9/11
- Thread starter michaelrr1
- Start date
I wish I could find the story, but there was an article in SI a few years ago with a crazy "should have died in 9/11" story. Guy who works in the WTC has never missed a day of work in his 20 years. Decides to go to the Yankees game the night before with a buddy on a whim and ties one on. Calls in sick to work for the first time in his career on the morning of 9/11.
I was a freshman at ISU. Heard something about a plane hitting the tower on the walk back from class. Picked up a paper at the dorms and headed to my room. Before I got there, one of the guys on my floor told me to put down the paper and turn on the TV. Got to my room, turned on the TV, and my roommate and I watched the second plane hit.
I had just gradated and hadn't got into my career. Worked until midnight waiting tables the night before so I slept through it, on my third snooze alarm I heard "a second plane has..." and jumped out of bed knowing it was a crazy event.
I always remember I had to work waiting tables that night of 911. I asked some table the normal "how is everyone" and some guy jumped down my throat "HOW THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE'RE DOING!!!". Kind of a wake up call for me as to the selfish myopic nature of mankind. Here I am working on 911 trying to pay my rent and student loans as a broke kid who just finished college while some A-hole implies I don't care about the terrorist attack as he eats his prime steak and drinks his wine while I serve him.
I always remember I had to work waiting tables that night of 911. I asked some table the normal "how is everyone" and some guy jumped down my throat "HOW THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE'RE DOING!!!". Kind of a wake up call for me as to the selfish myopic nature of mankind. Here I am working on 911 trying to pay my rent and student loans as a broke kid who just finished college while some A-hole implies I don't care about the terrorist attack as he eats his prime steak and drinks his wine while I serve him.
I was 29 at the time and had just celebrated my two year anniversary the week before. My wife and I lived in Battery Park City (Gateway Plaza - about a block and a half from the WTC). Every morning we went to work via the subway through the WTC to get to work at Times Square. That morning, we were a little late, so we were in the apartment when both planes hit. Heard the second one - I thought a plane had crashed into the Hudson River.
Basically 2-3 blocks away when the towers fell. Scariest part was when the first (south) one fell, and we were basically pinned against the esplanade - didn't know if chunks of the building would hit us... it looked like a volcano exploded. Thought about the possibility dying from suffocation. I couldn't see my wife - had to hold her hand to know where she was.
I won't go through every detail, but ended up on a ferry to Jersey City, NJ, where we stayed at a scummy hotel and ended up living with my in-laws in Brooklyn for a month before we could get back to our apartment.
Fast forward - I was going to give a presentation about my experiences to my daughter's 8th grade class, but they aren't letting guests into the school due to COVID.
Attached are a couple pictures from that presentation showing where our apartment was.
Basically 2-3 blocks away when the towers fell. Scariest part was when the first (south) one fell, and we were basically pinned against the esplanade - didn't know if chunks of the building would hit us... it looked like a volcano exploded. Thought about the possibility dying from suffocation. I couldn't see my wife - had to hold her hand to know where she was.
I won't go through every detail, but ended up on a ferry to Jersey City, NJ, where we stayed at a scummy hotel and ended up living with my in-laws in Brooklyn for a month before we could get back to our apartment.
Fast forward - I was going to give a presentation about my experiences to my daughter's 8th grade class, but they aren't letting guests into the school due to COVID.
Attached are a couple pictures from that presentation showing where our apartment was.
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Freshman at ISU as well. Remember waking up, turning the tv on and seeing that the first plane had hit. Kept watching and remember seeing the second hit. I don’t think I went to class at all that day and am pretty sure most if not all of the classes were cancelled
I was in my undergrad at NWMSU, wake and baking on the couch getting ready to head to a Western Civ lecture when the first plane hit, the teacher was great, really animated and going with a buzz felt more like entertainment than class. Classes were cancelled, my roomie and just sat there taking bong rips all morning not saying a word. That entire week was just so surreal.
At work and guy came in saying someone flew a small plane into the World Trade Center. Went to see a vendor of ours 30 minutes later and the receptionist was showing the planes hitting the towers. Really somber day along with people lining up a gas stations.
Wasn't there an a former ISU gymnast on the plane that hit the Pentagon?
Wasn't there an a former ISU gymnast on the plane that hit the Pentagon?
Yes there was. Mari-Rae Sopper was on the plane that was crashed into the Pentagon. She was on her way to become the Coach at a university in California. I attended ISU at the same time, late 1980's. We had a few mutual friends and had met several times. I have a picture of her name inscribed at the fountains in New York.
I was at work when everything happened. We were lucky ( if you can say that) to have a TV in my area and were able to watch quite a bit of it unfold.
