I can't believe it is 10 years since 9/11. I'm sure most of you, like me, remember exactly what they were doing when they found out that the United States was under attack by terrorist. I have two family members that at the time used the Trade Center subway station on their way to work, I remember the panic of not being able to find them, and hoping they weren't somehow caught up in the mess. It wasn't until the next day that we were able to make contact with them and confirm that they were ok. Thankfully, both my brother and cousin were away from the area when the planes hit, so they were unhurt physically. Both witnessed the horror from their office windows, something that neither of them discusses to this day.
That event 10 years ago is what motivated me to leave private industry and seek a job working for the US Army - I wanted to do something to help the men and women that protect us everyday.
May God Bless the families of those that perished on that horrible day.
Yes, I remember exactly where I was when the first plane hit before anyone even thought it might be a terrorist attack. I was the XO to BG Newman at the time and I got a call from the Tech Director's office to turn on the news. After assesssing the situration for a couple of minutes I pull the General out of his meeting and showed him what's going on. Then the second plane hit and right away he knew it was an attack. He was also the installation commander at the time so he closed off the base, got all the right people together and we formed an EOC (Emergency Operations Center) to be manned 24/7. For the first 2 weeks the entire EOC was just me and a few others until we were able to get volunteers to continue to man it. I slept at a friend's apartment because he lives much closer to the base me. Between meetings here on base, meeting with local and state officials and law enforcement and emergency response agencies, and secret video teleconferences with higher headquarters and the Pentagon, and getting all sorts of intel from everywhere, I really didn't get a chance to reflect on what really happened until days later when I finally had some time to take a breath and think. That's when it really hit me. That is also when we knew what countries are our true friends judging by the messages we got. From what I saw the Canadians felt the pain almost as much as we did. They even compiled a beautiful hard cover book with pictures detailing the friendship between the two countries. I have a picture file of other countries paying their respects at US Embassies all over the world. It is very touching and I always get choked up when I see them. We've suffered a great loss but we are strong and we will continue to thrive. God Bless our troops and God Bless America.
Had just worked a night shift and when I woke up I had a phone message from a neighbor to turn on the TV. All three events had happened already. After the shock of it all eased off, my first thought was of a high school friend who worked in the towers. It took a couple hours to track her whereabouts down but the good news was she had changed jobs and moved out of the city a month before. Second thought was since I had retired from the A.F. six months earlier that I might be called back. I had flown on E-3 AWACS surveillance aircraft and they flew an enormous amount of hours after it all happened. Didn't get called back though...
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Total number who died in the attacks:
2,977
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Number of firefighters and paramedics: 343
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Number of NYPD officers: 23
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Number of Port Authority police officers: 37
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Number of employees who died in Tower One: 1,402
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Number of employees who died in Tower Two: 614
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I think it's very important to remember and understand what happened that day.
September 11, 2001 Timeline:
8:46am - American Airlines Flight 11 crashes at roughly 466 mph (790km/h) into the north face of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, between floors 93 and 99.
9:02am - United Airlines Flight 175 crashes at about 590 mph (950km/h) into the south face of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, between floors 77 and 85.
9:21am - All bridges and tunnels into Manhattan closed.
9:37am - American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the western side of the Pentagon and starts a violent fire.
9:45am - United States airspace is shut down until September 14, 2001
9:59am - The South Tower of the World Trade Center begins to collapse, 56 minutes and 2 seconds after the impact of Flight 175.
10:03am - United Airlines Flight 93 is crashed by its hijackers and passengers, due to fighting in the cockpit 80 miles (129 km) southeast of Pittsburgh in Somerset County, Pennsylvania
10:28am - The North Tower of the World Trade Center begins to collapse 1 hour, 41 minutes and 45 seconds after the impact of Flight 11
I remember being at home that morning watching the TV in disbelief and a loss for words. Thank you troops for protecting our freedoms.
It is important to know that an entry level (E-1) person in the Army makes less then $8.50 per hour or $17k per year to sleep in a desert for months and risk his/her life.
I had residences in Upstate NY and Eastern Ontario, Canada at the time. On 9/11, a few days before my birthday, I was on the US side preparing to work at a restaurant.
George Bush talked about "Shock and Awe" in the war. No. THAT was shock and awe.
Salutes to our fallen.
Salutes to our active and veterans.
There will be moments of silence observed in the coming days. Please be courteous and respectful at these times.
We just had one at work and people kept typing away and someone started a conversation with one woman who politely had to say "Please, a moment of silence".
Matt O 2006 Skyline Nomad 27' travel trailer. Previously owned 1986 Coleman Columbia / 1992 Coleman Senecca / 1989 Born Free Class C RV.
[quote author=mtn_bikers link=topic=1051.msg7919#msg7919 date=1315393606]
IThat event 10 years ago is what motivated me to leave private industry and seek a job working for the US Army - I wanted to do something to help the men and women that protect us everyday.
May God Bless the families of those that perished on that horrible day.
mtn bikers, i did a similar thing. i was motivated to return back to being a firefighter for the State of Calif., after working in the social work field, for a number of years.
i was lucky to be able to return to firefighting at the ripe age of 48.
i wanted to do more for my community and to return to a job that inspired me more.
though i may not ever be faced with the horror that the 343 did, their willingness to risk their lives for others is burned into my soul.
Some other interesting reading...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O.....low_Ribbon
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