• From: Amsterdam
  • Registered: 2007-10-06
  • Posts: 5,249

Topic: 9/11

I thought for sure that we had a 9/11 topic, but I couldn't find it. Here then is a strictly non-political topic of remembrance. I suggest that those who feel like it maybe share where they were at the time, as this was the 'Kennedy assassination' moment of recent times.

I was at work in my office in Amsterdam when someone stuck their head around the corner to report that some sort of small plane had apparently crashed into the WTC. It took some considerable time before CNN became accessible, as several million people all tried to raise that page at the same time.

When CNN finally opened, it was just in time to see the second plane hit. After that, no more work got done as we all gaped at our screens, wide-eyed, speechless, and very upset. Once the towers fell, people started openly weeping and we were told to go home.

Back home, non-stop, uninterrupted coverage continued on all our major channels, life as we knew it seemed to stand still...the word 'unreal' doesn't even come close....

RIP to the victims, and to the brave men and women of NYC who did what they could.....


A comprehensive timeline can be found here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_f … 11_attacks

RIP Iron Man

Rock On and keep the Faith
  • Registered: 2012-05-31
  • Posts: 1,308

Re: 9/11

Amsterhammer wrote:

I thought for sure that we had a 9/11 topic, but I couldn't find it. Here then is a strictly non-political topic of remembrance. I suggest that those who feel like it maybe share where they were at the time, as this was the 'Kennedy assassination' moment of recent times.

I was at work in my office in Amsterdam when someone stuck their head around the corner to report that some sort of small plane had apparently crashed into the WTC. It took some considerable time before CNN became accessible, as several million people all tried to raise that page at the same time.

When CNN finally opened, it was just in time to see the second plane hit. After that, no more work got done as we all gaped at our screens, wide-eyed, speechless, and very upset. Once the towers fell, people started openly weeping and we were told to go home.

Back home, non-stop, uninterrupted coverage continued on all our major channels, life as we knew it seemed to stand still...the word 'unreal' doesn't even come close....

RIP to the victims, and to the brave men and women of NYC who did what they could.....


A comprehensive timeline can be found here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_f … 11_attacks


I was set to fly to a conference in Columbus Ohio that day.  got a call from the airline saying all flights had been cancelled.  That's when we turned on the television and saw the second plane hit the towers.  How can we ever forget this.  My prayers , thoughts  and love go out to the families that are still dealilng with the aftermath of this horrific day.  God bless America!

  • Registered: 2006-06-30
  • Posts: 2,835

Re: 9/11

Yes I sadly remember that day well...watching the 2nd plane hit the tower on live TV...Prayers go out to the familes/friends lost..R.I.P.

And so castles made of sand melts into the sea, eventually.........
  • From: Sussex UK
  • Registered: 2009-07-12
  • Posts: 1,465

Re: 9/11

I was in a local motorbike shop buying a part for my Ducati, guy at the counter serving me kept looking over my shoulder at the massive TV screen behind me, - I looked around to see the gapping hole in one of WTC buildings, knew straight away that it was not the lightweight plane accident that the guy was talking about. Rushed home in a few minutes and saw the second plane hit, sat glued to it all day, never forget seeing the people jumping and each of the towers falling knowing the consequences of what we were watching live. - Had friends who worked downtown Manhattan who might have been caught up, uncertainty for a few days.

A day that marked history and changed a lot of lives then and still is today.

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  • From: Maryland
  • Registered: 2012-05-13
  • Posts: 2,790

Re: 9/11

I remember standing at the kitchen window after my mother-in-law had called me and told me what had happened, and looking out at this incredibly gorgeous day with bright blue skies and trying to come to grips with how something so horrible could happen on such a beautiful day. It felt then that a darkness descended upon us and I wondered if we would ever be able to get out from under it again. The world had changed, and it was never going to be the same again.

