Remembering 9/11

[Venom Power]

I Remember Because I Was There..

I was working on my engineering degree at the time and was in my Philosophy class at NYIT at the 59th street and Columbus Circle location in Manhattan NY when the first plane hit. That was the most scariest day in NY for me. By the time I made my decision to NOT head further downtown to see the calamity like everyone else it was thought to have just been a terrible accident. I immediately drove to the 59th street bridge to get off the island. As I was crossing the bridge the second plane hit and so was the Pentagon. I made it into Queens just in time before all hell broke loose further than before. I got some really great pictures from the roof of my aunt's job in Queens as both towers were engulfed in smoke until it seemed all of lower Manhattan was on fire. My cousin was an EMT at the time and of course he was called in for assistance that day as was every public servant in the tri state area. When he got home the next morning he was crying his eyes out. His duty was mainly to collect body parts to be stored in the gymnasium at Styveson Hugh School close by. I managed to talk with him and calm him down. I was able to visit ground zero the next night with him after it happened. I will never forget the red splotches on the surrounding concrete that were once living people who had no choice but to plunge to their deaths in order to escape the scorching fires from burning jet fuel. 9/11 will forever be etched in my mind. Being originally from NY it hit me hard. Now to me NY looks like... Cincinnatti.

 

[MacccDaddy]

I was on a conference call with my colleagues working at 7WTC. All of the sudden we heard a bang and everybody on the call in 7WTC went to the window and looked down to see what happend only to have debris falling from above them. They were on the 41st floor of 7WTC. They started evacuating 7WTC and I went down to our large auditorium here at our CT office and on the giant screen was CNN. I called my wife and told her to turn on the TV. I thought as did most that it was an accident. Then in full large screen view was the 2nd plane hitting. I called my buddy in 7WTC and he told me that he was going to wait it out. I told him to get the hell out. He did and luckily our company only lost a couple people that were attending the conference at Windows on the World on top of the tower.

The worst part was the next few days at the train stations, the police put yellow ribbons on the car antennaes. I thought that was strange at first, then realized that it was because these people never came home. It burned an image into me that I will never forget. These innocent people just trying to make a buck and support their families.

I have to commute to midtown about 50% of the time. Today, I stayed in CT.

*On my soapbox now* - I can't believe the idiocracy that is in our govt. Obviously NYC is THE main target, yet they keep cutting the security dollars going to NYC and giving money to poe-dunk towns that are not on the terrorist map. Ridiculous and scares the hell out of me.

 

[Django]

May God rest the fallen....and may He damn those responsible.......

SD

 

[HOT RAM]

I was finishing up a job at University of Virginia Hospital and getting ready to head to Clark Hall,UVA when a co-worker told me.I laughed it off as a joke "yeah,sure.a plane hit the world trade center".As I got into my truck and left,I realized something was really different.Being in construction limits your contact with current events during the day, so I didn't know what had really happened until I got home that night.I was in shock.I will never forget that day.

 

[doneo]

I've told my story before....here's what I can tell you again. My office is located directly next the the WTC site. I worked for years on the trading floor of the NYSE which is where I headed right after plane number 1 hit....by the time I got to the floor and we sorted out the situation plane number 2 hit...my brother and I made a determination at that point that the NYSE was probably the next probable target if we were in fact "under attack". We shut our business down, evacuated our employees from 111 Broadway and the NYSE and spent the next 6 hours covered in soot and debris, walking up the FDR across the BKLYN bridge trying to understand what had happened and how to get everybody home safe. I will never forget as long as I live a bunch of things, the FEAR and horror was pooring out of the people in the streets, the PANIC in everybodies eyes and voices, the rumble you could feel as the buildings collapsed resonating thru the streets, air and your body, the site of the smoke, soot and debris racing thru the streets and alley ways like a bad action movie as the towers collapsed, the absolute quiet as the ash snowed down upon us on the approach to the BKLYN bridge like the quiet if you ever been outside during a heavy snow, the screams of people as fighter jets flew overhead which were mistaken by us on the ground as more terrorist manned flights, the horrid wretched smell of the death and destruction that had just been unleashed upon us ( I will never forget that smell which remained downtown for months after the tragedy ), the look on my Mothers face as she screamed to me that she couldn't swim and what would she do if we had to jump into the East River, I'm sorry to be such a downer, it was a horrible day that changed my life and my families lives forever. I will never forget it as long as I live. Today was a day of mixed emotions for me, on balance I'm grateful, Thankful, Sad, Mad, and Bitter all at the same time. I lost friends, former employees, clients, and colleagues. I walk past that hole (WTC site) every god damn day. It's a disgrace that it's sits the way it does. It sickens me to watch people take pictures in front of it like it's some type of attraction. No offense to anyone here, but if you weren't in the local area that day you just don't get it. It is not possible for you to understand it the way I and the other people who were there do. I don't know why that makes a difference to me, but it does.
I remember my Mom walking thru the streets with us (she was employed by us at the time) telling me that she felt like the ash on us was the ash of the dead and that she wished she could get it off! Can you imagine even for a split second what it is like to hear a statement like that from your mother for Gods sake! I can remember almost every second of that day from beginning to end, almost every step I took, and almost every word I spoke and had spoken to me. Like I said it has changed my life forever! Thanks for listening....sorry for all the drama.....and like other people have said before and will say after me....NEVER FORGET!

