Posted on 09/10/2023 7:39:54 PM PDT by P.O.E.
I haven't forgotten:
What a beautiful fall morning it was
Driving into work and hearing that a plane had hit the Trade Center
Watching on TV at work as the second plane hit.
Calling friends and family, and rushing home.
Watching the smoke plumes from a hill in NJ
On TV, watching people waving out windows in the upper floors for help
Watching people dive out the building choosing a quick death rather than die in the fire.
Todd Beamer's "Let's Roll" that saved untold lives.
Losing a good friend who worked at Cantor Fitzgerald, who liked nothing more than having people over to watch the Giant football games while sitting in his lucky chair so his team would win- whose body was never found.
Losing another friend who was an elevator repairman who rushed back only to die in the collapse.
Days of seeing cars parked in the train station parking lots, whose owners were never to return
The empty skies as they grounded all flights.
The loss, the tears, the anger, as the news and stories of the souls lost and their bereft families.
I haven't forgotten
Wow
So many crazy things that year
IIRC, that happened both in Paterson & Jersey City. One of the Muslim doctors at our family clinic said “good” when told the news. He was later forced out of the clinic, but we switched to another anyway.
Similar experience with the JFK assassination - second-grade teacher answered the classroom phone, burst into tears, and sent us all home.
My brother-in-law had to walk from mid-town across the GW bridge and eventually made it home safe.
A week or two after 911 I was driving past a KFC and their flag was at full staff. I went in and their were a bunch of muslims behind the counter. I’m guessing the franchise was owned by a muslim.
I asked them why they weren’t flying the flag at half-staff, and one of them said it was broken. I left the building, and walked over to the flag pole. Yanked on the rope and it moved just fine and brought the flag down to half-mast.
I didn’t go back in to confront them. Pretty much hustled back to my truck and left.
I also didn’t do it properly, which iirc is to bring the flag all the way down, and then raise it back up again to half-mast.
Everything I needed to know about islam, I learned on September 11, 2001.
it was a shocking and horrible day
Every anniversary since then, I am anxious or fearful that there will be a repeat.
Was there. Experienced the day from the first blast until the parking attendant at the garage where my car was parked welcomed me home, a single chalk mark on my tire. Although I worked in mid-town, our conference room faced the trade center with an unimpeded view. One of my staff was talking to his sister who worked for Cantor, when the phone was suddenly disconnected. We saw the smoke.
After the second plane struck, we were evacuated to our offices on 57th street. It was a scene out of the walking dead. Thousands of people who just two hours earlier were having coffee, a smoke or whatever were walking uptown in a zombie fashion.
I went to give blood Citicorp Center, but they stopped taking people after realizing that there weren’t many injured. We were released from work to find our way home. I managed to get on a ferry to Jersey. From there a train ride to Short Hills where I proceeded to walk to the Short Hills Hilton. A person saw me from their car and offered to take me to the mall, first going to his house to call my wife and tell her I am okay. Turns out my boss lived next door to him.
Got to the hotel, but since all roads were closed, my wife spent a couple of hours on side streets driving to the Hilton. Later on she described the lobby of the hotel as a morgue. There were bodies all over the place, no one talking, many just staring into space. Sort of a zombie wonderland.
I got home, immediately went to sleep. The day was too surreal. What I experienced put me into a state of shock, jut like everyone I saw that day. I woke up the next morning, not sure where I was, what happened the previous day. Up until this point, I had no idea of the death total, nor what was going on. A bit later my wife took me to get my car from the garage. Upon getting to my car, the attendant looked at me and said, “Welcome Home!” It was at that moment I broke down and cried for what seemed like hours.
Epilogue: I lost several friends on 9/11. I will never forget that day, and to the people who condemned the US for this attack, I say with all of my heart, FOAD!
I don’t think Osama came up with that all on his own and carried it all out.
There is so much missing about that day.
I haven’t forgotten either.
I had a friend that bought the farm in his office in the E-ring.
Well, Joe Biden has forgotten.
One woman I worked with perished that day. A guy I was friends with went to the South Tower very early that morning. He told me if there had been anyone around to start schmoozing with he wouldn’t have made it out.
I doubt if anyone at my office will even ask me about the 9/11 picture I have on display. If anything, I worry that I will be asked to take down my political statement.
I listened to a conservative radio talk show host this morning say that he willingly goes through airport security. Islam declared war on the US, and our response is to delay travel for millions of people, for 22 years. If our strategy is to play defense, they will win someday. If they haven’t already.
Much like Pearl harbor for a prior generation.
Mecca should have been a smoking radioactive ruin by noon on 9/12/01.
My reasoning for the opinion in post #36.
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