at all, just let us sit there and talk for a while about what happened before letting us go home. I got back to my apartment and sat down with my now wife (girlfriend at the time) to watch the TV coverage. She didn’t have class as early as I did and had seen the 2nd plane hit on TV. I suddenly realized that my dad had been in NYC for a business trip, and I really wasn’t sure what his travel schedule was. I called my mom and found out that he was supposed to be flying out of Newark that morning. Thankfully we were able to get ahold of him later in the morning. His plane had left Newark about 45 minutes before the hijacked plane had left there, and landed within minutes of the 1st plane hitting the tower. We later found out that a close family friend who is a CSC priest (and who would preside at my wedding a couple years later) had a niece who was a flight attendant on one of the planes that hit the towers.

 

[Irish YJ]

Was at the office and one of my folks ran into my office (back in those days, I had a TV on a TV cart) and flipped on the TV... Within minutes half the office was in my office, and piled outside the door. After I regained a bit of awareness, rolled the TV out to cube farm area and we all sat in shock. We had offices in that are in NY, and several of my folks were from NY and NJ. Every kind of emotion was present that day. I personally graduated to anger pretty quick. My GF came to the office a bit later, sat on my lap, and balled her eyes out. She was from NY/NJ and was terrified. I am still angered when I think about that day. My naive open arms view of the world changed that day. While some paid for what they did, I think many, including the money men behind it never were held accountable.

God bless all those lost, and their families who are forever changed.

 

[WaveDomer]

I was living in Los Angeles and driving to work and found out listening to Stern. I kind of freaked. I grew up in Jersey and my father had worked at Cantor Fitzgerald, although by 2001 he was living in Dallas. However, as a kid I had been to his office many times in WTC. I remember how fast the elevators would take you up. I even called in s trade once to the floor. I also went to high school in Jersey City so I saw the Towers every day when I got off the PATH train at Exchange Place. Just a horrible day. Just the amount of people directly affected is staggering. People are still dealing with health issues today from breathing in the smoke and debris.

 

[GATTACA!]

I was in 3rd grade. I didn't know anything about it during the school day. I remember my mom explaining to me what had happened as we walked home from my bus stop. Flight 93 had crashed relatively close to my aunt's home who lives in Pennsylvania. The only thought I can remember from that day was not being able to understand how none of the passengers survived the crashes.

It's so funny the small little details our minds hang onto.

I do remember later on after my dad explained why people had been jumping out of the towers, me suggesting the firefighters use big trampolines.

 

[FDNYIrish1]

Was a 28 year old Probationary NYC firefighter working that day. Got in early, took a run, and started the day. Had breakfast with a lieutenant, he was a great guy. Talked to me for an hour before leaving to go home. Turns out, he stopped off at a firehouse when he heard what happened and jumped on with them to respond. He never made it home.

Day started off typical. I was signing everyone in when everyone came running out to tell me the trade center was on fire. I used to love to open the doors and look at downtown Manhattan from Brooklyn. Was always amazed at how clear the view was of the skyline. Everyone was watching on tv, but I opened the apparatus doors to watch. I was quickly joined by everyone. I remember telling my captain that we needed to get up there quick, the people above the fire were in a lot of trouble with the smoke and heat. As we were standing there trying to figure out what was going on (tactics wise, we suspected immediately what this was), I saw the second plane banking in to the south tower and the gigantic fireball. We were sent immediately after.
Our first stop was another company in Brooklyn where we loaded up with as many medical supplies as possible. Turns out we never needed them,There was no one to help where we went. We soon got orders to report to the North tower lobby command post. On the way into the battery tunnel, the south tower collapsed, filling the tunnel with dust and debris. Unable to get through the tunnel, we were sent to the Brooklyn bridge to get to West and Vesey. I’ve never seen anything like the looks on the faces of the people walking over the bridge.
We were only able to get as far south as Stuyvesant HS on West when the North tower collapsed. The sounds and smells from that day are ones that I’ll never forget. Eery silence except for the sound of FF warning devices going off. We ended up searching all day and night for any survivors. The debris was so densely packed and condensed. We had to climb out the fourth floor of the World financial center to get onto the debris pile. We searched as many voids as we could access but it was pure destruction. There was no one left to help. Honestly the four months after are a blur. Hundreds of funerals, more booze than I care to admit, and an innocence lost forever. So many beautiful people lost. We honored everyone the best we could, even if it was body parts in a bucket. That was someone’s loved one, and this may be all they ever found of them.
This day never gets easier, but life has gone on. I lost friends and family members that I visit every year. This never leaves me, I’m reminded of it every firehouse I go into has a memorial. Live life guys. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

 

[Bishop2b5]

I was working in the hospital lab listening to the radio when a guy walked through and said his wife had called saying something about a plane crashing into the WTC. There was nothing on the radio, so I assumed it was nothing or at least just a small prop plane that made a wrong turn. I didn't think anything else about it until 30 minutes later when I noticed a bunch of people in a conference room across the hall watching the news on TV. I walked over and couldn't believe what I was seeing.

My parents were on vacation in Canada at the time and couldn't cross the border back into the US for awhile. I remember thinking that this had to be the biggest news event of my life and probably even bigger than Pearl Harbor. For the next few months, I viewed all my fellow countrymen in a different way... just thought of everyone in the country as my brothers & sisters and that we were all in this together and part of the same family.

 

[NDRock]

Mark Wahlberg was supposed to be on one of the planes too but slept in and missed the flight or some such...

Thought that was Seth Mcfarlane. Maybe it was both.

I was heading to the river with some friends to do some whitewater kayaking. We were listening to the radio and heard a plane had struck a building. Assumed it was small plane flown by an amateur pilot. Entered the gorge and out of range for the radio. A few hours later we’re re heading home and find out what’s going on via the radio.

I remember listening to a witness interview on the radio where the lady was discussing where the buildings “used to stand”. For the life of me I couldn’t understand what that meant. Never thought they could actually collapse. Crazy. I had already been hired as a firefighter and started my career the next week.

 

[NDVirginia19]

I guess I'm one of the younger posters in here, but I was 4 years old on the day. My mom and I had just gotten home from dropping my older sister off at school, and my mom had made me breakfast. She got a call from my dad who was at work, and then ran upstairs to her bedroom to turn on the TV, I guess wanting to not scare me with the news. She was gone for awhile so I went upstairs to go find her, and she was just sitting on her bed with tears in her eyes trying to find words to describe what had happened. It's really the first vivid memory I have, and it's completely ingrained into my mind how scared my mom was, despite us being 350 miles away in a suburb of Richmond.

 

[GowerND11]

I was in 6th grade Algebra class. Technically, we were between classes. I was the last one in the room with the teacher, as I had been doodling after the lesson had ended early, and I wanted to finish my drawing before packing up.

Today I learned IrishLion and I are about the same age. Always thought you were older than me for some reason.

On the day, I was in 7th grade Social Studies class with Mrs. Hixson as our teacher. It was 3rd period when our Principal Father Finlan got on the intercom to alert us of both towers and Pentagon being hit. It was already about 10:00, and our teachers turned the TVs on the rest of the day.