 

[KRAZYSRT10]

I've told my story before....here's what I can tell you again. My office is located directly next the the WTC site. I worked for years on the trading floor of the NYSE which is where I headed right after plane number 1 hit....by the time I got to the floor and we sorted out the situation plane number 2 hit...my brother and I made a determination at that point that the NYSE was probably the next probable target if we were in fact "under attack". We shut our business down, evacuated our employees from 111 Broadway and the NYSE and spent the next 6 hours covered in soot and debris, walking up the FDR across the BKLYN bridge trying to understand what had happened and how to get everybody home safe. I will never forget as long as I live a bunch of things, the FEAR and horror was pooring out of the people in the streets, the PANIC in everybodies eyes and voices, the rumble you could feel as the buildings collapsed resonating thru the streets, air and your body, the site of the smoke, soot and debris racing thru the streets and alley ways like a bad action movie as the towers collapsed, the absolute quiet as the ash snowed down upon us on the approach to the BKLYN bridge like the quiet if you ever been outside during a heavy snow, the screams of people as fighter jets flew overhead which were mistaken by us on the ground as more terrorist manned flights, the horrid wretched smell of the death and destruction that had just been unleashed upon us ( I will never forget that smell which remained downtown for months after the tragedy ), the look on my Mothers face as she screamed to me that she couldn't swim and what would she do if we had to jump into the East River, I'm sorry to be such a downer, it was a horrible day that changed my life and my families lives forever. I will never forget it as long as I live. Today was a day of mixed emotions for me, on balance I'm grateful, Thankful, Sad, Mad, and Bitter all at the same time. I lost friends, former employees, clients, and colleagues. I walk past that hole (WTC site) every god damn day. It's a disgrace that it's sits the way it does. It sickens me to watch people take pictures in front of it like it's some type of attraction. No offense to anyone here, but if you weren't in the local area that day you just don't get it. It is not possible for you to understand it the way I and the other people who were there do. I don't know why that makes a difference to me, but it does.
I remember my Mom walking thru the streets with us (she was employed by us at the time) telling me that she felt like the ash on us was the ash of the dead and that she wished she could get it off! Can you imagine even for a split second what it is like to hear a statement like that from your mother for Gods sake! I can remember almost every second of that day from beginning to end, almost every step I took, and almost every word I spoke and had spoken to me. Like I said it has changed my life forever! Thanks for listening....sorry for all the drama.....and like other people have said before and will say after me....NEVER FORGET!

And that's why I serve in the Worlds Most Awesome Navy and we used to have a saying on the boat, "Let's put some Warheads on Foreheads!"-------------------------------------By the way, I would just like to point out one thing real quick, remember that the terrorist were extremist who called themselves "Muslims". Muslims are a peaceful religion and I don't discriminate against them, just the A@#holes that use them!! Thought that might be my good deed statement for the day....

 

[KRAZYSRT10]

That last post was directed at nobody in particular, just speaking from the heart!!!!

 

[doneo]

i support, 1000%, all the men and women that serve this great country of ours and all that they have done for us to help keep the peace....we paid tribute to all branches of the armed forces on the NYSE including the police and fire departments....I don't know if any of the guys who have served or are serving on this forum have ever had the opportunity to visit the Exchange.....but I'll tell you, they get a thundering round of applause and thanks from everyone they encounter on their visit.....when I see a service man/woman downtown in uniform I always give them a good look in the eye and Thank them for there sacrifices!

God Bless All of You

 

[doneo]

That last post was directed at nobody in particular, just speaking from the heart!!!!

i did not take your post personally

 

[WAZZSUP]

Doneo......

I'm going to ask that every year you remind us of what that day was like to you, if you don't mind......all three of my kids have read what you wrote, so as they will never forget either. Perhaps from what you have seen in your life some good will come.......now back to making money .