911 + 20

[arewethereyet]

Everybody knew where they were.

Thank goodness you showed up to move the conversation along.

You are the most glass half empty person on this forum.

Miserable old fuck.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

That is an utterly stupid and pointless reply.

Boru

You brought up horses, not me. FYI, It was my silly way of agreeing with you. Or is that against forum rules?

How is posting that silly video agreeing with me?

No, being utterly pointless and stupid isn’t against Forum rules. You’re still here, aren’t you?

Boru

[Cecelia]

It was senior year in high school. The day before I had started dating a new guy (who's now my husband. Happy Twentieth to us!). Coming out of French Class, one of the teachers overheard that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. My first thought was a small plane, not a large one. I went to my next class, which was business law. My boyfriend was in the class with me, when we watched the second plane hit. At that point, we knew it was a deliberate act. Our principal ordered all TV's to be cut off, but our Business Law teacher (who was the best) was very tech savvy (in addition to having been a lawyer) and managed to get us hooked back up. It's about all anyone could talk about -- then we heard that a plane hit the pentagon.

My father worked at the Pentagon at the time. And my boyfriend's mother was supposed to go up there that day. We were both incredibly worried. This was before everyone owned cell phones, at least at our school. I had one, but I didn't dare take it out until toward the end of the day. I couldn't reach my dad. Throughout the rest of our classes, it's all anyone could talk about. A lot of kids were worried about their parents, and unable to get news. (A lot of kids in our school had parents who worked at the pentagon).

Thankfully, my dad was okay. He got out just fine. And my future mother-in-law was delayed because of news of the trade center so she never even went to the pentagon (and just went home early that day). They let some schools in our area out early that day, but not ours.

I remember being so scared for my dad. Luckily I had my boyfriend to reassure me. Sometimes I wonder if we'd have still been together if not for 9/11. Not that our first date wasn't great. But we became so much closer because of it.

One of the people I used to babysit for died. And my dad knew some of the people who died. So did my husband's mom. It was all the school talked about the next day or two. Eventually everything quieted down. Hard to believe as of tomorrow it'll have been twenty years. Time really does fly. Our oldest kids will soon be the age I was when it happened. Absolutely crazy.

[arewethereyet]

It was senior year in high school. The day before I had started dating a new guy (who's now my husband. Happy Twentieth to us!). Coming out of French Class, one of the teachers overheard that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. My first thought was a small plane, not a large one. I went to my next class, which was business law. My boyfriend was in the class with me, when we watched the second plane hit. At that point, we knew it was a deliberate act. Our principal ordered all TV's to be cut off, but our Business Law teacher (who was the best) was very tech savvy (in addition to having been a lawyer) and managed to get us hooked back up. It's about all anyone could talk about -- then we heard that a plane hit the pentagon.

My father worked at the Pentagon at the time. And my boyfriend's mother was supposed to go up there that day. We were both incredibly worried. This was before everyone owned cell phones, at least at our school. I had one, but I didn't dare take it out until toward the end of the day. I couldn't reach my dad. Throughout the rest of our classes, it's all anyone could talk about. A lot of kids were worried about their parents, and unable to get news. (A lot of kids in our school had parents who worked at the pentagon).  

Thankfully, my dad was okay. He got out just fine. And my future mother-in-law was delayed because of news of the trade center so she never even went to the pentagon (and just went home early that day). They let some schools in our area out early that day, but not ours.

I remember being so scared for my dad. Luckily I had my boyfriend to reassure me. Sometimes I wonder if we'd have still been together if not for 9/11. Not that our first date wasn't great. But we became so much closer because of it.

One of the people I used to babysit for died. And my dad knew some of the people who died. So did my husband's mom. It was all the school talked about the next day or two. Eventually everything quieted down. Hard to believe as of tomorrow it'll have been twenty years. Time really does fly. Our oldest kids will soon be the age I was when it happened. Absolutely crazy.

Wow, that's really close to home for you. I cannot imagine the worry and stress of wondering. I am glad both the parents were okay.

[Jackalope]

I was at home, up unusually early and caught the earliest vague news reports of an unspecified aircraft crashing into WTC. I followed the story as it developed online and on cable news, and turned into a total news junkie. Spent most of the day in a conference room with other staff trying to make sense of what we were seeing on TV.

My son was six months from birth, and I wondered what kind of world he would inherit. Now I know.

[Cecelia]

Wow, that's really close to home for you.  I cannot imagine the worry and stress of wondering.  I am glad both the parents were okay.

Yeah, it was very stressful. Especially since they blocked us from News reports at school. We couldn't get any information, so we had no idea how many were killed. Our Principal was AWFUL. My dad didn't get home until very late that night. My mom worked late, and my older siblings were both away at college. So it was just me and my little brother when we got home, and had no idea if our dad made it out. Couldn't get a hold of him either. My older brother called to ask if dad had checked in with us, and he hadn't. (My sister had no idea he worked at the pentagon).

The woman I used to babysit for who died, I still think about her sometimes. Her kids. Wonder what they're doing. I've visited the memorial a couple of times. Haven't recently, just don't have the time. I'm sure 9/11 is very tough for them.

[Brian37]

Just now watching a documentary where they played emergency calls from above the impact zones of both towers. And listening to the call center responses is horrifying. The sad truth was there really was nothing anyone could do. 

In fact, my last land lord was a former firefighter. And when we talked about 9/11, he thought to himself "Why are they sending the firemen into those buildings". Basically he knew the heat from the burning jet fuel would eventually make the metal pliable and break. The horrifying truth was that anyone above the crash zone were gone.

[Pat Mustard]

I wonder if in future years we'll be asking ourselves "were you there when Bush decided to use the tragedy and crime of 9/11 to create a forever war to help further enrich his friends?"

[polymath257]

At the time, my girlfriend and I would call each other in the morning just to get the day started. That day, she called and said that a plane had hit the WTC. At that point, it was not known if it was a small plane or not or whether it was accidental.

After we hung , she called back again saying a second plane had hit the other tower. I went to her place and we watched the events unfold on her TV (I didn't have one). At first, we were focused on the difficulties of rescuing those in the towers. There were confused reports and all sorts of rumors being mentioned.

Then the first tower collapsed (actually, tower 2). We were just numb. The estimate was that there were 50,000 people in the towers. I found out later that 99% were evacuated from below the crash site.

Watching the news, it was clear that the second tower was starting to tilt. Then it came down.

After that, I had a calculus class to teach. On my way up to campus, I remember someone saying they heard something happened to the WTC and I simply said 'both towers are gone'. The class had an Islamic student who wore a hijab and we ended up talking about the likelihood of war, the differences between the Taliban and other Islamic groups, the history of why the US isn't so well liked in many places, etc.

The US had the support of the world on that day. NOBODY questioned the invasion of Afghanistan and its legitimacy. But, by refusing to do 'nation building' and getting diverted into Iraq, we squandered all of that.

Now, the Taliban is back in power. The US never quite understood the people of Afghanistan, their history, and why they might not think our invasion wasn't the blessing we thought it was. Maybe, just maybe, if we had listened more to those there, we would be in a different place today. But that doens't seem to be the way of the US.

[onlinebiker]

To go after the country of origin of the attack meant invading Saudi Arabia. Dick Cheyne had too many buddies there....

So - Afghanistan.....