I was at work on a call and the person suddenly said "Holy ****, someone just crashed a plane into the World Trade Center!"
I wound up being the first person in our office to hear about it and scrambled to the tv in the break room to start watching. A crowd of people quickly surrounded me. I remember holding my breath and my eyes tearing up after the second plane hit.
I wound up being the first person in our office to hear about it and scrambled to the tv in the break room to start watching. A crowd of people quickly surrounded me. I remember holding my breath and my eyes tearing up after the second plane hit.
I lived in Park Slope in Brooklyn at the time but a had a friend that lived just a few blocks away from WTC on Nassau St. She has had health issues from breathing in all that crap. She was woken up when the first plane hit. She said it sounded like a bomb.
I was sleeping at the time and my phone kept going off and it was my mom calling me and I finally answered and she asked if I was ok and where I was. She told me about the first plane. I woke my roommate up and we were watching on TV when the second plane hit. We went up to our rooftop because we were on the third floor of a brownstone and saw the first building come down. It didn't seem real. We saw fighter jets flying over the city and that freaked us the **** out. We were thinking I hope those are our planes. The smoke and ash and everything from the buildings traveled straight to our neighborhood and it was crazy because it carried papers from some of the businesses all the way over.
I remember just the look on people's faces in NY that day and the feeling. And how eerie it was after in the streets with military and and empty times square. I remember trying to get a hold of all my friends in the city making sure they were safe but that it was almost impossible to get through to anyone. I remember it all so vividly in my mind when I think about it and the feelings come back easily from those days as well.
Accounting 284 (I think that was the number) with Anne Clem. She broke down and dismissed us all.
We stayed in Park Slope (on Prospect Park West) with my in-laws for about a month after - who knows, maybe we even crossed paths at some point!
I was probably the last person in the world to know what was going on. I worked second shift, and usually slept until about 11 a.m. I don't know why but I didn't see any news that day before I had to go into work at 3 p.m. Never turned on a radio, never looked at the Internet (not even sure that was part of my daily routine back then) and never turned on a TV. The first clue I had that something unusual was going on was when I drove past a gas station and there was a line of cars backing up traffic on the street waiting to fill up. So when I got to work, they had all the TVs on and no work was getting done, and that was the first time I knew what was going on, 6 hours or so after it happened.
College - didn't have class that day. Was on the couch for the next 16 hours and am pretty sure I had a lot that I should've been doing that day.
#FUOsama
#FUOsama
I was in high school. We had a presentation that morning of a guy that used to be a bodyguard for celebrities (can't remember what the message of the presentation was). After that we went to our classes, and you started hearing rumblings of something happening. As word spread, classes had the TV's turned on.
One of my high school buddies was from the Middle East, so hearing about the crap he had to go through after that was disappointing.
One of my high school buddies was from the Middle East, so hearing about the crap he had to go through after that was disappointing.
One son had already finished his MOS training for the USMC (enlisted in April). The other son enlisted in the USAF a couple of months later (June or July) and was scheduled to be at Lackland in mid-September. His start date got pushed back about a month.
That was definitely on my mind when I found out about the WTC. My husband called me at work and told me about the first plane. I didn't really believe him, but he told me to find a radio. One of the staff members down the hall had a radio in her office. When I went down there, the room was packed with staff, faculty & grad students. Right after I got there, they reported the second plane. That was when we knew the first one wasn't a terrible accident.
I listened to the radio there for a few minutes, then went back to my office and called my boss, told him I was sorry, but I couldn't be there that day. Then I left, and went to my church, where I sat in the sanctuary as a whole bunch of total strangers wandered in & out, some staying for just a moment, some sitting for quite a while. After a while, I headed home, turned on the TV and cried into a pillow for most of the day. My husband got home around 2pm, and we watched the reports together.
USAF son eventually was sent to Iraq and Guam, mustered out after 8 years. The marine ended up getting his BA courtesy of the Corps, and is now a major. As a 1Lt he was embedded with the Afghan army on two separate tours.
One niece had just changed jobs about a month previously, and was no longer working in the Towers. One stepbrother worked at an office building near the Pentagon, and was frequently over there as a civilian contractor (of sorts)...his function was basically "PR", so lots of coordinating time spent with the brass.
9/11 did not take the lives of anyone I know or love, but it hit close to home none-the-less.
I will have to look for your suggestion. This is the one I have found the most compelling:
These two French filmmakers (brothers) were actually doing a "ride-along" style documentary of a NYC fire house and crew. They had been there for a few days already and had gotten to know the men. This documentary is comprised of their live footage from that day.