  • From: Crystal Lake, Il.
  • Registered: 2006-04-22
  • Posts: 5,120

Re: 9/11

I was in my office as well. Shortly after the first plane hit, a co-worker came in and told me a plane had hit the WTC. Like many people, I envisioned some small  plane with mechanical problems. We had the TV turned on in our conference room and I saw the second plane hit...I was dumbfounded to see the second plane and to see that it was a commercial jet. That was when I realized it was a terrorist act.
We sat at our 9AM staff meeting, we halfheartedly attempted to discuss the upcoming week, but could not take our eyes off the TV. We were gathered as a group when the 1st tower collapsed. After some of the shock wore off, we sent everyone home.
I stayed in the office until about 1:30PM...our building is right across the river from Sears Tower and my wife was not real pleased that I stuck around, but the train stations were packed with the entire city headed home. I finally took our company car and drove home. It was like something out of the day the earth stood still. I was the only car on the expressway leaving downtown...and there were no cars headed into the city either. I drove at least 15 miles before seeing another car and, as I neared O'Hare airport I realized the other eerie silence: There were no planes in the sky.
My older daughter had just left for her freshman year at Iowa State University. She was already going through the normal homesickness when this happened. I remember how awful it felt having her away from home, homesick and scared for what was happening in our country and in our world.
My younger daughter, my wife and I sat and watched the coverage...feeling a bit sick that our other daughter was not with us.
The hours and days that followed showed the heart of a city, a country, and a world. The acts of heroism and bravery were like a ray of light through a horrible darkness.
RIP to the victims, peace to the survivors, and thanks to all of those that helped in whatever way they could. Never forget.
George, you're absolutely correct: Unreal doesn't begin to describe that event.

"Rock ON & Keep the Faith"
  • From: Benicia, Ca.
  • Registered: 2006-05-08
  • Posts: 5,828

Re: 9/11

Never Forget!!!


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  • From: Wales, UK
  • Registered: 2012-09-10
  • Posts: 13

Re: 9/11

I had just come home from primary school. I was 8, and it was my mum's birthday. Felt really awkward going out for a meal that night.

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  • RickB
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  • From: San Diego
  • Registered: 2009-10-30
  • Posts: 12,198

Re: 9/11

On the local radio morning drive show, the host related how he had taken some wounded vets from the rehab center here on a dove hunt recently. These were all amputees who were around 20. Individually and to a man, they responded 9-11 when asked why they had volunteered for the military. These were kids of 10 or so when it happened.
I'll never forget.
Rick

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  • Brack
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  • Registered: 2009-02-24
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Re: 9/11

Well done Jane! smile

Like others, i was at work, some alert came up on the BBC News website - something 'happened' in New York - and that was all - i was driving home listening to the radio.... but nothing about a plane(s)/ WTC - until i got home, switched the tv on! 
One thing that troubled me... the endless repeats, of the the planes hitting the towers, then the endless repeats of the towers coming down!
I called it, gratuitous - imo, and before anyone asks, when enough is enough, yes i did use the Off button on the remote.

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11 Reply by PSmith1946 (edited by PSmith1946 2012-09-11 14:03:48)

  • From: East Lancashire, UK
  • Registered: 2011-06-24
  • Posts: 3,019

Re: 9/11

I was up town at the bank to collect my dollars for the holiday we were going on to Florida the next day. Whilst at the bank I got a text from my son to go to a tv, and as I did the 2nd plane struck. A horrific moment. One that will never be forgotten. Think of it next time you are about to moan about the queue at security at the airport.

Come on the Blades (sorry Idolbone just had to borrow your line)
  • Registered: 2012-08-28
  • Posts: 45

Re: 9/11

I was at the Y and it came on the tv while everyone was working out. I immediately rushed home to call my parents because my older brother was working in New York at the time. His office was located very near the towers.  For about an hour i had this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach wondering if he was ok.  When my parents called me back to say they'd reached him and he was ok i felt such relief.  But that relief was soon diminished somewhat by watching the devastation on the news and realizing so many people had lost their lives.

  • From: Greater Chicagoland
  • Registered: 2012-04-21
  • Posts: 657

Re: 9/11

Though I read the earlier threads, while I was a forum lurker, I've never answered the question here before (that I recall).

A good friend and I were climbing Longs Peak, in Colorado, that day.  An early snowfall had blanketed much of the upper mountain in snow, so it wasn't just a hike.  It was a technical climb from beyond the Keyhole (for those who may be familiar with the route.)

Since we started at 3 AM, my climbing partner and I didn't know anything about it, until we ran into some day hikers on another shorter trip on our way down.  We had heard a couple of sonic booms, at one point, almost certainly from fighter jets scrambling at nearby military bases. The hikers we met didn't share much other than that the World Trade Center had been attacked with airplanes.  That was pretty much breaking news, given the time we met them.

Made for a somewhat somber hike back down to our vehicle at the trailhead.  We spent the ride back to his sister's place in Fort Collins listening to radio reports.  And the rest of the afternoon and evening being stunned by the news coverage.  I agree that the constant repetition of the video accounts became over much, very quickly.

Due to the grounding of all commercial flights, we almost ended up having to cram two friends into his pickup truck for our ride home (to Chicago area) later that week.  They had been stranded in Denver.  Instead they rented a car, and drove back on their own.  Just as well, his old truck wasn't very roomy, and was crammed with our hiking, backpacking, and climbing gear.  So it would have been extremely cozy, if they had to rely on us.

I'll never forget the day, though I prefer not to remember it in terms of the news broadcasts of that sad day.  Images that are as painful today, as they were then.

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